Background: Many health care facilities enforce strict dress code policies prohibiting visible body modifications, including tattoos, piercings, and vibrant hair colors. As popularity of body modifications among young adults surges, facilities may be forced to adapt policies as these workers enter the workforce. While some evidence exists related to patient perceptions of health care workers with body modifications, there is little about how nursing students perceive them. This study aimed to describe undergraduate, pre-licensure nursing students’ perceptions of health care worker appearance on compassion, skill, knowledge, and trustworthiness. Methods: Using cross-sectional design, an on-line Likert-type survey was used to collect data from 137 undergraduate, pre-licensure nursing students in Northeast Tennessee. Participants viewed photos of male and female workers with various body modifications. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: There were statistically significant differences between groups across all four variables. Male and female health care workers without body modifications were rated highest on all four variables. Male and female with tattoos were rated the second highest. Male and female with facial piercings were rated lowest. The female health care worker color, irrespective of body modification type, was rated higher than the male counterpart across all variables. Conclusion: Results suggest that nursing students may perceive health care workers without body modifications to be the most compassionate, skilled, knowledgeable, and trustworthy. Students may perceive tattoos as more acceptable in the workplace than facial piercings or vibrant hair colors. Students may perceive body modifications as more acceptable for females than males.

Bakgrund: Personcentrerad vård är ett begrepp inom svensk hälso- och sjukvård och är en av sjuksköterskans kärnkompetenser. Den verksamhetsförlagda utbildningen är en viktig del i sjuksköterskeutbildningen där studenten får tillfälle att tillgodogöra sig, praktisera och integrera teoretiska kunskaper och praktiska färdigheter. Sjuksköterskestudenter upplever svårigheter med att genomföra den personcentrerade vården. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva sjuksköterskestudenters perspektiv på personcentrerad vård under den verksamhetsförlagda utbildningen. Metod: En allmän litteraturstudie baserad på tio vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativ ansats. Artiklarna analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Studien resulterade i två kategorier 1, Att se hela personen med underkategorierna, det personliga mötet och den vårdande relationen och 2, Vårdmiljön med underkategorierna, betydelsen av tid och den praktiska erfarenhetens betydelse. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskestudenter behöver få tillfälle att lära sig personcentrering i teorin och vägledas i hur det praktiseras i en vårdmiljö. Den verksamhetsförlagda utbildningen bidrar till att utveckla den personcentrerade vården, genom engagerade handledare och en inkluderande miljö. Det personcentrerade förhållningssätt behöver genomsyra hela utbildningen och tydliggöras utifrån olika vårdkontexter. Vidare forskning med fokus på sjuksköterskestudenters läroprocess behövs för att underlätta och möjliggöra den personcentrerade vården. / Background: Person-centered care is a concept in Swedish health care and is one of the nurse's core competencies. The clinical clerkship is an important part of the nursing education where students have the opportunity to satisfy themselves, practice and integrate theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Nursing students experience difficulties in implementing the person-centered care. Aim: The aim was to describe nursing student perspective on person-centered care during their clinical clerkship Method: A literature study based on ten qualitative scientific articles. The articles have been analyzed with a qualitative content analysis. Results: The study resulted in two categories 1, Seeing the whole person with the subcategories, the personal meeting and the caring relationship and 2, The care environment with the subcategories, the importance of time and the importance of the practical experience. Conclusion: Nursing students need the opportunity to learn person centering in theory and be guided how it’s practiced in a healthcare environment. The clinical training contributes to the development of person-centered care, through committed supervisors and an inclusive environment. This approach needs to permeate the entire education and be clarified based on different care contexts. Further research with a focus on the learning process of nursing students is needed to facilitate and enable person-centered care.

Magister Curationis - MCur / The nursing profession is the backbone of the healthcare system glob-ally. However, due to the ongoing shortage of nurses there is a growing demand for nurses across the world. This demand puts pressure on the continued recruitment of new nursing students. The factors that influence students’ reasons for entering nursing vary and require investigation to improve recruitment practices

The problem which prompted the undertaking of this study was that of increasing absenteeism amongst student nurses at one South African Nursing College. The information, obtained from individual and group interviews, was analysed to identify the perceptions developed by student nurses. Absenteeism is shown to be a behavioural response to environmental and other factors in the world of the student nurse. A theoretical model is proposed to explain three main types of absenteeism and the factors which contribute to absenteeism and attendance.

