Global emotional and spiritual well-being and resilience of Advanced Practice Nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emotional and spiritual well-being and resilience of a global sample of Advanced Practice Nurses. DESIGN: A web-based cross-sectional mixed methods study. Survey data were collected from Advanced Practice Nurses globally over a 2-month period ending on 31 August 2020. METHODS: The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, FACIT-12 Spiritual Well-being Scale and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10 were used to quantify emotional and spiritual well-being and resilience of Advanced Practice Nurses' globally. The survey was distributed internationally using snowball sampling via a secure platform (Qualtrics). Results were analysed using various bivariate tests for associations and group differences. RESULTS: Nine hundred and twenty-eight Advanced Practice Nurses from 53 countries participated in the study. Study participants reported meaningfully lower scores in resilience and emotional well-being compared with non-pandemic scores. Participants from countries with well-developed Advanced Practice Nurses roles reported lower resilience and well-being scores compared with those from countries where Advanced Practice Nurses roles are still being developed. Each scale revealed significant positive associations with the other scales. CONCLUSIONS: Emotional and spiritual well-being and resilience of Advance Practice Nurses has been significantly impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of their work location, work hours, credential or demographics, the APNs in our study reported lower levels of resilience and mental well-being compared with typical scores on the instruments.

Top ten: A model of dominating factors influencing job satisfaction of emergency nurses.

BACKGROUND: Increasing emergency department (ED) visits per capita, combined with an aging population and ongoing budgetary constraints in Canada's health care system necessitate continuous improvements to ensure that patients remain safe and continue to receive high quality care. Addressing ED nursing job satisfaction is a cost-effective way of improving safety and quality of hospital care. METHODS: A scoping literature review was conducted to examine the breadth of job satisfaction literature and identify the factors that specifically influence the job satisfaction of ED nurses. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A review of 161 journal articles revealed 34 articles fitting the inclusion criteria, which were included in the final analysis. There were ten predominant factors that allowed for workplace interventions, including six that did not achieve consensus. The ten factors are presented in the form of a practical model for implementation based on the Herzberg two-factor theory and the Maslow hierarchy of needs theory. CONCLUSION: The model informs healthcare leaders how to pragmatically understand job satisfaction specific to ED nurses. This information in turn can be used to design interventions that increase job satisfaction while maintaining safety and quality of care.

Strengthening the approach to oral health policy and practice in Canada.

Evidence suggests that Canadian children from marginalized populations experience higher rates of oral diseases than their more fortunate counterparts. Oral health care in Canada is a nearly exclusively privatized and siloed system. In order to close the gap in child oral health, a combination of cohesive strategies and accessible providers is essential. The Health Impact Pyramid is a paradigm to guide health policy and programming with ready application to oral health care in Canada for the delivery of evidence-based oral health interventions with high impact. A collaborative approach among primary care providers (oral health and nonoral health), educators and the public sector, and the utilization of oral health service providers to their full scope of practice is needed to access priority populations and to deliver the most impactful interventions. Strengthening the approach to oral health care in Canada is necessary to reduce the inequities in oral health and, in turn, overall child health.

Children's Oral Health and Barriers to Seeking Care: Perspectives of Caregivers Seeking Pediatric Hospital Dental Treatment.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the demographics of children (and their caregivers) requiring hospital-based tertiary dental care, oral health services use and perceptions of and barriers to oral healthcare in Nova Scotia. METHOD: A questionnaire was administered to caregivers (N = 62) on behalf of their child (N = 62). RESULTS: Nearly half (45.8%, N = 27) of the caregivers experienced difficulty seeking oral healthcare for both themselves and their children. Less than a quarter (23.2%, N = 13) of the caregivers sought care for their child by the recommended age of one (mean age of first visit = 2.69 years). Alternate delivery in a school, community or primary healthcare setting was preferred by 53.3% (n = 32) of the caregivers for children's oral healthcare. Low-income families (53.8%, n = 28), rural areas (47.4%, n = 27) and Indigenous children (9.7%, n = 6) were over-represented in the study's sample. CONCLUSION: Socio-economically disadvantaged populations are more vulnerable to oral diseases. Oral health of priority populations in Nova Scotia appears to be inadequately addressed.

Conducting research through cross national collaboration.

