No abstract

There is an urgent need to improve the management of nurses' workloads and to communicate better with frontline nursing staff on issues such as payment and employee benefits, the number of staff on duty and continuing nursing education.

The purpose of the present survey was to determine agreement levels among Macao nurses in the public sector on 57 items that could be related to the nursing shortage in Macao. An earlier qualitative inquiry showed that nurses working in the public health sector there had strong concerns about the number of nursing staff. Such a situation might decrease the likelihood of delivering quality care. A quantitative approach was used to assess the degree to which nurses agreed with the 57 items. These questionnaires were sent to each ward in the public hospital and a mental hospital, to six health care centers, and to two health stations affiliated with Taipa health care centre. Of 743 questionnaires distributed, 467 were returned (62.85%). Categories in which there was a preponderance of high levels of agreement were salary and employment benefits, performing non-nursing duties and tasks that require basic skills, continuing nursing education, and patient population. Nurse Managers should have promptly actions to reform those nurses views previously in order to show that frontline nursing staff are supported.

Clinical preceptors are primary mentors as well as important role models for nursing students who are learning skills, knowledge and critical decision-making in clinical practice. However, little is known about how the preceptors perceive nursing students during their practicum in a Chinese society. The study used a focused ethnography to explore clinical preceptor perceptions of nursing student performance in professional attitudes, knowledge, theory, and nursing skills. The preceptors were from critical-care, surgical, and medical units of hospitals, health-care centers, and nursing homes. Twenty clinical preceptors participated in 30-60 minute interviews that were transcribed and analyzed. One principal theme that emerged from the study was the need for greater professionalism. The nursing professional demeanor of students theme includes subthemes of active behaviors, having "heart" or attitude intent to learn to do the work of nursing, and demonstrating a professional image. If nursing students show these attributes during clinical experiences, it was believed that all other learning would take place easily. Academic educators and clinical preceptors are in the best position to foster student development and expressions of professionalism.

The school performance of students will definitely be affected if they have inadequate time to sleep. This study explored the factors influencing the sleep health. Fourteen children and their parents were invited to share their experiences, which were obtained through interviews that relied on semi-structured questions. The participating students ranged from grade 1 to grade 6 in primary schools. The 2 major themes discovered were sleep behavior and inadequate sleep. Sleep behavior appeared to be related to personal hygiene before sleep, school bedtime and weekend bedtime, and bedtime habits. Most of the students indicated that they postponed their bedtime on school days during test or exam weeks. School workload, extracurricular activities, and the environment may lead to inadequate sleep. The findings from this study highlight the urgent need for communication with, and education of, parents and school administrators to recognize that proper sleep behavior is essential to better school performance.