Bakgrund: Antalet personer med fetma ökar i Sverige. Fetma ökar risken för flera sjukdomar. Forskning kring hur patienter med fetma bemöts inom vården är bristfällig i Sverige. Syfte: att beskriva attityder och bemötandet av patienter med fetma inom hälso- och sjukvården, utifrån sjuksköterskestudenters upplevelser. Metod: Deskriptiv och empirisk med en kvalitativ ansats. Studien genomfördes på sjuksköterskestudenter som fick svara skriftligt på en öppen fråga. Materialet analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Analysen resulterade i tre teman: Profession, personalens egna attityder samt utförande av vård. Många gånger pratades det bakom patientens rygg och det fanns ett tabu kring fetman. Sjukvårdspersonalen hade en negativ inställning till patienten, skuld för fetman lades på individen och de sågs som en ökad vårdtyngd. Det fanns inom vården en avsaknad av resurser för patienter med fetma. Patienterna fick även enligt sjuksköterskestudenternas upplevelser behovsanpassad vård. Slutsats: Bemötandet av patienter med fetma var enligt sjuksköterskestudenters upplevelser både positivt och negativ. Bemötandet speglades av vårdpersonalens egna värderingar, ofta negativa. Vårdpersonalen bör tolka patienten utifrån dennes kontext och lämna sin egen förförståelse utanför. För att fetma inte ska bli tabu bör sjuksköterskan fokusera på att samtala med patienten och lägga tyngdpunkten på patientens upplevelse snarare än diagnosen. Uppfylls detta kan patientens omvårdnadsbehov tillgodoses och patienten känner förtroende för sjuksköterskan. / Background: The rate of obesity is increasing in the Swedish population. Research about how obese patients are met in the Swedish health care system is lacking. The aim of this study was to describe the communication attitudes of patients with obesity in the Swedish health care system, based on the perspectives of nursing students. Method: The study had a descriptivedesign with a qualitative approach. The study was conducted on nursing students who answered an open-ended question in writing. The data was analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Results: The analysis resulted in three themes: profession, the health personals attitudes and implementation of care. There was a stigma around obesity and many times th ehealth personnel talked behind the patient's back. Some off the medical staff had a negative attitude that included blaming the patient for their obesity. The obese patients were often regarded as an increased workload. Conclusions: The result revealed a complex picture of attitudes and treatment of patients with obesity. The response was reflected by the health professionals' own values, often negative. Health professionals should meet the patient from the patients' context and make their own context invisible. For that obesity should not be taboo nurse should focus on talking to the patient and to focus on the patient's experience rather than the diagnosis. In this way the patients need will be satisfied and patient will feel confidence of the nurse. / <p>Röda Korsets sjuksköterskeförening stipendium 2012</p>

