Nursing knowledge as a response to societal needs: a framework for promoting nursing as a profession

Abstract

Introduction: As the population needs for health care at the local level become integrated into the global context, nurses are given the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the modernization of the healthcare system and gain importance and recognition from the political perspective. Nursing today is confronted with the needs and demands of both healthy and ill populations -these can be the result of changing demographics, new technologies, a growing awareness of the rights and voiced expectations of service users etc. Slovenian nurses have the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the modernization of thethemselves. Colardyn and Bjornavold (4) have stressed the importance of different qualification levels within the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework and firmly believe that nursing must be placed at level 6, the university level for vocational training (level 5 represents traditional vocational training). Every country and their respective nursing associations, together with nursing associations at the European level, must work towards this goal. Nursing professionals should be asking themselves what level of knowledge they require, since the European directive for regulated professions is 35 years old and although it has undergone some minor amendments since then, these have not included a decision on the level of education, as is the case with doctors. Skela Savič (5) has shown that nurses are not the most desired group at universities. She also highlights the difficulties in integrating 4,600 hours of theoretical and practical nursing programme, as stated in the EU directive and the Bologna Process. She believes that the EU directive should include a training period for nurses. Under the current legislation, nurses are required to make independent decisions from the first day of work, which is not realistic. On the other hand, Benton (3)

Nurse leaders’ Attitudes, Self-Efficacy and training Needs for Implementing Evidence-Based Practice: Is It Time for a Change toward Safe Care?

“…Several researchers have reported that nurses have little knowledge of and an unfavorable attitude toward EBP. Many nurses do not recognize the concept of the term EBP or how to incorporate it into clinical practice [ 13 , 15 - 18 ]. Some other studies have reported that nurses have low self-efficacy in EBP activities.…”

Vloga prve skrbstvene sestre Angele Boškin pri profesionalizaciji slovenske zdravstvene nege

“…(3) zavezanost k izvajanju zdravstvenih storitev, ki koristijo posamezniku in skupnosti; (4) člani poklica zagotavljajo avtonomijo, zanesljivost in odgovornost delovanja v sistemu zdravstvene obravnave; (5) storitve so kontrolirane s standardi dela, spremljanjem kakovosti in izboljševanjem prakse, varnostjo pacientov in kodeksom etike delovanja; (6) člani poklica pripadajo profesionalnemu združenju in njegovim aktivnostim (Skela-Savič, 2009, 2017a, 2017b, 2017cSkela-Savič, et al, 2011, 2017a, 2017b. Navedbo »klinično delo« razumemo na primeru zdravstvene nege kot delo diplomirane medicinske sestre ali zdravstvenika z zdravo in bolno populacijo v vseh življenjskih obdobjih.…”

“…Na izbor podatkov vpliva izbrani tematski okvir (Fitzpatrick, 2011, pp. 230-237); v našem primeru so to v uvodu navedeni elementi profesionalizacije zdravstvene nege (Skela-Savič, 2009, 2017a, 2017b, 2017cSkela-Savič, et al, 2011, 2017a, 2017b, ki smo jih poenostavili na razvojno obdobje v času poklicnega dela Angele Boškin. Poenostavljen tematski okvir zbiranja in razvrščanja podatkov ter njihove poznejše obdelave je obsegal: − znanje in sposobnosti v zdravstveni negi, − izobraževanje v zdravstveni negi, − izvajanje storitev v zdravstveni negi, − avtonomijo, zanesljivost in odgovornost izvajalcev, − kontrolo storitev in obstoječe standarde, − profesionalno združenje in aktivnosti.…”

“…Če ocenimo prispevek Angele Boškin z vidika spoznanj lastnega raziskovanja profesionalizacije (Skela-Savič, 2009, 2017a, 2017b, 2017cSkela-Savič, et al, 2011, 2017a, 2017b, ki so nam služila kot tematski okvir zbiranja, obdelave in interpretacije ugotovitev, lahko podamo zaključne ugotovitve, da je Angela Boškin: − bila kot prva skrbstvena sestra v Sloveniji močna osebnost, ki je s svojim osebnim zgledom, poklicnim in društvenim delovanjem vzpostavila začetek stroke zdravstvene nege v Sloveniji, predvsem njene avtonomije, profesionalne prepoznavnosti in ugleda; − pomembno prispevala k oblikovanju temeljnega znanja na ravni diplome za vstop v poklic in klinično delo; − prispevala k razvoju formalnega izobraževanja v zdravstveni negi in oblikovanju zahtev, da so morale osebe ob vstopu v šolanje že končati predhodno izobrazbo in biti stare najmanj osemnajst let; − pri razvoju storitev zdravstvene nege in oskrbe izhajala iz potreb ljudi in pomoči potrebnim, katerim so bile storitve namenjene. Pri zasledovanju cilja koristiti posamezniku in skupnosti je delovala medpoklicno in medsektorsko; − s svojim strokovni delom, vzpostavitvijo šolanja in izkazanimi razvojnimi pristopi zagotovila avtonomijo dela na področju preventive mater in otrok (pozneje tudi drugih skupin) na terenu, kar je osnovalo zakonsko podlago za delovanje zaščitne sestre na področju preventive (1937) in poznejše oblikovanje patronažne dejavnosti;…”

Views of the Slovenian nursing profession regarding leadership

“…An important characteristic of professionalism is the integrity of systematic and generalized knowledge which must be used by professionals to solve diff erent problems (5,6). Th e basis of such knowledge is a good educational system which should provide such types of knowledge in accordance with high standards of socially recognized professionalism (11). Equally important for a profession is an established comprehensive system of leadership which is at least partially controlled by a professional association.…”