Factors Influencing Generation Z Bachelor of Nursing Students' Decision to Choose Nursing as a Career: A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Despite nurses representing the largest healthcare professional group, the number is not enough for global health coverage. Understanding Generation Z students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, internal and external influences, and beliefs in choosing nursing education is crucial. This knowledge empowers universities to enhance nursing program enrollment through targeted promotion and recruitment strategies. Objective: The aim was to understand why Italian students of Generation Z choose the Nursing Degree Course. Methods: In this pilot study, a cross-sectional design was used. A survey with closed and open answers analyzing demographics, opinions, and motivations among new enrolled nursing students was administered on the first day of the Bachelor of Nursing Degree course. Descriptive statistics were used. Quantitative data were analyzed with Chi-square and ANOVA tests and qualitative data underwent content analysis and coding. Correlation analysis explored relationships between qualitative and quantitative results. Results: Forty first-year students (85% female, average age 22) completed the questionnaire. The choice of the degree pathway, as the first or second option, is influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, the student's opinions, and family and social influences. Significant positive and negative associations were evidenced. Negative factors affecting choice included location and the responsibility for nursing care, while positive factors included role models, family advice, passion, curiosity for healthcare, the desire to help others, and family influences on decision-making. Conclusions: Among Italian generation Z students, the choice of the nursing degree pathway is influenced by social models, family advice, passion, the desire to help others, and curiosity. Universities should be more proactive in their recruitment and promotion efforts, transforming these events into vibrant meeting points for professionals from diverse nursing specialties. They should also implement robust information policies that highlight career possibilities spanning clinical practice, management, education, and research areas within the field.

Self-Perceived Clinical Competence of Nurses in Different Working Experiences: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Competence is an essential concept for measuring nurses' performance in terms of effectiveness and quality. To this end, our analysis highlighted the process of acquiring competencies, their self-evaluation into clinical practice, and how their proficiency levels change throughout the nursing career. In detail, this research explored nurses' perceived level of competence and the factors that influence it in different contexts. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire to assess the nursing participants' perception of their competencies in different clinical settings was accomplished. RESULTS: A descriptive and bivariate analysis was performed on 431 nurses. Most respondents assessed their level of competence to be higher than their roles required. The Kruskal-Wallis test confirmed that nursing experience was a relevant factor influencing nursing competencies. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest improving the competence of practicing nurses, using experience as a measurable effect of their development.

Evaluation of Standard Precautions Compliance Instruments: A Systematic Review Using COSMIN Methodology.

BACKGROUND: Standard precautions (SPs) are first-line strategies with a dual goal: to protect health care workers from occupational contamination while providing care to infected patients and to prevent/reduce health care-associated infections (HAIs). This study aimed at (1) identifying the instruments currently available for measuring healthcare professionals' compliance with standard precautions; (2) evaluating their measurement properties; and (3) providing sound evidence for instrument selection for use by researchers, teachers, staff trainers, and clinical tutors. METHODS: We carried out a systematic review to examine the psychometric properties of standard precautions self-assessment instruments in conformity with the COSMIN guidelines. The search was conducted on the databases PubMed, CINAHL, and APA PsycInfo. RESULTS: Thirteen instruments were identified. These were classified into four categories of tools assessing: compliance with universal precautions, adherence to standard precautions, compliance with hand hygiene, and adherence to transmission-based guidelines and precautions. The psychometric properties of instruments and methodological approaches of the included studies were often not satisfactory. Only four instruments were classified as high-quality measurements. CONCLUSIONS: The available instruments that measure healthcare professionals' compliance with standard precautions are of low-moderate quality. It is necessary that future research completes the validation processes undertaken for long-established and newly developed instruments, using higher-quality methods and estimating all psychometric properties.

Appraisal and Evaluation of the Learning Environment Instruments of the Student Nurse: A Systematic Review Using COSMIN Methodology.

BACKGROUND: Nursing education consists of theory and practice, and student nurses' perception of the learning environment, both educational and clinical, is one of the elements that determines the success or failure of their university study path. This study aimed to identify the currently available tools for measuring the clinical and educational learning environments of student nurses and to evaluate their measurement properties in order to provide solid evidence for researchers, educators, and clinical tutors to use in the selection of tools. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review to evaluate the psychometric properties of self-reported learning environment tools in accordance with the Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) Guidelines of 2018. The research was conducted on the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL, APA PsycInfo, and ERIC. RESULTS: In the literature, 14 instruments were found that evaluate both the traditional and simulated clinical learning environments and the educational learning environments of student nurses. These tools can be ideally divided into first-generation tools developed from different learning theories and second-generation tools developed by mixing, reviewing, and integrating different already-validated tools. CONCLUSION: Not all the relevant psychometric properties of the instruments were evaluated, and the methodological approaches used were often doubtful or inadequate, thus threatening the instruments' external validity. Further research is needed to complete the validation processes undertaken for both new and already developed instruments, using higher-quality methods and evaluating all psychometric properties.

High performance multi-purpose nanostructured thin films by inkjet printing: Au micro-electrodes and SERS substrates.

Nanostructured thin metal films are exploited in a wide range of applications, spanning from electrical to optical transducers and sensors. Inkjet printing has become a compliant technique for sustainable, solution-processed, and cost-effective thin films fabrication. Inspired by the principles of green chemistry, here we show two novel formulations of Au nanoparticle-based inks for manufacturing nanostructured and conductive thin films by using inkjet printing. This approach showed the feasibility to minimize the use of two limiting factors, namely stabilizers and sintering. The extensive morphological and structural characterization provides pieces of evidence about how the nanotextures lead to high electrical and optical performances. Our conductive films (sheet resistance equal to 10.8 ± 4.1 Ω per square) are a few hundred nanometres thick and feature remarkable optical properties in terms of SERS activity with enhancement factors as high as 107 averaged on the mm2 scale. Our proof-of-concept succeeded in simultaneously combining electrochemistry and SERS by means of real-time tracking of the specific signal of mercaptobenzoic acid cast on our nanostructured electrode.

Label-free immunodetection of α-synuclein by using a microfluidics coplanar electrolyte-gated organic field-effect transistor.

The aggregation of α-synuclein is a critical event in the pathogenesis of neurological diseases, such as Parkinson or Alzheimer. Here, we present a label-free sensor based on an Electrolyte-Gated Organic Field-Effect Transistor (EGOFET) integrated with microfluidics that allows for the detection of amounts of α-synuclein in the range from 0.25 pM to 25 nM. The lower limit of detection (LOD) measures the potential of our integrated device as a tool for prognostics and diagnostics. In our device, the gate electrode is the effective sensing element as it is functionalised with anti-(α-synuclein) antibodies using a dual strategy: i) an amino-terminated self-assembled monolayer activated by glutaraldehyde, and ii) the His-tagged recombinant protein G. In both approaches, comparable sensitivity values were achieved, featuring very low LOD values at the sub-pM level. The microfluidics engineering is central to achieve a controlled functionalisation of the gate electrode and avoid contamination or physisorption on the organic semiconductor. The demonstrated sensing architecture, being a disposable stand-alone chip, can be operated as a point-of-care test, but also it might represent a promising label-free tool to explore in-vitro protein aggregation that takes place during the progression of neurodegenerative illnesses.