Relationship between clinical performance and professional self-concept in critical care nurses

Objective To determine the relationship between clinical performance and professional self-concept in critical care nurses. Methods This study was conducted on 308 critical care nurses. Data gathering instruments were nurses’ clinical performance questionnaire (NCPQ) and nursing professional self-concept measure (NPSCM). Independent sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for data analyses. Results The average age of the nurses was 33.74 ± 7.01 years. The clinical performance score of female nurses was significantly higher than male nurses. In the domain of clinical performance, clinical judgment and clinical inquiry had the highest and lowest scores, respectively. In the nurses’ professional self-concept, the highest and lowest scores were awarded to the subscales of self-confidence and staff relations, respectively. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between self-concept and clinical performance of nurses. Conclusions Increasing professional self-concept improves the clinical performance of critical care nurses. Professional self-concept enhancement measures are recommended to improve the clinical performance of nurses in critical care units.

Interpersonal Relationships in Assisted Living: Findings From a Survey of Family Members and Staff

In recent decades, assisted living facilities (ALFs) have grown dramatically as an alternative to nursing homes. Research in nursing homes has shed light on the nature of the relationships that exist between family members and staff. However, little is known about family-staff relations within ALFs. We present data from the first study to describe the prevalence of conflict and positive and negative family-staff interactions in ALFs and to examine whether positive and negative aspects of the relationship contribute to salient staff and family outcomes. We use data collected from 252 family members and 472 staff members across 20 ALFs from the Partners in Care in Assisted Living (PICAL) study. Participants completed measures including interpersonal conflict, depression, perception of treatment, and stress-related to caregiving. Results showed that conflict among family and staff members is relatively low in ALFs. For staff, interpersonal conflict and treatment by family members significantly predicted burnout and depression. For families, only gender significantly predicted burden. Subgroup analyses, however, indicated that the effect of interpersonal conflict was significantly associated with perceived caregiver burden among family members whose relative has dementia. Despite the relatively harmonious relationships identified among family members and staff in ALFs, sources of conflict and negative interactions were identified, revealing the influence these relationships have on both family and staff outcomes. These findings can inform intervention efforts targeting family-staff interactions within ALFs.

Transience and Tunnel Esperanto: A study of multilingualism, work and relationship-building on a tunnel mining project

This paper investigates multilingualism as language and communication discourses and practices in a Copenhagen metro tunnel construction project. This project is characterized by transience: continual time-space changes of work organization and staff relations combined. In this scenario, a highly international and multilingual staff composition puts focus on language and communication. Based on interviews with managers and workers from one of the project’s contractors, as well as observations of daily work in the tunnels, the analysis demonstrates participants’ discursive constructions of language and communication, sometimes linking these concepts to work, sometimes to relationship-building. I argue that these constructions are closely interlinked with the workplace’s transient status and conditions, and draw out how they have empowering as well as exploitative implications for the workers.

Harnessing Knowledge for Institutional Advancement in Tertiary Educational Institutions

The impact of globalization on tertiary educational institutions (TEIs) in Ghana demands that they (TEIs) harness and leverage knowledge from the global knowledge basket to remain competitive. This paper examines the concept of knowledge management (KM) and how it is being managed in Ghana's TEIs for institutional advancement. The key challenges identified include the corporatisation of academic faculties, weak structures for KM, the intrusion of 'managerialism' as a style of leadership, absence of strong teamwork in knowledge creation and dissemination, and the erosion of the spirit of collegiality in academic staff relations. Suggestions made for the enhancement of knowledge management processes in TEIs include making adequate budgetary allocations for KM and integrating KM centres in established structures of TEIs. The paper concludes that knowledge is an indispensable asset for institutional advancement in higher education and therefore, TEIs should invest in the area to remain competitive globally. Keywords: Knowledge management; Intellectual capital; Managerialism; Institutional governance

Determinants of Importation and Deprivation Models on Committed Juvenile Offenders’ Violent Misconduct: A Taiwanese Perspective

This study draws on theories of importation and deprivation and relies upon self-reported survey data collected in 2015 from 1,045 committed juvenile offenders in Taiwan. Results drawn from Multinomial logistic regressions indicated that among the importation factors, gang membership, volatile temper, and precommitment victimization are significantly associated with violent misconduct. In regard to deprivation factors, longer term of commitment, higher levels of commitment stress, and victimization while committed dramatically increased the levels of violent misconduct, as expected. On the positive side, ongoing support from family and good staff relations significantly reduced the probability of engaging in violent behaviors while confined.

Factors in establishing positive youth–staff relations in social pedagogy-based Norwegian treatment collectives: A study of young people’s impressions and experiences

The objective of this study was to gain insight into the process that occurs when young people establish positive emotional relations with staff in ‘treatment collectives’ in Norway. Eighteen young people living in two social pedagogy-based treatment collectives were interviewed regarding their relationships with the treatment staff. Because positive relationships have been shown to be of great importance for the outcomes of treatment, this study’s main objective was to obtain insight into what the young people found important when establishing such relationships with staff members. Our findings suggest that certain of the collective’s structural factors and staff’s personal factors contributed to the establishment of positive youth–staff relations. The main structural factor is that the core staff are resident with the young people, and the resulting continuity and trust this engenders. The main personal staff factors are attention, persistence and genuine personal affection shown for the young people in their care.