Sexuell hälsa definieras som ett tillstånd av totalt välbefinnande i relation till ens sexualitet. Ett holistiskt vårdperspektiv innefattar alla patientens omvårdnadsbehov och ställer därför krav på sjuksköterskans attityder kring sexualitet. Syftet med studien var att undersöka sjuksköterskestudenters attityder till samtal kring sexualitet och sexuell hälsa med patienter. Metoden var en kvantitativ enkätundersökning efter deskriptiv modell. Resultatet visade att sjuksköterskestudenternas attityder kunde delas upp i ett flertal barriärer och förutsättningar inför samtal om sexualitet och sexuell hälsa med patienter. Den största barriären var att sjuksköterskestudenterna inte trodde att patienterna förväntade sig att sjuksköterskan skall fråga om sexuella bekymmer. Förutsättningarna var att de ansåg att de hade förståelse för hur sjukdomar och behandlingar påverkar patienters sexualitet och att det var sjuksköterskans ansvar att öppna upp för samtal om sexuell hälsa. En majoritet av sjuksköterskestudenterna ansåg att utbildningen inte förberett dem inför samtal om sexualitet och sexuell hälsa. Slutsatsen var att sjuksköterskeutbildningen bör värna om alla delar i det holistiska omvårdnadsperspektivet, så att framtidens sjuksköterskor känner sig redo att möta patienten och alla dennes omvårdnadsbehov. / Sexual health is defined as a state of complete well-being in relation to one’s sexuality. A holistic perspective on healthcare includes all of the patient’s healthcare needs thus making big demands on nurses’ attitude regarding sexuality. The aim of this study was to examine nursing students’ attitudes to addressing patients’ sexuality. The method used was a quantitative survey based on a descriptive model. The results showed that students’ attitudes could be divided into several positive tendencies and barriers to addressing patients’ sexuality. The highest-ranking barrier was that the nursing students did not believe that patients expected the nurse to ask about sexual concerns. The positive tendencies were that they felt they had an understanding about how diseases and treatments affect patients’ sexuality and that it was the nurse’s responsibility to open up for addressing sexual health. A majority of the nursing students agreed that the education had not prepared them for addressing sexual health. The conclusion made was; more education is needed in order to cater for all parts in the holistic nursing so that future students feel ready to meet patients and all their needs.

Bakgrund: Psykisk ohälsa är ett vanligt vård- och omvårdnadsproblem, ändå har sjuksköterskor en negativ inställning till och känner rädsla inför personer med psykisk ohälsa. Då sjuksköterskestudenter fick utökad utbildning inom ämnet psykiatri blev synsättet statistiskt sätt mer positivt. Det saknas forskning om vilken syn studenterna själva upplever att de har på patienter med psykisk ohälsa samt om den ändras under sjuksköterskeutbildningens gång. Syfte: Studiens syfte var att utforska sjuksköterskestudenters syn på patienter med psykisk ohälsa inom somatisk vård och omvårdnad, före och efter sin teoretiska och verksamhetsförlagda utbildning. Metod: En empirisk, utforskande studie med kvalitativ ansats genomfördes genom att hålla 2 fokusgruppdiskussioner. En modifierad latent innehållsanalys användes. Steg 1-5 behandlade diskussionernas material separat och steg 6 satte deras analysfynd i relation till varandra. Resultat: Analysen gav 4 kategorier: Öppna sig för den andre, Valet och kvalet, Gränslöst engagemang och Balans mellan förmåga och vilja. Slutsats: Analysfynden, förklarade med begreppet människosyn, visade att sjuksköterskestudenterna har en vilja att öppna sig för den andre samtidigt som de är i valet och kvalet om de ska följa samhällets normer eller sin egen vilja. Studenterna som är i början av sin utbildning visar ett gränslöst engagemang medan sjätte terminens studenter, som beskriver samma vilja, har insett sina begränsningar under utbildningen och utvecklat balans mellan förmåga och vilja. Främst genomsyras analysfynden av altruism och helhetssyn som utvecklats från att se enbart hela patienten till att inkludera samtliga resurser runtomkring. Klinisk betydelse: Studiens resultat kan bidra till sjuksköterskestudenters ökade intresse för patienter med psykisk ohälsa. / Background: Mental illness is a common nursing and caring problem and yet nurses have a negative attitude and fear against people with mental illness. Nursing students who gains additional education within psychiatry statistically gets a more positive attitude. There is a lack of research about which view of these patients the nursing students’ experience they have and if they feel it changes during the education. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore nursing students’ view of patients with mental illness within somatic nursing and caring, before and after their theoretical and practical education. Method: An empirical, exploring study was conducted with a qualitative approach by having 2 focus groups discussions. A modified latent content analysis was conducted. Stage 1-5 handled the discussions’ material separately, and stage 6 put their findings in relation to each other. Results: The analysis resulted in 4 categories: Open up to the other, Choice and anguish, Limitless involvement and Balance between ability and willingness. Conclusion: The findings, explained with the term view of man, showed that the nursing students’ have a wish to open up to the other at the same time as they are in choice and anguish if they shall follow the norms set by society or their own will. The students who are in the beginning of their education show limitless involvement while the sixth term’s students, who describes the same will, have realized their limitations during the education and have evolved a balance between ability and willingness. Uppermost the findings were lit by altruism and holism which evolved from only seeing the whole patient to include all surrounding means. Clinical meaning: The results of the study may contribute to nursing students’ increased interest for patients with mental illness.

