Confusion About Professional Autonomy Among Final-year Nursing Students in Spain.

Nursing autonomy is an object of ongoing debate. Knowing how the next generation of nurses conceives of autonomy is essential, given its role in professional satisfaction and retention. The aim of this research was to understand how nursing students at the end of their nursing education view nursing autonomy. A qualitative study was conducted with third-year nursing students in Barcelona, Spain, using focus groups. A theme analysis was used and Guba's criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability were applied. Three key themes emerged: 1) greater autonomy than expected; 2) historical increase in professional autonomy; and 3) confusion surrounding autonomy. Students' surpassed expectations and awareness of a historical increase in autonomy bode well for the profession. However, confusion about autonomy may lead to false expectations, which may cause some nurses to become frustrated and even leave the profession. Because this process occurs in a context of growing demand for nurses, understanding factors that affect hiring and retention is a priority. Strategies are needed to clarify new nurses' understanding of autonomy.

Contradictory views of nursing care among students at the end of their nursing education.

AIM: To understand how nursing students at the end of their nursing education view nursing care. BACKGROUND: Although care is understood as the essence of nursing, it is often difficult for nurses to provide care, which demonstrates a contradiction between theory and practice. Moreover, it is unknown to what extent this contradiction is transmitted to future nursing professionals or how they view nursing care and its practice. DESIGN: Qualitative ethnographic research. METHODS: The fieldwork was conducted between December 2010 - May 2012 in a university nursing school in Barcelona and two centres where students carry out most of their practical education. The data collection techniques were participant observation and focus groups. A thematic analysis was used. RESULTS: The students demonstrated contradictory views of nursing care. On one hand, they voiced a more theoretical, official definition where care is considered the core of the profession. On the other hand, they also expressed a view where the provision of care is not nurses' principal daily activity, a fact that did not surprise them. Students interpreted caring as an activity that has low value and that can be transferred unproblematically to other professionals. CONCLUSION: The contradictory views of care reveal a problem in the transmission of the definition of nursing to new generations of professionals and reflect a problematic professional reality where there is dissonance between how nursing is defined and how it is carried out in practice.