Students' career preferences are an important issue to various stakeholders: to university administration, career counselors, higher education policy makers as well as to human resource managers in companies. Students, whose career preferences and goals are fulfilled, are better and more highly motivated employees. By a questionnaire survey carried out in 2016 in two institutions of higher education the present study compares career preferences and attitudes of 478 German and Croatian students. Factor analyses identify latent variables behind students' preferences. The identified significant differences between the Germans and Croatians are related to differences in socioeconomic environment and cultural differences derived through the Hofstede model. German students value safe jobs, trust and a high income significantly more, whereas for Croatian students stimulating tasks, career opportunities, a recognized profession and social responsibility are more important. Our results indicate that Hofstede's findings for the uncertainty avoidance index and the individualism/collectivism index might be questioned for the subsample of a young student population who show different value criteria in their career preferences. JEL Classification: J24

Patient teaching is an essential component of patient care. Even if patient education has been given much attention the last year--both in research and textbooks for health professionals, some patients still complain about too little information and support when they are in the hospital. The purpose of this study was to find out how nurses fulfil their teaching responsibility in practice. Why, what and how do they teach patients? How do they document their teaching? What do patients think is the most important in relation to patient teaching? The study was performed as a field study in an orthopaedic ward. Participation, open observation and semistructured interviews were used as methods. Notes from observation, interviews and written nurse documentation are the data in the study. The results showed that the nurses were teaching the patients while they were doing some practical things at the same time. Nurses did not plan the teaching, and in hectic periods less information was given. Most of the teaching was information about facts. Patients were told little about what they actually would feel or sense (sensory information)--even if this is what several patients said they wanted to know about. The patients wanted to meet fewer people and they often felt that the nurses signalized business so they hesitated to ask them questions. A standard teaching program was not used. Most of the teaching was given orally, but written materials and a video were also used sometimes. The nurses did not document their teaching.

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