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Background: Understanding how nursing students in European countries perceive their future professional role is an important step in creating awareness of the diversity and similarities between countries. Investigating nursing students' perceptions of their future profession could help in the design of education and the retention of nurses. Aim: To compare nursing students' perceptions of the professional nurse's role between Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. Method: A cross‐sectional design was implemented. The study used two scales of the Professional Nursing Image Survey, which has questions about 10 skills and abilities and 14 functions and duties of a nurse. Results: A total of 392 final‐year nursing students in four countries participated in the study. Statistically significant differences were found between countries in terms of all 10 skills and abilities and in the distribution of responses concerning functions and duties of a nurse. Conclusions: Nursing students in Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden perceive differently the role of a nurse in terms of some functions and responsibilities. This may influence the adaptation of nurses who enjoy freedom of movement among the countries. Implications for nursing policy: The knowledge gained in this study could be beneficial in improving nursing education, as it could illuminate the discrepancy between educational goals and students' perceptions of their future professional role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low levels of impurities need to be determined in drugs. Consequently, if UV detection is used, a large sample amount must be loaded and as narrow peaks as possible obtained. The sample matrix and the stability of the samples as well as the peak resolution should be considered when the electrolyte is chosen. In this study the influence of the sample matrix composition with varying background electrolytes on the peak appearance of model mixtures loaded in large amounts was investigated. A robust electrolyte for analysis of bases in a sample with varying pH was found to consist of a buffering co-ion and a buffering counter-ion (the pH was approximately 4.2 in the electrolyte). If a minor component has higher mobility than the macrocomponent and the co-ion, better peak shape can be obtained if, for instance, enough sodium chloride is added to the sample, i.e., sample self-stacking is exploited. The effect of addition of organic modifiers, isopropanol or acetonitrile, was examined and good linearity and precision have been shown for impurities in the concentration range tested, approximately 0.03 to 5 mol% of the main component, in model mixtures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study it is demonstrated that much higher concentrations of bases dissolved in water can be injected in capillary zone electrophoresis without causing peak deterioration, e.g., peak splitting, if it is the co-ion that buffers instead of the counter-ion. Those findings can be utilised to control peak shapes and in this way an increase in the sample load and indirectly a decrease in the detection limits of impurities in the sample can be obtained. Good results were obtained with 4-aminobutyric and 6-aminocaproic acids as buffering co-ions. Another possibility evaluated successfully was that of using a dibasic acid, malic acid or succinic acid. With an electrolyte containing both succinic acid and 6-aminocaproic acid at pH 4.5, it was possible to load at least 10–20 times more of the test substances imidazole, creatinine or 2-aminopyrimidine dissolved in water than with an electrolyte at the same pH containing acetic acid and tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]