Examination of a Benchmark for Ethical Care Competence in Basic Nursing Education

Objectives: With rapid advancements in medical care, nurses are confronted with ethical issues on a daily basis. If new nurses are introduced to the clinical setting without having acquired sufficient ethical judgment skills in basic nursing education, they are unable to respond to the ethical dilemmas they face. This results in learned helplessness, which can lead to burnout and turnover. Therefore, it is imperative to develop educational programs where there is a natural progression from basic to continuing nursing. Therefore, in this study, we conducted a nationwide survey using the Nursing Student Care Ethical Competence Scale to present a benchmark for the assessment of this skill and facilitate continuity in nursing education. Methods: From February to March 2019, we conducted a questionnaire survey of 4930 final-year nursing students enrolled in nursing colleges, junior colleges, and technical schools nationwide. The survey consisted of 29 items on ethical behavior, 26 items on ethics knowledge, and seven items on personal attributes. For the analysis, we calculated percentiles for the five standards of nursing students’ ethical care competence: safe care provision, respecting self-determination, protecting personal information, providing the best care, and upholding patients’ dignity. Results: Responses were obtained from 1505 nursing students (collection rate 30.5%, valid response rate 30.5%). The 80th percentile (minimum value-maximum value) was 128 (38 - 145) points for the ethical competence of nursing students, 37 (11 - 40) points for safe care provision, 28 (4 - 31) points for respect for self-determination, 23 (5 - 25) points for protection of personal information, 23 (5 - 25) points for best care provision, and 13 (3 - 15) points for respect for personal dignity. Discussion: The 80th percentile was established as the benchmark for ethical care competence. Conclusion: Based on these criteria, nursing students can objectively assess their ethical behavior, allowing them to understand their strengths and weaknesses, articulate their challenges, and learn autonomously.

Childhood Development Cross Culturally:Implications for Designing Childhood Obesity Interventions and Providing Culturally Competent Care

United States is experiencing significant growth in its foreign-born population,especially Chinese American population comprising of 1.2%of the U.S.population.Many healthcare providers are challenged in their efforts to provide culturally competent healthcare to this population.To provide culturally competent healthcare,healthcare providers should understand variations in cultural attributes that impact health.One group in which cultural variation holds great influence is that of children.Culture influences a child's behavior,development and health.This article provides a cross-cultural,comparative examination of important cultural influences on child behaviors development and health in China and the U.S.Using the findings about these two populations,interventions for childhood obesity cross culturally are addressed through the analysis of a U.S.based Children's Obesity Program.The author suggests that uniquely different approaches to childhood obesity intervention research are needed based upon the cultural differences identified within this paper.

Spiritual care perceptions, spiritual health and their relationships with spiritual care competence among clinical nurses in China: A cross-sectional quantitative study

Objective:To investigate the status quo of spiritual care competence and assocaited influencing factors among clinical nurses in China,and examine the relationships among spiritual care perceptions,spiritual health and spiritual care competence,and the mediating role of spiritual health between spiritual care competence and spiritual care perceptions,in order to provide reference for the construction of spiritual care education intervention program to improve the spiritual care competence of clinical nurses in China.Methods:A total of 1454 clinical nurses from 17 hospitals in Tianjin were selected by convenience sampling method,and were investigated with sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire,the Chinese version of Spiritual Care Competence Scale(C-SCCS),the Chinese Version of the Spiritual Care-Giving Scale(C-SCGS)and the Spiritual Health Scale Short Form(SHS-SF).Results:The scores of spiritual care competence of nurses was(57.52±16.02).The results of multiple linear regression showed that nurses'spiritual care competence was influenced by 9 sociodemographic characteristics such as educational background and nursing age,as well as spiritual care perceptions and spiritual health factors,which accounted for 67.2%of the total variation.And spiritual care competence was positively correlated with spiritual care perceptions(r=0.639,P<0.01)and spiritual health(r=0.596,P<0.01).Besides,spiritual health played a mediating role between between other two variables,accounting for 27.5%of the indirect effect.Conclusions:The scores of spiritual care competence of clinical nurses was in the lower middle level,which needs to be further improved.It is recommended that nurse managers and educators should pay attention to the spiritual care education of nurses,and improve spiritual care perceptions and spiritual health level of nurses in multiple ways,at multiple levels,so as to improve their spiritual care competence and to maximize the satisfy spiritual care needs of patients.