An examination of the career decision-making self-efficacy of final-year nursing students.

BACKGROUND: One in four newly graduated registered nurses leave their employment positions within the first year. To reduce this attrition, nursing stakeholders could focus on the final year of nursing education because students at this stage make professional career plans, including their practice destination for the graduate year and their commitment to the profession. Previous studies provide evidence of nursing students' career preferences and specialty choices. However, there is a dearth of data that focuses on the students' career decision-making process. AIM: This study examined the self-efficacy or confidence of final-year nursing students in making career decisions and the factors that influence their career decision-making process. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Final year pre-registration nursing students (N = 222) at two public universities in Western Australia. METHODS: An online survey was used to collect cross-sectional data. The Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale - Short Form was used to investigate nursing students' confidence in making career decisions. Career decision-making self-efficacy refers to the confidence to successfully complete career decision-making tasks. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the participants' characteristics. The chi-square test was used to assess the significance of the difference between categorical data, and binary logistic regression was used to determine the odds of the factors that predict career decision self-efficacy. RESULTS: Forty-seven percent of participants who answered all Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale - Short Form questions had good confidence in making career decisions. Factors such as the setting of the final clinical placement, the intention to be employed in the specialisation or organisation of their final placement and the students' assessment of their clinical experience were associated with career decision-making confidence. CONCLUSIONS: Most participants had low confidence in making career decisions. This study provides ideas for nursing stakeholders to implement measures to improve students' confidence to make informed career decisions.

The impact of final-year clinical placements on nursing students' career planning for the graduate year and beyond.

AIMS: This study had three objectives: 1) to determine final-year nursing students' career preferences and long-term career plans; 2) to investigate factors influencing nursing students' specialty choices following their final-year clinical placement(s); and 3) to understand how final-year clinical placements can be used to develop the career interests of nursing students to different nursing specialties. BACKGROUND: Clinical placement provides an insightful experience that may influence students to feel inclined to work in certain specialties. Therefore, each clinical placement should promote students' learning and enhance positive experiences that could develop their career interests and encourage them to seek employment in the specialty on graduation. DESIGN: A cross-sectional online survey. METHODS: The survey was structured using the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale - Short Form. The questionnaire was distributed to final-year nursing students (N = 222) at two public universities in Western Australia. This study specifically reports on the Goal selection and Planning domains of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale - Short Form, which were explored through additional questions prompting participants to explain their career preferences and reasons for their nursing specialty choices. RESULTS: Most participants, fifty-three percent, had low confidence in making career decisions. The Goal Selection and Planning questions measured the students' confidence in choosing a suitable practice destination and preparing for their professional careers. Overall, participants prefer employment in hospital settings both in the short- and long-term aspects of their nursing career. The factors influencing the students' career decisions were classified into three main categories: the clinical environment, educational factors and individual factors. CONCLUSIONS: The nursing curriculum may encourage nursing students to work in some specialties over others. This study provides insight into factors that may promote or inhibit students' career choices and how students may be motivated to pursue the less preferred nursing specialties.

Implementation and effectiveness of a nurse navigation programme based on noddings' care theory in first-year undergraduate nursing students for professional identity and career planning: A quasi-experimental study.

