Nurses' perception of implicit nursing care rationing in Croatia-A cross-sectional multicentre study.

AIM: To examine Croatian nurses' perception of implicit nursing care rationing and the patient safety culture from the perspective of acute care hospital staff. BACKGROUND: In the past three decades, the Croatian health system has undergone numerous transformations driven by geopolitical, legal, financial, demographic, scientific and technological progress. These changes have led to systemic changes in the structure, organisation, financing and delivery of health care, and thus, of nursing care. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 438 nurses was conducted at four university hospitals in Croatia, based on the Perceived Implicit Rationing of Nursing Care Questionnaire. RESULTS: A lower assessment of the quality of care in the unit is associated with a higher score on the Perceived Implicit Rationing of Nursing Care Questionnaire, r = -.379, p < .001. A lower satisfaction with the current workplace is associated with a higher score on the Perceived Implicit Rationing of Nursing Care Questionnaire, r = -.432, p < .001. CONCLUSION: The perception of nurses in Croatia indicates that the implications of nursing care rationing and dissatisfaction with their post in acute care hospital units are closely related to poor quality of nursing care provided to patients. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Based on these results, nurse managers should take their nurses' perceptions of implicit nursing care rationing into consideration in order to develop strategies to improve nursing care delivery, nursing satisfaction and, consequently, better nursing care quality.

Changes in Nursing Students' Attitudes Towards Nursing During Undergraduate Study

The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of nursing students towards nursing, and changes in their attitudes during the study. A quantitative study with pre-post survey was conducted among nursing students enrolled in first study year in the academic year 2012/2013 (N=115) and third study year in the academic year 2014/2015 (N=106). Students voluntarily and anonymously completed a questionnaire consisting of demographic information and the Nursing Image Questionnaire, which includes 30 items that assess how an individual looks at the roles and tasks, values, social stereotypes of nursing, professionalism and performance of nurses. The results indicated that students had positive attitude towards nursing at the beginning and during the study. During the study, there was a positive change in attitudes in the majority of items of the questionnaire, whereas at the end of the study lower attitude was expressed in only four items. The study conducted among nursing students indicated that students' attitudes changed during the study, influenced by the acquisition of knowledge and skills. During the study, students acquire a more realistic perception of nursing, and adoption of professional values emerges.

THE ROLE AND PROMOTION OF NURSING.

Nurses have great influence on health care system. As they face many different states of affairs nowadays, it is necessary to find a way to promote and enable their profession. The significant interaction between nurses and patients and other medical professions makes them a powerful marketing tool of a medical institution. Therefore, the promotion of their image is necessary because of authorizing their professional status. There are numerous ways of creating and improving their image. Some of them include implementation of marketing principles and the Internet as well. This paper presents the web page promotion of nursing, i.e. the Nursing and Related Professions of the Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Center homepage, as a tool of nursing promotion.