AIM: To explore the collaborative nature of an international research project with other advanced practice nurse researchers and critically analyse the process. BACKGROUND: Research within the nursing community is recognized internationally as important to ensure that nurses participate in cutting-edge health care and promote evidence-based practices, yet there is little detail found in literature on how a successful collaborative relationship is initiated and conducted in advanced practice research. DESIGN: Discussion paper: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the process of collaboration on a research study among advanced practice nurses from four countries who are members of an international organization. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: The collaborative process in international nursing research can be challenging and rewarding. It is important to remember that there is a relationship between the complexity of the study and the time required to complete it. Keys to success include following established guidelines. CONCLUSION: This project was a valuable experience in developing collaborative relationships as well as creating partnerships for future research to build on the knowledge gained. The authors' linkages to universities facilitated their participation in the research and completion of the ethical review processes. The use of social media and university resources was indispensable.

In the Palm of Your Hand - Normalizing the Use of Mobile Technology for Nurse Practitioner Education and Clinical Practice.

The use of mobile devices by nurse practitioners (NPs) to meet an evolving technological landscape is expanding rapidly. A longitudinal study of the ways NP students "normalize" the use of mobile devices in clinical education was completed. This study used researcher-designed survey tools, including sociodemographic questions, and the numerical picture was augmented and interpreted in light of the textual data in the form of selected interviews. Data indicate that mobile technology is normalized in the social realm but still developing in the clinical realm. Progress is hindered by non-modelling by faculty, inconsistent healthcare policy and lack of understanding of the affordances available through this technology. Overall, mobile technology is utilized and normalized in practice; this in turn has influenced their ability to prepare students for practice. Data presented can assist educators and clinicians alike in developing a more fulsome understanding on how to appropriately incorporate mobile technology into education and practice.

Prescription for physical activity a survey of Canadian nurse practitioners.

Although nurse practitioners are well placed to counsel patients about getting enough exercise, little abstract is known about their attitudes and practice in this area of health promotion. The authors used a self-administered Internet-based questionnaire to explore how Canadian NPs perceive their competence in prescribing physical activity and the importance they ascribe to doing so. Participants were asked to identify factors that most commonly prompt physical activity prescription. Overall, the respondents felt fairly competent in their ability to prescribe physical activity (mean score 4.49/6.0, SD = .90) and felt that this function was important (mean score 4.82/6.0, SD = .85). Competence in prescribing physical activity and a perception that this intervention is important were both positively correlated with frequency of prescribing. The most commonly reported barrier to prescribing physical activity was a lack of time. On average, respondents prescribed physical activity to 59 per cent of their patients. The patient factors that most commonly prompted physical activity prescription were overweight or obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular health. The lack of specific education in preventive medicine (e.g., obesity prevention, physical activity, nutrition) reported by 63 per cent of respondents points to the need for a physical activity prescription curriculum within nursing education to equip future NPs to respond to the high prevalence of physical inactivity in Canadian society.

Take the challenge: strategies to improve support for parents of chronically ill children.

Parents of children with chronic illnesses experience tremendous burden when caring for their children at home. There are many challenges that are present throughout the course of chronic illnesses. To provide better care to the family caring for an ill child at home, clinicians must understand the experiences family members go through on a daily basis. The purpose of this article is to help clinicians better understand these parental experiences; by increasing clinicians' awareness, strategies can then be used, which will improve the outcome for the child, parents, and siblings.

Canadian nurse practitioner job satisfaction.

PURPOSE: To examine the level of job satisfaction and its association with extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction characteristics among Canadian primary healthcare nurse practitioners (NPs). DATA SOURCES: A descriptive correlational design was used to collect data on NPs' job satisfaction and on the factors that influence their job satisfaction. A convenience sample of licensed Canadian NPs was recruited from established provincial associations and special-interest groups. Data about job satisfaction were collected using two valid and reliable instruments, the Misener Nurse Practitioner Job Satisfaction Survey and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and regression analysis were used to describe the results. CONCLUSIONS: The overall job satisfaction for this sample ranged from satisfied to highly satisfied. The elements that had the most influence on overall job satisfaction were the extrinsic category of partnership/collegiality and the intrinsic category of challenge/autonomy. These findings were consistent with Herzberg's Dual Factor Theory of Job Satisfaction. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The outcomes of this study will serve as a foundation for designing effective human health resource retention and recruitment strategies that will assist in enhancing the implementation and the successful preservation of the NP's role.

Practice doctorates in nursing: developing nursing leaders.

Over the past two decades, doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree programs have grown rapidly in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. The DNP has as its emphasis the preparation of leaders for clinical practice, health policy, administration and clinical research. DNP-prepared nurses are in a prime position to work with nurse researchers and to provide leadership in nursing in a variety of settings. DNP programs prepare nurses for the highest level of practice, while PhD programs will continue to prepare nurse researchers. Both PhD and DNP programs are needed to advance nursing knowledge and provide leadership in healthcare.