AIMS: Development and evaluation of the effectiveness of a Nurse Navigation programme based on Noddings' Care theory on two dependent variables which were professional identity and career planning among first-year undergraduate nursing students. BACKGROUND: First-year undergraduate nursing students generally have a low sense of professional identity and career planning, resulting in a loss of nursing power after graduation. Implemention of a Nurse Navigation program based on Noddings' Care theory may be potentially useful in cultivating their professional identity and career planning. DESIGN: A quasi-experimental study. METHODS: A convenience sample of 122 first-year undergraduate nursing students from two medical universities was recruited between September 2021 and June 2022. Students in the experimental group (n = 63) participated in the Nurse Navigation programme based on Noddings' Care theory, which contained four core components, spreading over 50 lessons. Those in the control group (n = 59) underwent a traditional training programme with five components across 44 lessons. The two groups were compared in terms of their level of professional identity by Professional identity questionnaire for nurse students (PIQNS) and career planning by Career planning questionnaire (CPQ) after the training using the t-test. RESULTS: The mean score of professional identity in the experimental group increased significantly from 51.02 ± 8.46 at baseline to 58.02 ± 8.81 after the intervention (p < 0.001), with a large effect size (Cohen's d=0.810). Also, this post-intervention score was statistically significantly higher than that (52.86 ± 9.27) in the control group (p = 0.002), with a medium effect size (Cohen's d=0.571). The mean score of career planning in the experimental group increased significantly from 81.76 ± 9.86 at baseline to 94.52 ± 10.81 after the intervention (p < 0.001), with a large effect size (Cohen's d = 1.233). Also, this post-intervention score was statistically significantly higher than that (88.25 ± 9.30) in the control group (p < 0.001), with a medium effect size (Cohen's d=0.623). CONCLUSIONS: The Nurse Navigation programme based on Noddings' Care theory showed effectiveness in enhancing professional identity and career planning among first-year undergraduate nursing students in China. Further rigorous studies are needed to examine its effectiveness and long-term impacts on these students.

Opting In and Out: A Qualitative Study Exploring Career Break Experiences of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists.

BACKGROUND: Since 2002, an average of 17.5% of registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) have reported being out of the paid dietetics workforce, and approximately half of those report intention to return. With the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' focus on expanding workforce demand and capacity, understanding why and how dietitians opt in and out of the dietetics workforce may provide insights into how to potentially reduce the number of career breaks or expedite and enhance the reentry process. OBJECTIVE: To explore the lived experiences and perspectives of dietitians who were taking (with intention to return) or had taken a career break and returned to the paid dietetics' workforce. DESIGN: A qualitative study with semistructured interviews was conducted. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Participants (n = 22) were recruited through purposive sampling over social media. They were required to be credentialed as RDNs, reside in the United States, and have either previously or currently (with intent to return) taken a break from the dietetics workforce. Interviews were conducted using Zoom videoconferencing technology during September 2021. DATA ANALYSIS: Data were analyzed using a Coding Reliability Thematic Analysis approach. RESULTS: The data are summarized in four themes: (1) motivations to leave and return, (2) staying connected with dietetics, (3) preparing to return and returning to the dietetics workforce, and (4) desired resources for career breaks and reentry. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the experiences of dietitians who take career breaks may help inform career reentry and help the profession meet the current and future workforce demand.

Employment intention and career planning of male nursing students in different levels of colleges and universities: A qualitative study.

AIM: To explore the employment intention and career planning of male nursing students at different levels of colleges and universities and provide references for formulating individualized training content. DESIGN: Phenomenological research method in qualitative research. METHODS: Using a phenomenological research method, 15 male nursing students from three levels of colleges and universities were interviewed in a one-to-half structure, and the data were analysed using NVivo12.0 software and the Colaizzi seven-step analysis method. RESULTS: Four themes and 10 sub-themes were extracted. The four themes included professional identity experience, nursing learning experience, career expectation and planning and educational needs. The 10 sub-themes included the negative effects of traditional impressions, the gradual establishment of professional identity, public health events promote professional identity, negative experiences in learning, positive growth from learning, varied career plans, career expectations and influencing factors, a reasonable schedule, diversity of content requirements and the positive effect of teaching teachers. CONCLUSIONS: Influenced by many factors, the employment intention and career planning of male nursing students at different higher education levels are varied. Schools and clinical practice units should strengthen the training of employment intention and career planning and make reasonable time adjustments to the training content. PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: In total, 15 male interns accepted our interview request. We utilized their break time to conduct the interviews, resulting in significant contributions to the content of the article.

A Cross-Sectional Survey Study of Student Pharmacists' Career Interests.

