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Aim: to identify: (1) nursing competencies for FCC in a hospital setting; and (2) to explore perspectives on these competencies among Dutch and Australian professionals including lecturers, researchers, Registered Nurses and policy makers. Design: A multinational cross‐sectional study using Q‐methodology. Methods: First, an integrative review was carried out to identify known competencies regarding FCC and to develop the Q‐set (search up to July 2018). Second, purposive sampling was used to ensure stakeholder involvement. Third, participants sorted the Q‐set using a web‐based system between May and August 2019. Lastly, the data were analysed using a by‐person factor analysis. The commentaries on the five highest and lowest ranked competencies were thematically analysed. Results: The integrative review identified 43 articles from which 72 competencies were identified. In total 69 participants completed the Q‐sorting. We extracted two factors with an explained variance of 24%. The low explained variance hampered labelling. Based on a post‐hoc qualitative analysis, four themes emerged from the competencies that were considered most important, namely: (a) believed preconditions for FCC; (b) promote a partnership between nurses, patients and families; (c) be a basic element of nursing; and (d) represent a necessary positive attitude and strong beliefs of the added value of FCC. Three themes appeared from the competencies that were considered least important because they: (a) were not considered a specific nursing competency; (b) demand a multidisciplinary approach; or (c) require that patients and families take own responsibility. Conclusions: Among healthcare professionals, there is substantial disagreement on which nursing competencies are deemed most important for FCC. Impact: Our set of competencies can be used to guide education and evaluate practicing nurses in hospitals. These findings are valuable to consider different views on FCC before implementation of new FCC interventions into nursing practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Workloads and other job demands jeopardize nurses' well‐being, especially during evening shifts when there are less resources than during the day. The current study aims to shed light on how the addition of a nurse assistant to ward staffing during evening shifts has an impact on nurses' perceptions of job demands, job resources, and well‐being. Design: We performed a pre‐post pilot study, whereby we compared nurses' perceptions of job demands, job resources, and well‐being before and after the addition of a nurse assistant to ward staffing during evening shifts. Methods: All nurses at the ward of a top‐clinical hospital (N = 28) completed a baseline and follow‐up survey including validated measures on job demands (workload and physical demands), job resources (autonomy and task clarity), and well‐being (recovery from work and sleep problems). Results: Compared with baseline, nurses reported fewer job demands (lower workloads and fewer physical demands) and sleep problems at follow‐up. No statistically significant changes in job resources (autonomy and task clarity) and recovery difficulties were found. Conclusions: We found preliminary evidence that the addition of a nurse assistant during evening shifts could reduce workloads, physical demands, and sleep problems among nurses. Impact: This study highlighted that heavy job demands and sleep problems associated with evening shifts may be addressed by adding a nurse assistant to the nursing team. Future studies with larger samples and a control group are needed to provide better estimates of the magnitude of the beneficial effects and of the cost‐effectiveness of an intervention of this kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To explore the role of nurses in the dialysis department in providing sexual care to patients receiving dialysis. Background Sexual health is not self-evident for patients undergoing dialysis; 70% experience sexual dysfunction. Nevertheless, sexual care is often not provided. Design A national cross-sectional survey. Methods Questionnaires ( n = 1211) were sent to employees of 34 dialysis centres from January-May 2016. Descriptive statistics and statistical tests were used to describe and interpret data. Results The response rate was 45.6%. Three-quarter of nurses discussed sexual dysfunction with less than half of their patients. Main barriers for discussing were based on language and ethnicity (57.3%), culture and religion (54.1%) and the older age of the patient (49.7%). Eighteen per cent of nurses had sufficient knowledge on sexual dysfunction, competence was present in 51.2% of nurses and 68.3% indicated a need for training. Forty-three per cent knew about guidelines on sexual care by renal care providers. Nurses who rated their knowledge or competence higher or who were aware of guidelines discussed sexuality more often. The accountability for discussing sexuality was appointed to nephrologists (82.8%) and their own group of professionals (66.3%). Nurses referred 1.16% of their patients to sexual care providers. Conclusion Dialysis nurses do not consistently address patients' sexuality, although they feel accountable to do so. This seems due to self-imposed insufficient knowledge, cultural barriers and organizational problems. Study findings imply that current situation could benefit from guidelines, additional training, a private moment to discuss sexual dysfunction and adequate referral systems to specialized care providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The aim of this study was to determine if kidney transplantation is associated with increases of perceived control and how changes of perceived control affect the course of psychological distress until 1 year after transplantation. Background Low levels of perceived control are associated with reduced well-being among dialysis patients. Design Prospective longitudinal cohort study. Methods Perceived control (Mastery Scale) and psychological distress ( GHQ-12) were prospectively assessed