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Background Nurses are often portrayed as possessing specific traits and dispositions associated with care and empathy. The assumption has been that possessing these traits makes nurses competent, engaged, and well suited to their job. This proposition has been mostly normative, and few studies have investigated how this plays out empirically. Objective The aims of this study were to investigate (a) whether possessing a personality trait related to empathy and care was more common among nursing students than students in teaching and social work programs and (b) whether nursing students possessing an affirming personality trait judged themselves to be more suited to their future work – understood as commitment to the profession – than students in teaching and social work. Design A cross-sectional survey design was used. Participants and setting All first-year students attending seven Norwegian universities and university colleges were invited to participate in the study. Of the 1675 students who participated in the survey, 527 were nursing students, 668 were students in teaching, and 480 were social work students. A response rate of 65 percent was achieved. Methods The survey was conducted by Oslo and Akershus University College in the autumn of 2012. Data collection methods included both a paper-and-pencil questionnaire and an online survey. Instruments used included Blau's Career Commitment Scale and Orlinsky and Rønnestad's Interpersonal Adjective Scale. Analysis of variance and regression analysis were performed on the data. Results Nursing students did not differ from students in teaching and social work programs in terms of the degree of affirming personality trait. Furthermore, the regression analysis revealed an equally strong association between having an affirming personality trait and being committed to the profession among all these student groups. Conclusion The results of this study indicate that the narrative of nursing students as individuals who possess a special personality characteristic does not entirely reflect reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The present shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in many European countries is expected to continue and worsen, which poses a substantial threat to the maintenance of healthcare in this region. Work-family conflict is a known risk factor for turnover and sickness absence. Objective: This paper empirically examines whether the nurse practice environment is associated with experienced work-family conflict. Design: A multilevel model was fit with the individual RN at the 1st, and the hospital department at the 2nd level using cross-sectional RN survey data from the Swedish part of RN4CAST, an EU 7th framework project. The data analyzed here is based on a national sample of 8356 female and 592 male RNs from 369 hospital departments. Results: We found that 6% of the variability in work-family conflict experienced by RNs was at the department level. Organizational level factors significantly accounted for most of the variability at this level with two of the work practice environment factors examined, staffing adequacy and nurse involvement in hospital affairs, significantly related to work- family conflict. Due to the design of the study, factors on ward and work group levels could not be analyzed, but are likely to account for additional variance which in the present analysis appears to be on the individual level, with private life factors likely explaining another major part. Conclusion: These results suggest that higher level organizational factors in health care have a significant impact on the risk of work-family conflict among RNs through their impact on the nurse practice environment. Lower level organizational factors should be investigated in future studies using hierarchical multilevel sampling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]