Background: Career planning is important to student pharmacists and pharmacy schools due to slower job growth for pharmacists over the last decade. Understanding students' career interests can help colleges and schools of pharmacy develop targeted career planning, as well as meaningful curricular and co-curricular activities. Objectives: This study aims to describe the career path interests of two doctor of pharmacy cohorts in each professional year (P1 through P4) during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 academic years. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional survey study conducted at an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education accredited college of pharmacy in the United States. Students were surveyed regarding their career interests in a mentorship program. Using frequencies and proportions we reported the pattern of students' career interests. Results: The top careers most frequently selected by students in the 2019-2020 cohort as their first choice were hospital (21.4% of P1s, 17.4% of P3s) and community (24.6% of P2s, 24.3% of P4s). Those career paths for the 2020-2021 cohort were hospital (21.4% of P1s), clinical specialty (19.2% of P2s, 21.9% of P4s), and community (22.9% of P3s). In both cohorts and all professional program years, students selected a broad range of first choice career interests and even broader range when indicating top 3 careers of interest. Conclusion: Overall, the most frequently selected career path interests were hospital, community, clinical specialty, and ambulatory care. However, there was broad variability in the career interests, accounting for a third to half of the students with interests different than the majority.

Profiling medical specialties and informing aspiring physicians: a data-driven approach.

A detailed, unbiased perspective of the inter-relations among medical fields could help students make informed decisions on their future career plans. Using a data-driven approach, the inter-relations among different medical fields were decomposed and clustered based on the similarity of their working environments.Publicly available, aggregate databases were merged into a single rich dataset containing demographic, working environment and remuneration information for physicians across Canada. These data were collected from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the Canadian Medical Association, and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, primarily from 2018 to 2019. The merged dataset includes 25 unique medical specialties, each with 36 indicator variables. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to group specialties into distinct clusters based on relatedness.The 25 medical specialties were decomposed into seven clusters (latent variables) that were chosen based on the Bayesian Information Criterion. The Kruskal-Wallis test identified eight indicator variables that significantly differed between the seven profiles. These variables included income, work settings and payment styles. Variables that did not significantly vary between profiles included demographics, professional satisfaction, and work-life balance satisfaction.The 25 analyzed medical specialties were grouped in an unsupervised manner into seven profiles via LPA. These profiles correspond to expected and meaningful groups of specialties that share a common theme and set of indicator variables (e.g. procedurally-focused, clinic-based practice). These profiles can help aspiring physicians narrow down and guide specialty choice.

Musings of Two Administrators for Those Considering a Career Change.

There is a learning curve when stepping into an administrative position, whether you have been planning the change for years or find yourself asked to replace someone who has left unexpectedly. Two associate deans offer perspectives on things we wish we had known prior to taking on our current position. Some are practical skills that can also be helpful in any faculty position, while others relate to the different perspectives an administrator needs. We also point out some experiences we feel helped set us up for success, which should be available to anyone considering a similar change of career. Our experiences may offer some benefit for individuals considering administrative positions by helping them reflect on what questions to ask themselves while choosing their next career step.

The Effectiveness of a Blended Learning-Based Life Design Course: Implications of Instruction and Application of Technology.

