Background: Clinical training in health and social care educations are important in the development of professional competence. Evidence indicates that there are major quality differences in clinical practice in health- and social studies.Purpose: To examine what key players related to clinical practice in nursing and social education believes provides quality.Method: Focus Group Interview where students, supervisor and teachers participated in all groups.Results: Students learning in practice presupposes a knowledge base of the student, a learning environment with adapted responsibilities and coping capabilities, and a relationship with the supervisor who promotes both recognition and needed correction. The supervisor's role can be strengthened through individual competence, clearer support from boss and co-workers, and more emphasis on triangular cooperation with the college.Conclusion: There is a large overlap in the understanding of what in practice is all about quality. The perspectives of the three actors appear primarily as mutually complementary.

Purpose: In this study, we explore the lived experiences of chronic illness in four groups of patients; children with asthma, adolescents with diabetes, young adults with depression, and adult patients with chronic, obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Persons living with chronic illness are often designated as vulnerable. This study builds on the assumption that being vulnerable belongs to being human, and that vulnerability also might entail strength and possibilities for growth. Methods: A narrative analysis was undertaken to illuminate how experiences of vulnerability were narrated across the four patient groups, presenting four individual stories, one from each of the patient groups. Results/conclusion: The stories illuminate how living with a chronic illness implies differing capabilities and capacities dependent on the specific condition. At the same time the stories point to how various abilities and challenges in living with chronic illness can be alleviated or seen as resources. Considered together, the stories underscore how ´finding ways to carry on´ in chronic illness requires interpretational work. By calling upon resources among significant others, in the surroundings and in oneself, the narrator can find ways of interpreting living with chronic illness that might open towards a hopeful future.

BackgroundMilieu therapists’ relationships with patients with severe mental illnesses are viewed as challenging. Elucidating vulnerability from their perspective in daily face-to-face encounters with patients might contribute to extending our knowledge about milieu therapists’ vulnerability and the dynamics of the interaction between patients in mental health services and expertise in building caring and therapeutic relationships. The aim of this project was to study educated milieu therapists’ experiences of their own vulnerability in their interactions with patients in mental health services.Materials and methodsThe data collection method was focus-group interviews. Thirteen part-time master’s in mental health students (eight nurses, three social workers, two social educators) participated. All participants had experience with community or specialized mental health services (2–8 years).ResultsThe milieu therapists mainly related their experiences of vulnerability to negative feelings elicited by challenging work conditions, disclosed as two main themes: 1) “overloaded”, by the possibility of being physically and mentally hurt and the burdens of long-lasting close relationships; milieu therapists were extremely vulnerable because of their difficulty in protecting themselves; and 2) “shortcomings”, connected to feelings of despair associated with not acting in concordance with their professional standards and insecurity about their skills to handle challenging situations, which was a threat to their professional integrity. There seemed to be coherence between vulnerability and professional inauthenticity. A misunderstanding that professionalism refers to altruism seems to increase milieu therapist vulnerability.ConclusionVulnerability in health care is of interest to multiple disciplines, and is of relevance for knowledge development in higher education. Extended knowledge and understanding about milieu therapists’ vulnerability might strengthen their personal and professional integrity in professional practice in mental health services. Health care managers’ focus on the supervision of individual professionals in practice and practical training is important. Further research on the coherence between vulnerability and professionalism is recommended.

Aim The aim was to explore the psychometric properties with respect to the internal consistency reliability of the subject‐specific questionnaire “Failing to Fail.” Design Cross‐sectional study. Methods Exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the factor structure of the “Failing to Fail” scale. The sample included 336 Norwegian nurse mentors. Results The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a five‐factor structure of the “Failing to Fail” scale with adequate model fit. The factors were named as: (a) Insufficient mentoring competence; (b) Insufficient support in the working environment; (c) Emotional process dominates the assessment; (d) Insufficient support from the university; and (e) Decision‐making detached from learning outcomes. The scale proved to be feasible to test whether mentors are Failing to Fail nursing students. The confirmatory factor analysis model supported the predictive validity of the “Failing to Fail” scale.

Aims and Objectives To explore nurses’ and ward staff's perceptions and assessments of patient care while implementing mechanical restraints. Background To prevent the risks associated with the use of restraints in psychiatry and ensure safe mental health care, it is necessary to know more about how the nursing staff experiences, comprehends and intervenes in managing patients subjected to coercive measures. Design This study employed a qualitative descriptive design, in accordance with the COREQ guidelines. Methods Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 18 nurses and ward staff aged between 22 and 45 years old, who had experience implementing mechanical restraints. Data were digitally audio‐recorded and transcribed verbatim. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo 12. Results The participants believed that mechanical restraints should be used as a last resort and that safeguarding patients during implementation is important; however, their assessments of the patients’ physical and mental conditions varied. A clear difference emerged in how management qualified professionals handled situations prior to and during the implementation of mechanical coercive measures. Conclusions The findings emphasise the need to focus on the assessment of patients prior to and during restraint, ensure the quality of safe implementation in a risk‐of‐harm situation, prioritise competence in education, and practice, and improve management. Relevance to clinical practice The findings highlight the importance of assessing the physical and mental condition of patients while implementing restraints, as well as aiding the management, nurses and ward staff in tailoring safety procedures.

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Aims and objectives To gain insight into how the workplace influences milieu‐therapists’ vulnerability in the mental healthcare context. Background Mental health services have experienced substantial changes. Reduced institutional treatment capacity is replacing the development of locally based treatment. Changes in external conditions in mental health services have influenced the working conditions of nurses and milieu‐therapists. Design Qualitative design. The study complied with the COREQ checklist. Methods Focus group interviews. Results “Vulnerability due to unpredictable and threatening working context” was the common key theme that emerged in both contexts. Two key themes were different and opposite. In municipal mental health care, “Alone and unprotected” and in institutional care, “Together and protected.” Conclusion The participants from both specialized and community mental health care, experienced vulnerability at different levels interpreted as a contradictory relationship between the healthcare system and their own ideals of what professional practice ought to be. Relevance to clinical practice This study contributes to extended knowledge and understanding about the experienced influence of the working environment on professional vulnerability of nurses and milieu‐therapists` in mental health services. The impact of contextual conditions on health professionals’ working conditions has multi‐professional relevance for milieu‐therapists and managers of mental health services, and it is an important topic in health and social higher education.