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Introduction: Peer learning is an educational strategy used in clinical training for nursing students that has proven to bebeneficial for both students and supervisors.

Objective: This study aimed to describe the perceptions and experiences of first-line managers, clinical supervisors, and educatorsin nursing with peer learning (PL) as a supervision model. It also aimed to describe the implementation process, focusingon key factors and obstacles to successful implementation in healthcare systems facing pressure from registered nurse(RN) shortages.

Method: This qualitative descriptive interview study involved individual and focus group interviews with 20 participants fromthree groups: first-line managers, clinical supervisors, and educators in nursing. Interviews were analyzed using deductive contentanalysis, guided by the i-PARIHS framework.

Results: While PL improved supervision quality, adaptability, and recruitment opportunities, it required active engagementfrom staff and students, and ongoing collaboration with the university. Experienced challenges were students with varyingcompetence levels and inadequate continuity due to the shortage of RNs. Participants found the introductory activitiesand scheduled meetings valuable but faced challenges related to time allocation and a lack of RNs to act as clinical supervisors.

Conclusion: Despite PL’s benefits, the RN shortage hinders its implementation, necessitating the development of flexiblemodels that can be implemented despite the shortage.

Aim: To describe and study the association between registered nurses' self-rated research utilization and their perception of their work climate.

Background: Research utilization is an important part of evidence-based nursing, and registered nurses value a work climate that supports the possibility to work evidence-based.

Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted using the Creative Climate Questionnaire together with three questions measuring instrumental, conceptual and persuasive research utilization. The analysis was done using variable- and pattern-oriented approaches.

Results: An association was found between research utilization and experience of dynamism/liveliness. Women reported higher use of conceptual research utilization. Regarding work climate, younger registered nurses and registered nurses with less work experience gave higher scores for playfulness/humour and conflicts. The results showed an association between having a Bachelor's or Master's degree and higher instrumental research utilization.

Discussion: Research utilization was higher in registered nurses with higher academic education. Low users of research tended to experience a lack of dynamism and liveliness, which indicates the importance of improving the work climate by creating a climate that allows opinions and initiate discussions.

Conclusion: The findings support the importance of creating a work climate that encourages reflection and discussion among registered nurses, and to promote academic education for nurses plus an optimal work-place staffing-mix.

Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? Research utilization is an important part of evidence-based nursing. Registered nurses value a work climate that supports the possibility to work evidence-based. Little is known about the association between how nurses use research in clinical work and how they perceive their work climate. What this paper adds? Low research users tended to experience low dynamism and liveliness in their work climate, showing the importance of improving the work climate in health care organizations to support clinical nurses' ability to express opinions and initiate discussions. The association between work climate and the use of research among nurses needs further investigation. Our findings support previous research showing that a higher academic level is associated with increased research among registered nurses working clinically, and therefore benefits patient outcomes. The implications of this paper: The association between low research utilization and experience of low dynamism and liveliness indicates the importance of improving the work climate by creating an atmosphere where nurses can express their opinions and initiate discussions. There is a need to support clinical registered nurses to maintain their research utilization throughout their working career. The health care sector and the individual workplace should support registered nurses in furthering their academic level.

AIMS: To identify clusters based on graduating nursing students' self-reported professional competence and their achievement on a national examination. Furthermore, to describe and compare the identified clusters regarding sample characteristics, students' perceptions of overall quality of the nursing programme and students' general self-efficacy.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional study combining survey data and results from a national examination.

METHODS: Data were collected at two universities and one university college in Sweden in January 2017, including 179 students in the final term of the nursing programme. The study was based on the Nurse Professional Competence Scale, the General Self-Efficacy scale and results from the National Clinical Final Examination. A Two-Step Cluster Analysis was used to identify competence profiles, followed by comparative analyses between clusters.

RESULTS: Three clusters were identified illustrating students' different competence profiles. Students in Cluster 1 and 2 passed the examination, but differed in their self-assessments of competence, rating themselves under and above the overall median value respectively. Students in Cluster 3 failed the examination but rated themselves at the overall median level or higher.

CONCLUSION: The study illustrates how nursing students' self-assessed competence might differ from competency assessed by examination, which is challenging for nursing education. Self-evaluation is a key learning outcome and is, in the long run, essential to patient safety.

IMPACT: The study has identified clusters of students where some overestimate and others underestimate their competence. Students who assessed their competence low but passed the exam assessed their general self-efficacy lower than other students. The findings illuminate the need for student-centered strategies in nursing education, including elements of self-assessment in relation to examination to make the students more aware of their clinical competence.

AIM: To investigate what registered nurses (RNs) with a PhD working in clinical practice experience in terms of their role, function and work context.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that RNs with a graduate degree contribute to better and safer care for patients. However, little is known about what further academic schooling of RNs, at PhD level, means for clinical practice.

METHOD: Qualitative design, with semi-structured interviews and inductive content analysis.