Purpose: Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 in Taiwan, we have adapted the face-to-face Life Design course to a blended learning approach with educational technology to cope with the problem of cross-generational confusion and anxiety towards later life from learners.The objectives of this study are to.evaluate learners' reactions after attending the Life Design course including their level of satisfaction, engagement (Level 1), and the applicability of courses in their life.evaluate their learning outcomes after attending the Life Design course, such as their acquisition of knowledge, skills, attitudes, confidence, commitment (Level 2), and behavioral changes (Level 3).explore the factors that enable and prevent students from transferring their learning in this course to the action taking and making behavioral changes.explore how the application of educational technology can enhance the teaching and learning in the Life Design course. Methods: This study used an action research method to solve two main problems we identified in practice: students' confusion about their future life and the shortcomings of traditional teaching methods, which cannot meet the learning needs of this type of course due to the requirement of intensive personal reflection and self-disclosure. Participants were 36 master's students who completed the Life Design course. Based on this course's design, implementation, and evaluation, we used the new Kirkpatrick Learning Assessment Model (Kirkpatrick J, Kirkpatrick WK. An introduction to the new world Kirkpatrick Model. Kirkpatrick Partners, 2021) to analyze the learning effectiveness on the Reaction, Learning, and Behavioral levels. Results: To facilitate learners to overcome the cross-generational confusion of their life design and solve the shortage of face-to-face teaching methods, we took biographical learning as the core theme for this Life Design course and designed online and offline learning activities. The blended learning approach with educational technology allowed us to go beyond time and location constraints and provide a holistic and inseparable learning experience in both formats. The result of the evaluation shows that students who took the Life Design course were highly satisfied with the overall course design, topics, and the suitability of a blended learning approach, which motivated them to extend their learning outside the classroom and helped them benefit from a more trusted, personal and hybrid interaction with teachers and their peers both online and offline. On the learning level, students not only learned the correct knowledge of age perspectives, changed their views of career and personal development, and acquired skills for life design, but were also confident and committed to applying what they have learned in their future life. After the course, many students applied and integrated the learning into behavioral changes in their life. In terms of the difficulties and hindrances encountered in action taking, many students mentioned the lack of peers' support and constraints from their busy daily life. Many suggested providing extra support after the course with regular impulse, follow-ups, and individual feedback from teachers and peers in an online learning community. This indicates how educational technology can better support these elements in continuous learning and the transfer of learning. Conclusion: Based on these results, we affirm that implementing this Life Design course with a blended learning approach is indeed better than a fully physical course. However, the focus of a blended learning approach should be on learners from a pedagogical perspective rather than technology.

The development of career planning scale for junior high school students based on cognitive information processing theory.

Based on the career theory of Cognitive Information Processing (CIP), we selected scale items from literature reviews and expert guidance. The scale consisted of 28 items with 4 factors (interests, abilities, values, personality). To test the scale's factor structure, we used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and the model was modified according to CFA results. The second-order confirmatory factor analysis was applied to the model of the scale to prove the rationality of the total score. The internal consistency were evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficients. In addition, the composite reliability (CR) and average variance extraction (AVE) of the scale were also calculated to test the convergent validity. After related analyses, the scale was proved to have good psychometric properties, which can be used to measure junior high school students' career planning level in information technology course from the aspects of interest, ability, values, and personality. The effect of the first-order confirmatory factor analysis model constructed in this study is not ideal. Therefore, on this basis, a second-order confirmatory factor analysis model is constructed in combination with existing literatures, and the rationality of the model is verified through data, which highlights the novelty of this study.

Sentidos do Trabalho para Brasileiros de Meia-Idade: Um Estudo Fenomenológico / Senses of Work for Middle-Aged Brazilians: A Phenomenological Study / Sentidos del Trabajo para Brasileños de Mediana Edad: Un Estudio Fenomenológico

O envelhecimento progressivo da sociedade demanda maior atenção aos aspectos profissionais de pessoas de meia-idade. Este estudo objetivou compreender os sentidos que 10 brasileiros entre 50 e 59 anos atribuem ao trabalho em um momento de transição de carreira. Trata-se de uma pesquisa fenomenológica, que empregou narrativas compreensivas individuais, elaboradas a partir de um encontro dialógico com cada participante, cujos sentidos e vivências compuseram uma narrativa síntese, representativa do todo. Os elementos estruturantes foram: a) transição profissional como fator de sofrimento; b) construção da identidade pessoal e social por meio do trabalho; c) trabalho como fonte de propósito de vida; d) trabalho como principal espaço de interação social; e) trabalho como recurso financeiro e subsistência foram discutidos a partir da Abordagem Experiencial de Gendlin. Descrevem-se tensões, desafios e a importância existencial do trabalho como mediador de sentidos. Fica evidenciada a necessidade de melhor preparo para transições laborais nessa fase de vida.