before (T0; n = 470) and three (T1; n = 197), six (T2; n = 210) and twelve (T3; n = 183) months after transplantation. Differences between T1 and T0 perceived control were used to stratify the sample into three groups (control gain, stable control and control loss). Socio-demographic and clinical variables, including complications, were examined as potential correlates and the course of psychological was distress compared across groups. Data were collected between July 2008 - July 2013. Results Perceived control showed a small increase overall, with 35·1%, 50·0% and 14·9% reporting gain, stable level and loss respectively. Patients with secondary schooling were overrepresented in the control loss group. The course of psychological distress varied across perceived control change groups, with patients in the control gain group experiencing a significant reduction in psychological distress. Conclusion A considerable number of patients report increased levels of perceived control after transplantation that are associated with a subsequent decrease in psychological distress. Results emphasize the importance of perceived control and could inform interventions to facilitate well-being after kidney transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To examine nurse-perceived quality of care, controlling for overall job satisfaction among critical care nurses and to explore associations with work environment characteristics. Background Nurse-perceived quality of care and job satisfaction have been positively linked to quality outcomes for nurses and patients. Much evidence exists on factors contributing to job satisfaction. Understanding specific factors that affect nurse-perceived quality potentially enables for improvements of nursing care quality. Design A multicentre survey study was conducted in three Dutch intensive care units. Methods The Dutch version of the Essentials of Magnetism II questionnaire was used; including the single-item indicators: (i) nurse-perceived quality of care; (ii) overall job satisfaction; and (iii) 58 statements on work environments. Data were collected between October 2013 - June 2014. Results The majority of 123 responding nurses (response rate 45%) were more than satisfied with quality of care (55%) and with their job (66%). No associations were found with nurse characteristics, besides differences in job satisfaction between the units. After controlling for job satisfaction, nurse-perceived quality was positively associated with the work environment characteristics: adequacy of staffing, patient-centeredness, competent peers and support for education. Patient-centeredness and autonomy were the most important predictors for overall job satisfaction. Conclusion Factors that contribute to nurse-perceived quality of care in intensive care units, independent from the effects of overall job satisfaction, were identified. Hereby, offering opportunities to maximize high quality of care to critically ill patients. Research in a larger sample is needed to confirm our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To assess which factors are associated with change in quality of life of people with dementia who have recently been admitted to long-term care facilities. Background Many people with dementia will be admitted to long-term care facilities at some point during their disease. It is currently unknown which factors are associated with improvement and/or deterioration of quality of life immediately following admission. Design An observational and longitudinal survey. Methods Data on 343 people with dementia who have been recently admitted to long-term care facilities across eight European countries were collected between November 2010-April 2012. Quality of life was assessed by people with dementia and their proxies using the 'Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease scale'. Explanatory variables included cognitive status, comorbidities, activities of daily living, depressive symptoms and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Descriptive and multilevel regression analyses were performed. Results Better cognitive abilities at baseline were associated with a decrease in self-reported quality of life. Greater dependency and more depressive symptoms at baseline were associated with declined proxy-reported quality of life. Furthermore, an increased dependency and an increase of depressive symptoms between baseline and follow-up were associated with a decreased proxy-reported quality of life. On an individual level, three groups were identified, namely people whose quality of life: (1) decreased; (2) stayed the same; and (3) increased. Conclusion Cognitive functioning, functional rehabilitation and treatment of depressive symptoms should receive special attention. However, quality of life of people with dementia does not necessarily decrease after institutionalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To identify determinants of practice nurses' intention to implement a new smoking cessation intervention and to investigate the independent value of attitude and Rogers' innovation characteristics. Background While effective smoking cessation interventions exist, implementation is often suboptimal. No previous studies have disentangled the independent value of beliefs towards implementation and innovation characteristics in explaining implementation. Design A cross-sectional descriptive study. Methods In 2010, 56 of 91 general practice nurses who participated in an intervention effectiveness trial completed an online questionnaire concerning demographics, patient population characteristics, attitude, innovation characteristics, self-efficacy, perceived social influence and intention to implement the intervention in the future. Recruitment success during the trial was defined as the number of patients participating. To detect differences between intending and non-intending practice nurses, independent sample t-tests and Chi-squared tests were conducted. Correlation coefficients were calculated to identify associations between potential determinants of intention. To identify