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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of mission statement contents and its function in guiding employee's behaviour from the organisational culture (OC) perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a mixed method approach. The quantitative content analysis of mission statements was performed on a sample of 222 Slovenian companies. Mission statement's keywords were analysed with exploratory factor analysis. Advanced network analytic approaches such as PathFinder algorithm were utilised to obtain better understanding of interrelatedness of underlying mission components. Three interviews with the top managers were performed as well. Findings – The mission statement content analysis identified five associated organisations’ orientations: concern for stakeholders, orientation towards stability, orientation towards cooperation and innovation, and development and growth. The interviews confirm missions’ role in communicating the espoused or declared OC, although different approaches to achieve employees’ commitment to the organisation's mission can be identified in regard to the size of the organisation. Originality/value – The cultural approach to the analysis of mission statements confirms that the mission statements incorporate basic contents of OC. The methodology applied gives new possibilities in the research of OC perspective of strategic statements.

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Aim: In our research we wanted to propose a holistic model of palliative care from the perspective of nurses. Additionally, we compared the presence of specific aspects of palliative care (psychological, physical, social and spiritual) in hospitals and the community/home environment. Design: A quantitative cross-sectional study was used. Methods: The sample consisted of 127 nurses (92 hospital nurses, 35 community nurses). The proposed model was tested using a specific method of structural equation modeling (SEM) known as partial least squares (PLS). Results: Our research confirmed that physical aspects are influenced both by psychological and spiritual aspects, whereas social aspects have only an indirect influence. We detected a statistically significant difference between the hospital and the community environment regarding the impact of psychological aspects on social aspects, and of psychological aspects on physical aspects. Conclusion: Our research highlighted the professional shortcomings of the holistic approach in palliative care as it stands, especially in the community care setting, where it is necessary to ensure in-depth knowledge and skills, and practice within each holistic domain to provide quality treatment to palliative patients.

Purpose Mission statements are perceived as effective strategic tools and foundations of an organization's objectives, driving the development of strategic plans to meet the established goals. A vast number of studies have investigated mission statements in industry; however, little is known on how mission statements affect institutes in the higher education sector. Every university is intrinsically different, with its own mission and goals. This study aims to explore how mission statements make the difference among universities, by understanding the values delivered by the mission statements. Design/methodology/approach This study attempts to understand the core values of universities through a content analysis of the mission statements of the top 250 universities worldwide. Findings The results show four core dimensions in university mission statements, namely, “Education Philosophies”, “Strategic Orientation”, “Social Responsibility” and “Values to Stakeholders”, while the most common core values are “Research”, “Educate” and “Student”. Research limitations/implications Mission statements offer insightful venues for the analysis of the strategic directions of universities. The results show that top universities present their core values through their mission statements. Some mission statements are more service-oriented (towards students) and some are more social-oriented (towards society and stakeholders). These mission statements are communicated to various stakeholders. “Education philosophies” are communicated to educators and students, “Social responsibility” is to the society, “Values to the stakeholders” are towards the different parties involved in the education system and the last one “Strategic orientation” is for the strategy setting. Originality/value This paper proposes a new methodology of mission statement studies, covering not only studies on mission statements but also the internationalization strategies of universities, which attract attention from academics and education researchers.

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European ICU nurses' cultural competence: an international cross-sectional survey Implications for clinical practice  Culturally competent nurses can positively influence the quality of patient care and patients' outcomes. Caring in an ICU setting requires a high level of nursing cultural competence because of the complexity and vulnerability of the patients' condition, family involvement and their informational needs, and the character of nursing work. Mobility programs included in undergraduate and postgraduate education of nurses which facilitate practice in other cultural environments may help to develop cultural competence.

The Erasmus programme has undoubtedly contributed to the present international orientation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and to stimulate student mobility flows. In 2017, the Erasmus programme (currently Erasmus+) celebrated its 30th anniversary. Jones (2017) noted that it was "a programme that works". A recognized and successful EU initiative, which has provided grants to boost student and staff mobility, for developing intercultural competencies and promoting the European dimension and collaboration. In 1987, only 3,200 students participated in the mobility programme. Three decades later, roughly 300,000 students have benefited yearly from the same programme (Erasmus+, 2017). More than 9 million participants will benefit from the programme by 2020 (Jones, 2017). The idea behind the Erasmus programme was visionary: "promoting joint courses of study between universities and higher education institutions" (Jones, 2017). Political developments in Europe from 1992 onwards supported the idea of free circulation of students and researchers within the European context. These