RESULTS: The main areas of responsibilities for RNs with a PhD working in clinical practice were related to practice development and implementation of research results. In their work, they experienced barriers to the full use of their competence; the expectations and prerequisites of the organization were not clearly defined, and they often lacked a mandate to create conditions for quality improvement of nursing care.

CONCLUSIONS: RNs with a PhD can contribute to evidence-based practice (EBP), clinical training as well as the development of clinical research. Their roles and responsibilities need to be clarified and for this, they need support from managers.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nurse managers should partner with RNs with a PhD to support the EBP process and help structure nursing practice in more efficient ways. 

Background and aim: With the intention to do more good than harm, it is important to rely on practice that is rooted in evidence-based guidelines so that clients are given the exact care they need. Thus, from a client safety perspective, the social worker needs to apply evidence-based practice (EBP). Learning more about the medical social workers’ perceptions of EBP has the potential to contribute to an increased understanding of how best available knowledge can be implemented in medical social work settings to provide high quality and safe practice to clients. Therefore the aim of this study was to explore medical social workers’ perceptions of evidence-based practice (EBP), including factors relevant for the successful implementation of evidence into medical social work practice.

Methods: This is a qualitative study. Eight focus group interviews were conducted that included 27 medical social workers. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Results: Analysis resulted in two categories: “knowledge in practice” and “challenges in relation to the implementation of EBP” and four subcategories: “practice based on research evidence or experience”, “obtaining new evidence of practice”, “research and the social work context”, and “barriers and facilitating factors”. Participants tended to perceive EBP as theoretical and positivistic while perceiving their own knowledge as eclectic and experience-based. Although they perceived the relevance of research findings to their practice, they expressed a need for support to translate research into policy and practice. They also reported that studies about their specific work were scarce.

Conclusion and implications: The facilitating factors suggested by the medical social workers which concerned, e.g., a specially designated person responsible for supporting the increased use of research findings, support for prioritization of time, increased opportunities for the sharing of knowledge, and time for consultations, need to be considered when promoting the implementation of EBP within medical social work settings. The medical social workers’ suggestion for the facilitation of knowledge exchange needs further investigation.

RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES:

The risk of developing urinary incontinence (UI) is associated with older age and hip surgery. There has been limited focus on factors that promote evidence-based UI practice in the orthopaedic context. The aim of this study was to evaluate an implementation intervention to support evidence-based practice for UI in patients aged 65 or older undergoing hip surgery.

METHODS:

A 3-month intervention was delivered in 2014 to facilitate the implementation of UI knowledge in orthopaedic units in 2 hospitals in Sweden. Each unit appointed a multidisciplinary team of nurses and physiotherapists or occupational therapists to facilitate the implementation. The teams were supported by external facilitators who shared knowledge about UI and implementation science. Interviews, nonparticipant observations, and audits of patient records were performed.

RESULTS:

Prior to the intervention, there was no use of guidelines regarding UI. The intervention raised the internal facilitators' awareness of UI risks associated with hip surgery. As internal facilitators shared this information with their peers, staff awareness of UI increased. The teams of internal facilitators described needing additional time and support from managers to implement evidence-based UI care. A management initiative triggered by the intervention increased the documentation of UI and urinary problems in 1 unit.

CONCLUSION:

To promote evidence-based practice related to safe procedures for older people in hospital care, there is a need to better understand strategies that successfully facilitate knowledge implementation. This study suggests that a multiprofessional team approach is promising for instigating a process towards evidence-based management of UI.

Aim

The aim was to explore first line nurse managers’ experiences of opportunities and obstacles to support evidence‐based nursing.

Design

A qualitative study with a phenomenographical approach.

Method

Data were collected through focus group interviews with 15 first line nurse managers’ in four settings.

Results

The results are presented in four categories of description headed: Manage the everyday work vs. evidence‐based nursing; Uncertainties about evidence‐based nursing and nursing research; Time as a reality, as an approach; and Shaping awareness—towards an active approach to evidence‐based nursing. The overarching category of description has been formulated as follows: The internal relation—how active leadership influences evidence‐based nursing. The outcome space is presented as: The individual path—how to make vision and reality become a working entity around evidence‐based nursing.

The diabetic complication macular oedema (DME) is a growing problem worldwide because of the increasing number of patients suffering from diabetes mellitus (DM). DME is treated with injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) in the eye. This real-world study aimed to describe patients’ experiences before they received their first injection in the eye. Twenty-one men and women aged 49 to 86 years were interviewed. The interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Two categories and an overall theme ‘to be at a crossroads and a crucial phase in life with an uncertain outcome’ were found. The participants expressed thoughts and concerns at different levels, practical concerns about the treatment procedure, and other existential thoughts regarding hope for improved visual acuity or fear of deterioration. Cooperation between eye clinics and diabetes clinics should be strengthened to clarify who is responsible for providing the information and support required by patients.