significant determinants logistic hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Results Innovation characteristics and attitude were both significantly associated with practice nurses' intention to implement. While recruitment success showed a significant positive association with intention, perceived patient support was only a significant determinant when including innovation characteristics or attitude. Conclusion To increase new interventions' implementation rates, it is most important to convince health professionals of its beneficial characteristics, to generate a positive attitude towards the intervention, to aid practice nurses in recruiting smoking patients and to increase perceived patient support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. To report the development and psychometric testing of the Dutch version of the Nursing Activity Scale in a Dutch intensive care unit nursing population. Background. The Nursing Activity Scale developed by Schutzenhofer measures professional clinical autonomy, by inquiring about the nurses' intention to exercise their own clinical decisions. This autonomy is increasingly relevant due to the ongoing professionalization, nurses increasingly have to make their own clinical decisions. Design. Instrument development. Method. The study was conducted from November 2007-February 2008 and consisted of the following steps: translation, expert panel content validation, reliability testing and further content validation, test-retest stability examination, additional internal consistency, and validity assessment. Results. After the first reliability testing two items seen to describe a situation not applicable to intensive care unit nursing in the Netherlands were deleted from the questionnaire. In the test-retest stability assessment the intra class correlation coefficient was 0·76. The Cronbach's alpha of the final questionnaire was 0·82. The alphas of the subsamples with higher scores were significantly different from those with lower scores, supporting the validity of the weighing of the items. Conclusion. The Dutch version of the nursing activity scale consists of 28 items and provides the opportunity to measure professional clinical autonomy for Dutch intensive care nurses using a well-established method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

dijkstra a., yönt g.h., korhan e.a., muszalik m, kędziora-kornatowska k. & suzuki m. (2012) The Care Dependency Scale for measuring basic human needs: an international comparison. Journal of Advanced Nursing 68(10), 2341-2348. Abstract Aim. To report a study conducted to compare the utility of the Care Dependency Scale across four countries. Background. The Care Dependency Scale provides a framework for assessing the needs of institutionalized patients for nursing care. Henderson's components of nursing care have been used to specify the variable aspects of the concept of care dependency and to develop the Care Dependency Scale items. Design. The study used a cross-cultural survey design. Method. Patients were recruited from four different countries: Japan, The Netherlands, Poland and Turkey. In each of the participating countries, basic human needs were assessed by nurses using a translated version of the original Dutch Care Dependency Scale. Psychometric properties in terms of reliability and validity of the Care Dependency Scale have been assessed using Cronbach's alpha, Guttman's Lambda-2, inter-item correlation and principal components analysis. Data were collected in 2008 and 2009. Results. High internal consistency values were demonstrated. Principal component analysis confirmed the one-factor model reported in earlier studies. Conclusion. Outcomes confirm Henderson's idea that human needs are fundamental appearing in every patient-nurse relationship, independent of the patient's age, the type of care setting and/or cultural background. The psychometric characteristics of the Care Dependency Scale make this instrument very useful for comparative research across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. The aim of this study was to examine whether a nurse-administered minimal psychological intervention for depressive symptoms improves diabetes-specific quality of life and glycaemic control in older persons with diabetes. Background. Depression is common among persons with diabetes and may have a negative impact on diabetes. Interventions aimed at reducing depressive symptoms may positively influence diabetes-specific quality of life as well. Methods. A pragmatic, randomized controlled trial was carried out comparing the intervention with usual care among 208 Dutch primary care patients of ≥60 years with type 2 diabetes and co-occurring minor to moderate depression. Data on symptom distress and emotional distress were collected during 2003-2006, and haemoglobin A1c levels were obtained from general practices. Data were analysed using mixed model, repeated measures ANCOVAs. Hba1c was collected retrospectively from general practices between December 2006-February 2007. In July 2007 we retrieved some additional HbA1c data from the medical records of the university hospital. Results. Only in higher-educated persons did the intervention have statistically significant effect on both emotional distress and symptom distress (DSC-R total score at 9 months P = 0.001; PAID, 9 months P = 0.03). Furthermore, we found an effect on symptom distress in men (9 months P = 0.01), and on emotional distress in persons with a shorter diabetes duration (<7 years) (9 months P = 0.04). A significant trend over time for haemoglobin A1c was found in favour of the intervention, with a statistically significant difference between groups after 9 months (P = 0.02). Conclusion. The nurse-administered intervention had limited effects on diabetes-specific quality of life. As only certain subgroups benefited, ways of increasing effectiveness in other groups should be explored. The potentially beneficial effect on glycaemic control is encouraging and needs further research because of small numbers in the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]