The progressive aging of society demands greater attention to the professional aspects of middle-aged people. This study aimed to understand the meanings that 10 Brazilians between 50 and 59-years old attribute to work in a moment of career transition. It is a phenomenological research that used individual comprehensive narratives, elaborated from a dialogical encounter with each participant, whose meanings and experiences comprised a synthesis narrative, representative of the whole. The structuring elements: a) professional transition as a factor of suffering; b) construction of personal and social identity through work; c) work as a source of life purpose; d) work as the main space for social interaction; e) work as a financial resource and subsistence were discussed based on Gendlin's Experiential Approach. Tensions, challenges and the existential importance of work as a meaningfulness mediator are described. The need for better preparation for work transitions in this stage of life is shown.

El progresivo envejecimiento de la sociedad exige una mayor atención a los aspectos profesionales de las personas de mediana edad. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo comprender los significados que 10 brasileños entre 50 y 59 años atribuyen al trabajo en un momento de transición profesional. Se trata de una investigación fenomenológica que utilizó narrativas comprensivas individuales, elaboradas a partir de un encuentro dialógico con cada participante, cuyos significados y vivencias conformaron una narrativa de síntesis, representativa del todo. Los elementos estructurantes: a) la transición profesional como factor de sufrimiento; b) construcción de identidad personal y social a través del trabajo; c) el trabajo como fuente de propósito de vida; d) trabajar como espacio principal de interacción social; e) el trabajo como recurso financiero y la subsistencia se discutieron sobre la base del Enfoque Experiencial de Gendlin. Se describen tensiones, desafíos y la importancia existencial del trabajo como mediador de significados. Se evidencia la necesidad de una mejor preparación para las transiciones laborales en esta etapa de la vida.

Retired Orthopedic Surgeons' Reflections on Their Lives and Careers: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Retired surgeons often have limited opportunities to disseminate their wisdom and expertise in a structured manner to their younger colleagues. In addition, when asked to reflect on their personal and professional lives, many physicians say they wish they had done something differently. The extent to which this is true of retired orthopedic surgeons is not known. Purpose: We sought to determine the percentage of retired orthopedic surgeons who say that they would like to have changed something in their life/career and delineate the most commonly desired changes. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of retired orthopedic surgeons, by emailing a Qualtrics survey to 5864 emeritus members of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), with 1 initial email invitation in April 2021 followed by 2 reminders in May 2021. The survey employed a branching logic, with up to 16 questions designed to determine whether they would have done anything differently in their life/career. Results: The survey was completed by 1165 of 5864 emeritus AAOS members, for a response rate of nearly 20%. The 3 most represented surgical subspecialties were general orthopedics, adult reconstruction, and hand and upper extremity surgery. Respondents' average age was 74.9 years and age at retirement was 67.8 years; nearly half worked part-time before retiring. More than 80% of the participants said that they had retired at the appropriate time, and 28.5% said they wished they had done something differently. The wished-for changes most often noted were spending more time with family, spending more time on personal wellness, and selecting better practice partners. Conclusion: The results of our survey of retired orthopedic surgeons show that while most were satisfied with their lives and careers, some had regrets. These findings suggest that there may be factors in the work lives of current surgeons that could be altered to reduce regret. Further study is warranted.

Professional Coaching in Medicine and Health Care.

Professional coaching can support individuals and organizations in four ways: (1) improving provider experience of working in health care, (2) supporting provider role and career development, (3) helping build team effectiveness, and (4) building an organizational coaching culture. There is evidence about effectiveness of coaching in business, and an increasing body of literature, including small randomized, controlled trials, supporting use of coaching in health care. This article summarizes the framework for professional coaching, describes ways professional coaching can support the four processes above, and provides case scenarios that contextualize understanding of how professional coaching can be of benefit.

Effect of the Management in Nursing course on students' time management and career planning attitudes: A single-group pre-test post-test study.

