Canada does not have enough aboriginal nurses and aboriginal nursing faculty. Consequently, there is an inadequate number of nurses to meet both on- and off-reserve and community health care staffing needs. In 2002, Health Canada asked the Canadian Association of University Schools of Nursing to facilitate a national task force that would examine aboriginal nursing in Canada. The task force engaged in an extensive literature review, conducted a national survey of nursing programs, and explored recruitment and retention strategies. In 2007, the association prepared an update on the current status. In this article, the authors review the progress made during the intervening five years in the recruitment, retention and education of aboriginal nursing students.
Academic dishonesty, whether in the form of plagiarism or cheating on tests, has received renewed attention in the past few decades as pervasive use of the Internet and a presumed deterioration of ethics in the current generation of students has led some, perhaps many, to conclude that academic dishonesty is reaching epidemic proportions. What is lacking in many cases, including in the nursing profession, is empirical support of these trends. This article attempts to provide some of that empirical data and supports the conclusion that cheating is a significant issue in all disciplines today, including nursing. Some preliminary policy implications are also considered.
We surveyed 205 applicants to three types of nursing programs (B.Sc.N., diploma-R.N., and diploma-R.N.A.) offered in Toronto, Ontario. Applicants were predominately white, unmarried women living within commuting distance of the institutions to which they applied. Applicants to practical nursing programs tended to be older than applicants to B.Sc.N. and diploma-R.N. programs, be married, have at least one dependant, come from blue-collar families, be out of school longer, and submit fewer applications. Applicants with dependants were 11 times more likely to choose R.P.N. over R.N. programs. Recency of graduation and high school average were predictive of choosing B.Sc.N. over R.N. programs. While this 1992 cohort had some appreciation for the challenges facing the nursing profession, most applicants still expected to secure full-time employment in acute care post-graduation. The data provide an important benchmark for comparing current and future cohorts of applicants with respect to socio-demographic characteristics and expectations of nursing as a career choice.
Given the link between poverty and health, nurses, in their work in hospitals and in the community, often come into contact with people who are poor. To be effective care providers, nurses must have an adequate understanding of poverty and a positive attitude toward people who are poor. This study examined attitudes toward poverty among baccalaureate nursing students (N = 740) at three Canadian universities. Students' attitudes were neutral to slightly positive. Personal experiences appeared to have an important influence on the development of favorable attitudes. The findings point to several considerations for nursing curricula. Students should not only be provided with classroom opportunities for critical exploration of poverty and its negative effects on individuals and society, but also have clinical learning experiences that bring them face-to-face with people who are poor, their health concerns, and the realities of their circumstances. Thoughtful critique of poverty-related issues and interpersonal contact may be effective strategies to foster attitude change.
Change in depressive symptoms over higher education and professional establishment - a longitudinal investigation in a national cohort of Swedish nursing students.
There are indications of a high prevalence of psychological distress among students in higher education and also that distress increases over the course of study. However, not all studies on student distress controlled for sociodemographic differences and few followed development of distress over an extended period through professional establishment. We investigated if there is an independent effect of time in education and the first two years in the profession on depressive symptoms and mapped change over the period in a national cohort of students.
Data came from LANE, a nation-wide longitudinal panel survey of Swedish nursing students (N = 1700) who responded to annual questionnaires over five years from 2002 to 2007. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Major Depression Inventory and change over time analysed in a linear mixed effects model for repeated measures.
There was a significant change in level of depressive symptoms over time: an increase from the first to later years in education and a decrease to levels similar to baseline after graduation and a year in the profession. The change in symptoms remained significant after adjustment for sociodemographic factors (p
Cultural competence is an essential component in nursing. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of cultural competence of graduating nursing students, to identify associated background factors to cultural competence, and furthermore to establish whether teaching multicultural nursing was implemented in nursing education.
A structured Cultural Competence Assessment Tool was used in a correlational design with a sample of 295 nursing students in southern Finland.
The level of cultural competence was moderate, and the majority of students had studied multicultural nursing. Minority background (p = .001), frequency of interacting with different cultures (p = .002), linguistic skills (p = .002), and exchange studies (p = .024) were positively associated to higher cultural competence.
To improve cultural competence in students, nursing education should provide continuous opportunities for students to interact with different cultures, develop linguistic skills, and provide possibilities for internationalization both at home and abroad.
The effects of interprofessional education - Self-reported professional competence among prehospital emergency care nursing students on the point of graduation - A cross-sectional study.
The aim of the study was to investigate whether interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional collaboration (IPC) during the educational program had an impact on prehospital emergency care nurses' (PECN) self-reported competence towards the end of the study program. A cross-sectional study using the Nurse Professional Competence (NPC) Scale was conducted. A comparison was made between PECN students from Finland who experienced IPE and IPC in the clinical setting, and PECN students from Sweden with no IPE and a low level of IPC. Forty-one students participated (Finnish n=19, Swedish n=22). The self-reported competence was higher among the Swedish students. A statistically significant difference was found in one competence area; legislation in nursing and safety planning (p
Nursing education today is primarily catered within the framework of higher education and combined with a health care sector that is rapidly changing, this has put the focus on educational outcome. The present study focuses on this outcome in terms of generic and professional skills and the professional preparedness of the students. 1,110 students in their final semester of a general nursing program at 24 universities in Sweden responded to questionnaires. The results revealed that the students perceived themselves to have especially developed their information-seeking abilities, critical and analytical thinking and professional knowledge and skills, whereas they did not perceive their education to have similarly developed their understanding of people from other cultures or their engagement in the development of society. Significant differences between men and women in relation to educational outcome were found in almost all areas of the study.
This study aimed to examine nurse students' interest in gerontological nursing and the factors enhancing and decreasing that interest. The quantitative data was collected in the autumn of 2009 using a structured instrument with a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), which was developed for this study based on the literature review. Graduating nurse students (n=183) from three polytechnics in Southern Finland participated in the study. The data was analysed statistically using descriptive statistics and t-test for independent samples to indicate statistical significance. The students did not clearly state if they are interested in gerontological nursing as a future career choice or not. Students who had prior gerontological nursing work experience, women, and students who had learned about gerontological nursing through an independent course were the most interested in the field. The factors that enhance interest are the quality of gerontological nursing, the challenging aspects of the field and the opportunities for career advancement, the gerontological nursing education and the practical training in gerontological nursing. On the basis of the results, it seems that it is possible to enhance nurse students' interest in gerontological nursing as a future career choice.