Nurses deal more effectively with cultural diversity when they have an ethnorelative orientation toward cultural difference and commonality on the Intercultural Development Continuum, which was the theoretical framework of this study. Scholarly literature shows limited knowledge on what fosters nurses' intercultural development. Thus, this quantitative, retrospective study was the first investigation in health care in Switzerland conducted on nursing students' orientation on the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and the relationship to student demographic variables. The sample for this secondary data analysis consisted of the IDI results from nursing students enrolled between 2010 and 2016 at the largest nursing college in Switzerland (N = 3,410) where the systematic integration of the development of intercultural competence into the curriculum began in 2010. Descriptive statistical analysis indicated that the students' developmental orientation (DO) toward cultural difference and commonality represented a mindset of minimization (M = 86.3, SD = 13.7), whereas the orientation gap between the DO and the students' perceived orientation (PO) was high (M = 32.5), indicating that students believe they have higher intercultural competence than they have. Chi-square-tests revealed significant relationships between gender, age, and time living in another country and the students' PO and DO. The paired samples t test demonstrated a higher end of program DO (p = .01) compared to beginning DO scores, suggesting the program provided challenges that met the students' level of readiness for cultural development. The findings may affect positive social change by providing knowledge on contributors to development of intercultural competence that educators can use.

The adequate intake of micronutrients is important to maintain optimal health and prevent nutritional disorders and chronic disease. Studies have shown that medical students often reduce self-care behaviors and lack adequate dietary intake, leading to nutritional deficiencies. In this quantitative cross-sectional study, measurements of micronutrient levels in a sample of allied health and nursing students were compared to Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) values. NutritionQuest Data-on-Demand System was used to analyze nutrients and food group intake. The postpositivist paradigm was used to examine how the independent and dependent variables relate to each other. Using a one-sample t test, a comparison of average micronutrient intake among study participants with RDA values for those micronutrients showed that average micronutrient intake in the study population was higher than recommended values. Two sample t-test results showed no significant difference in average intake of micronutrients among participants with high and low income levels, or with high and low stress levels. As the normality assumption was not satisfied by the outcome variables, nonparametric tests were used to evaluate hypotheses. While this finding does not support the original hypothesis, it could have implications for the role of allied health and nursing practitioners in the care of both their patients and members of their medical team. Conversely, an assumption of this study was that a high level of similarity between the traditional medical student population and the allied health and nursing population in terms of nutritional habits may have led to a flaw in the overall research hypothesis. The detection of micronutrient deficiencies in students can bring awareness to improve nutritional intake and initiate a change in how public health officials advocate healthy and balanced diets.

Background: Advance directives allow patients to put in writing the type of health care they want if they are unable to make decisions due to their medical condition. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences in senior nursing students’ knowledge, attitudes, and confidence based on when the information is positioned in the curriculum. Theoretical: Social cognitive learning theory and Zimmerman’s self-regulation model provided the theoretical framework. Methods: This study reflected a non-experimental, exploratory design, with a convenience sample of senior nursing students from 2 different nursing programs in central Illinois. One program offers advance directive education in the first year and the other program offers the information in the second year. A total of 131 students participated in the study that used subscales of the Knowledge, Attitudinal, Experiential Survey on Advance Directives. Results: The group that received the information the second year rated themselves as having more confidence with advance directives. However, both groups scored low in the area of knowledge of advance directives, the Patient Self-Determination Act, and Illinois law. Students who reported higher knowledge levels had higher attitudes about end-of-life care. There was no difference in attitudes between the two groups. Conclusion: The results of this study highlight the need to review nursing curricula specifically relating to end-of-life care content and its placement in the curriculum.