AIM: This study aimed to determine the effect of the Management in Nursing course on the time management and career planning attitudes of nursing students. BACKGROUND: University education is important for young people to develop their time management skills, plan their careers, and implement these plans. DESIGN: This is a semi-experimental study used single-group pre-test post-test design. METHODS: This study sample included 133 fourth-year nursing students who enrolled for the Management in Nursing course in the 2019-2020 academic year. Introductory Information Form, Career Futures Inventory (CFI), and Time Management Questionnaire (TMQ) were used for data collection. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was found between the pre- and post-test time planning and TMQ scores. Moreover, a significant difference was found between the pre- and post-test career adaptability, career optimism and CFI scores. No significant difference was found between the pre- and post-test scores for the TMQ's time attitudes and time wasters subdimensions; similarly, the CFI's perceived knowledge of the job market subdimension indicated no significant difference between the pre- and post-test scores. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicated that the Management in Nursing course improved the time management skills of fourth-year nursing students as well as increased adaptability and optimism in their career planning attitudes.

Development and Evaluation of an Experiential Career Planning Assignment to Train Students to Assess Organizational Fit.

Determining if an employment opportunity will be a good match can feel daunting, especially for veterinary graduates entering the workforce. To ease this transition, veterinary educators traditionally have attempted to provide career support through interspersed didactic lectures on career options and the preparation of employment documents. While well intended, this approach fails to address the multiple dimensions of effective career planning or the reality that career planning is a lifelong endeavor. For a career planning teaching modality to be effective, it must address all stages of career planning and provide a framework that can be adapted throughout a career. Here we describe how a four-stage career-planning model, utilized throughout higher education, was employed to create a career planning assignment for guiding students in assessing organizational fit. We describe how student feedback was used to inform revisions, resulting in an improved educational experience as measured by students' perceptions of the utility of the assignment. Additional recommendations based on instructor reflection are provided to guide creation and implementation of future assignments. Given the growing support for professional skills training in veterinary medical education, we view incorporation of such learning activities as essential to preparing students to enter the modern veterinary workplace.

Evaluation of career planning group counseling and its effectiveness for intern male nursing students.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of group counselling on the career planning and career maturity of male nursing students. METHOD: Sixty male nursing students were randomly selected from a specific-level first-class hospital in Hunan Province from July to August 2020 by using the convenience sampling method and were subsequently divided into the control group and the experimental group using the random number table method. The control group received routine pre-job training, including aspects concerning the hospital profile, nurse etiquette, nursing core systems, professional ethics, nursing emergency treatment and career prospects and planning. In the experimental group, career planning group counselling was added after the regular pre-service training (once a week) with each session lasting 2 h for a total of six training sessions. At six weeks and three months after the intervention, the career status evaluation scale and the college students' career maturity scale were used to compare the career planning and career maturity status of the two groups of male nursing students. RESULTS: After six weeks and three months of intervention, all the dimensions and total scores of both the career status evaluation scale and the career maturity scale in the experimental group were superior to those in the control group with statistically significant differences (all P < 0.05). The repeated measures of variance analysis indicated that the differences in the total score for career planning and the four dimensions in terms of intergroup effect, time effect and interaction effect between the two groups were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The intergroup effect, time effect and interaction effect of the total score for vocational maturity, career goal, career confidence, career value, career freedom and career reference of the two groups were statistically significant (P < 0.05), while the time effect of the relative dependency dimension was also statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Group counselling can significantly improve the career planning and career maturity status of male nursing students and has a certain long-term effect.

