Croatian Nursing Journal, Vol. 7 No. 1, 2023.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.24141/2/7/1/1
Attitudes Towards the Importance of Specialist Training in Nursing
Iva Lazinica
orcid.org/0000-0001-6808-0121
; Cardiology department – Coronary care unit, General Hospital of Šibenik-Knin County, Šibenik, Croatia
Mediana Županović
; Department of Internal Medicine, General Hospital of Šibenik-Knin County, Šibenik, Croatia
Dragan Šijan
orcid.org/0009-0002-8857-2048
; Specialist Ophthalmology Practice Nikolina Basioli, Zadar, Croatia
Abstract
Introduction. For a considerable period, nursing was regarded as a female-dominated profession that operated under the supervision of physicians and lacked its own distinct domain of practice. Nursing is a profession that was for a long time seen as a female profession, under the direction of doctors and without its own field of activity. Today's complexity of treatment and health care requires specialized and experienced nurses to ensure quality outcomes for patients. Modern nursing faces many challenges, especially pandemics, inflexible working hours and lack of independence at work. The question is whether, by transforming the healthcare system, the role of nurses will also be reconsidered.
Aim. To present the views of the nurses of the General Hospital of Šibenik-Knin County on the need for specialist training in nursing.
Methods. The research was conducted in form of a survey questionnaire which was administered to a group of 146 nurses who were employed at the General Hospital of Šibenik-Knin County. It consisted of data on specialist education in nursing (the attitude of nurses on the need for specialization, their awareness of it). The analysis was performed in the statistical software SPSS 25.
Results. Nurses with secondary vocational education predominate in the conducted research. They are mostly employed in the hospital department. They state a higher level of knowledge in a narrowly specialized field as the main motive for specialization. A statistically significantly higher number of participants expressed their intention to continue their education in the future and progress professionally. The limitation in this intention stems from the fact that the majority of participants are not familiar with the specialization program, even though their attitudes support specialization.
Conclusion. On the basis of the conducted research, the results are reached which show that the nurses of the General Hospital of Šibenik-Knin County encourage specialist education within the profession. The largest number of respondents believe that specialization in the nursing profession can lead to an increase in the quality of service, and the main reason for specialization is a higher level of knowledge in a narrowly specialized field of work. Also, the largest number of participants intend to continue their education, but most of them are not familiar with the
possibilities of specialization within the profession. Hypotheses that tested whether nurses' attitudes towards specialist education differ based on length of service, level of education and workplace were rejected.
Keywords
specialization, nursing; attitudes of nurses
Hrčak ID:
307366
URI
Publication date:
21.8.2023.
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