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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Nurses’ research utilization (RU) as part of evidence-based practice is strongly emphasized in today’s nursing education and clinical practice. The primary aim of RU is to provide high-quality nursing care to patients. Data on newly graduated nurses’ RU are scarce, but a predominance of low use has been reported in recent studies. Factors associated with nurses’ RU have previously been identified among individual and organizational/contextual factors, but there is a lack of knowledge about how these factors, including educational ones, interact with each other and with RU, particularly in nurses during the first years after graduation. The purpose of this study was therefore to identify factors that predict the probability for low RU among registered nurses two years after graduation. Methods Data were collected as part of the LANE study (Longitudinal Analysis of Nursing Education), a Swedish national survey of nursing students and registered nurses. Data on nurses’ instrumental, conceptual, and persuasive RU were collected two years after graduation (2007, n = 845), together with data on work contextual factors. Data on individual and educational factors were collected in the first year (2002) and last term of education (2004). Guided by an analytic schedule, bivariate analyses, followed by logistic regression modeling, were applied. Results Of the variables associated with RU in the bivariate analyses, six were found to be significantly related to low RU in the final logistic regression model: work in the psychiatric setting, role ambiguity, sufficient staffing, low work challenge, being male, and low student activity. Conclusions A number of factors associated with nurses’ low extent of RU two years postgraduation were found, most of them potentially modifiable. These findings illustrate the multitude of factors related to low RU extent and take their interrelationships into account. This knowledge might serve as useful input in planning future studies aiming to improve nurses’, specifically newly graduated nurses’, RU.

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 (GSE). 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 GSE 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 Clusters 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 GSE lower than other students. The findings illuminate the need for student‐centred strategies in nursing education, including elements of self‐assessment in relation to examination to make the students more aware of their clinical competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 organisation 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 have the opportunity to partner with RNs with a PhD to support the EBP process and help structure nursing practice in more efficient ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To examine objective visual acuity measured with ETDRS, retinal thickness (OCT), patient reported outcome and describe levels of glycated hemoglobin and its association with the effects on visual acuity in patients treated with anti-VEGF for visual impairment due to diabetic macular edema (DME) during 12months in a real world setting.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 58 patients (29 females and 29 males; mean age, 68years) with type 1 and type 2 diabetes diagnosed with DME were included. Medical data and two questionnaires were collected; an eye-specific (NEI VFQ-25) and a generic health-related quality of life questionnaire (SF-36) were used.Results: The total patient group had significantly improved visual acuity and reduced retinal thickness at 4months and remains at 12months follow up. Thirty patients had significantly improved visual acuity, and 27 patients had no improved visual acuity at 12months. The patients with improved visual acuity had significantly improved scores for NEI VFQ-25 subscales including general health, general vision, near activities, distance activities, and composite score, but no significant changes in scores were found in the group without improvements in visual acuity.Conclusions: Our study revealed that anti-VEGF treatment improved visual acuity and central retinal thickness as well as patient-reported outcome in real world 12months after treatment start. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence-based practice is at the forefront of today's health service. The aim is to improve the quality of nursing care by basing it on the best available research findings. All [...]