Professional development and career planning for nurses working in care homes for older people: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: A skilled, knowledgeable, and compassionate nurse workforce is pivotal to caring well for older people living in care homes. This requires the provision of continuing professional development and career planning for nurses, which are key also for nurse recruitment and retention. Continuing professional development and career planning strategies and interventions should be evidence-driven. OBJECTIVE: To identify the extent, range and nature of contemporary evidence regarding professional development and career planning for nurses caring for older people living in care homes. METHODS: The methodological framework used was the Joanna Briggs Institute guidance for scoping reviews. The PRISMA extension for scoping reviews was used as the reporting framework. Four databases were searched from January 2010 to July 2021. Results were screened independently by two reviewers using eligibility criteria. Full texts and the reference lists of eligible articles were reviewed. Data were extracted for key elements from the 25 articles included. RESULTS: Of the 25 articles, the majority were authored in the United States (n = 10) and UK (n = 8) with the remaining from Australia (n = 3), Canada (n = 3) and the Netherlands (n = 1). Four articles reported on professional development programmes. Three literature reviews addressed challenges for nurse participation in professional development, experiences of care home nurses as clinical leaders and managers, and leadership. Two expert commentaries reported on the challenges related to professional development and career planning for care home nurses. Sixteen empirical studies investigated a range of topics including: competencies, roles, intention to stay and leave, continuing professional development, and leadership. Key emergent factors that support professional development and career planning were as follows: access to structured learning opportunities addressing knowledge and skills specific to nursing frail older adults, a supportive working environment including adequate staffing, study time and flexible working, and integration of leadership development. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This scoping review has highlighted factors that support and challenge professional development and career planning for nurses working in the care home sector. There remain important gaps in the opportunities for professional development and career planning for care home nurses that warrant attention.

Customized Career Development Platform (CCDP) for clinical and translational researchers: A pragmatic cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Early-stage clinical and translational researchers who set and track career goals, milestones, and progress are successful in career development. We aimed to determine the effectiveness of the Customized Career Development Platform (CCDP), an online individual development plan (IDP), versus the traditional IDP template in improving research success and career satisfaction. Methods: We conducted a pragmatic cluster-randomized controlled trial of 340 scholars and trainees at 27 US academic healthcare institutions. The primary outcome was number of published manuscripts 24 months post-intervention. Secondary outcomes included the number of grant proposals submitted and funded, job satisfaction, and level of communication with mentors. An analysis of CCDP participants assessed proficiency level for the 14 Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) competencies. Data were analyzed using intention-to-treat. Results: Participants were mostly female (60.3%) and Caucasian (67.2%); mean age was 34 years. Twenty-four months following the intervention, the CCDP versus traditional IDP groups showed a similar number of publications (9.4 vs 8.6), grants submitted (4.1 vs 4.4) and funded (1.3 vs 2.0), and job satisfaction score (3.6 vs 3.7). The CCDP group had higher odds of discussing communication (OR = 2.08) and leadership skills (OR = 2.62) and broadening their network (2.31) than the traditional IDP group. The CCDP arm reported improvements in 9 of the 14 CTSA competencies. Conclusion: The CCDP offers CTSA hubs an innovative alternative to traditional IDP tools. Future studies are needed to elucidate why the CCDP users did not fully appreciate or adopt the functionality of the online platform.

How Do Career Development Courses Help Chinese Undergraduate Students Achieve Healthy and Quality Career Development?

Postsecondary institutions worldwide generally provide career development courses or similar courses to better prepare undergraduate students for healthy and quality future careers. Understanding whether these career development courses positively affect students' career-related outcomes is crucial. Utilizing survey data collected from a large research university located in the eastern part of China, we found that students who have taken at least one career course exhibited career awareness and career planning abilities that were 0.096 and 0.147 units higher, respectively, than those of students who have not taken career courses, with other variables held constant. More specifically, an additional career course was statistically significantly associated with a 0.099, 0.084, and 0.175 unit increase in students' career awareness, job search self-efficacy, and career planning ability, respectively. A student's college major and annual family income seemed to be good predictors for a student's career awareness, job search self-efficacy, and career-planning ability. Furthermore, the more career courses that a student took, the higher the career awareness, job search self-efficacy, and career planning ability that the student had. With these findings in mind, our study recommends postsecondary stakeholders to leverage such courses to help students better prepare for a healthy and quality career development.