Antecedents and outcomes of work engagement among nursing staff in long-term care facilities-A systematic review.

AIM: To determine antecedents and outcomes of work engagement (WE) among nursing staff in long-term care (LTC) using the Job Demand-Resources model. DESIGN: A systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis statement and Synthesis Without Meta-analysis in systematic reviews guideline. A study protocol was registered in PROSPERO (registration number CRD42022336736). DATA SOURCES: The initial searches were performed in PsycInfo, Medline, Academic Search Premier, CINAHL and Scopus and yielded 3050 unique publications. Updated searches identified another 335 publications. Sixteen studies published from 2010 to 2022 were included. REVIEW METHODS: The screening of titles and abstracts, and subsequently full-text publications, was performed blinded by two author teams using the inclusion/exclusion criteria. When needed, a mutual consensus was obtained through discussion within and across the teams. A descriptive and narrative synthesis without a meta-analysis of the included studies was performed. RESULTS: The extent of research on WE in LTC facilities is limited and the factors examined are heterogeneous. Of forty-two unique antecedents and outcomes, only three factors were assessed in three or more studies. Antecedents-in particular job resources-are more commonly examined than outcomes. CONCLUSION: Existing literature offers scant evidence on antecedents and outcomes of WE among nursing staff in LTC facilities. Social support, learning and development opportunities and person-centred processes are the most examined factors, yet with ambiguous results. IMPACT: Antecedents and outcomes of engagement among nursing staff in LTC facilities have not previously been reviewed systematically. Engagement has been correlated with both more efficient and higher-quality service delivery. Our findings suggest opportunities to improve health and care services by enhancing engagement, whilst at the same time better caring for employees. This study lays the groundwork for more detailed research into the contributing factors and potential results of increasing caregivers' engagement. No patient or public contribution.

Revealing historical perspectives on the professionalization of nursing education in Norway-Dilemmas in the past and the present.

The professionalization of modern nursing education from 1850 and forward is closely linked to values and virtues underpinned by Christian ideals, sex-based stereotypes and class. Development in the late 19th century of modern hospital medicine, combined with a scientific understanding of antisepsis and asepsis, hygiene, contagion prevention and germ theory, were highly influential insights to the dominant position of modern medicine in health care. This development constituted a key premise for what nurses, by virtue of being women, and combined with their education, could offer in terms of medical assistance. It enabled them to challenge the prevailing sex-based stereotypes- and class-based hierarchies, allowing modern nursing to retain aspects of both traditional Christian and womanly values, while at the same time adhering to the medical science paradigm. In this paper, we argue that modern nursing education developed in a context characterized by traditional female and religious values, while at the same time being increasingly dominated by the influence of scientific and medical progress. This conflict between traditional and modern values caused dilemmas and tensions as the nursing profession developed. We argue further that similar dilemmas and tensions continue to pervade contemporary nursing and nursing education.