Sheila Rodgers

Recruitment, selection and retention of nursing and midwifery students in Scottish Universities

BACKGROUND High attrition rates from pre-registration nursing and midwifery programmes have been reported in both the UK and in other countries. OBJECTIVES A study was conducted to identify best practice in recruitment, selection and retention across Scottish Universities providing pre-registration programmes. DESIGN A survey of all universities providing pre-registration programmes in Scotland was conducted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key personnel in each university. Documentary evidence was collected to supplement interview data and evidence recruitment, selection and retention practices. SETTINGS All universities in Scotland providing pre-registration nursing and/or midwifery programmes. PARTICIPANTS All 10 identified universities agreed to take part and a total of 18 interviews were conducted. METHODS Semi-structured face to face and telephone interviews were conducted. Relevant documentary evidence was collected. All data were subject to thematic analysis. FINDINGS Universities are predominantly concerned with recruiting to the institution and not to the professions. Interviews are widely used, and are a requirement in the United Kingdom. However, there is no evidence base within the literature that they have predictive validity despite creating scales and scoring systems which are largely unvalidated. The study identified initiatives aimed at addressing attrition/retention, however most had not been evaluated often due to the multi-factorial nature of attrition/retention and difficulties with measurement. CONCLUSIONS Recruitment selection and retention initiatives were rarely evaluated, and if so, adopted a relatively superficial approach. Evidence from existing studies to support practices was mostly weakly supportive or absent. The study highlights the need for a coordinated approach, supporting the development of a robust evidence base through the evaluation of local initiatives, and evaluation of new strategies. Evaluation strategies must take account of the local context to facilitate transferability of findings across different settings.

Pain management and satisfaction in postsurgical patients

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To examine the relationship between patient satisfaction and the incidence of severe and enduring pain through a health board wide hospital satisfaction questionnaire. BACKGROUND The incidence and management of acute postoperative pain and its relationship to patient satisfaction have been of great interest to clinicians over the last 20 years. Evidence suggests that despite many moves to address this problem with the advent of acute pain nurse specialists and dedicated pain teams, severe and enduring pain continues to be a problem. However, patients appear to report high satisfaction levels. DESIGN The study design was a postal questionnaire the results of which were analysed statistically. METHODS The postal questionnaire was sent to patients who had been discharged from acute hospitals in one health board in the previous two weeks. A total of three large acute hospitals were included. The data were analysed to produce descriptive statistics for all patients on the pain questions and then for patients with severe and enduring pain on the variables of age, gender, ethnic group, responses to pain questions and type of admission. RESULTS Twenty-six percent of patients reported having pain all or most of the time. Patients suffering from severe and enduring pain were younger females. CONCLUSION Acute postoperative pain continues to be a problem, although patients continue reporting moderate satisfaction levels. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Acute postoperative pain is an ongoing issue for postsurgical patients. It is crucial to understand and recognise issues that can adversely contribute to increased pain severity.

A qualitative exploration of nurses leaving nursing practice in China

This paper reports a theoretical understanding of nurses leaving nursing practice by exploring the processes of decision‐making by registered nurses in China on exiting clinical care.

Leaps in the dark: 60 years of nursing studies at the University of Edinburgh

2016 marks the 60th anniversary of Nursing Studies at Edinburgh University. This important anniversary has been celebrated both within the university (see www.ed.ac.uk/nursing) and during the International RCN Research Society Conference in Edinburgh held in April 2016 to coincide with Nursing Studies’ Diamond Jubilee year. HRH the Princess Royal and University of Edinburgh Chancellor, visited Nursing Studies to unveil a plaque to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee and view a poster exhibition which demonstrated how the Department has contributed to nursing excellence, since its inception in 1956. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.