A tale of two professions in elections : Party choice among diaconal and social workers

Peer reviewe

'It’s the right thing to do': specificities of the Polish response to the Ukrainian crisis

Overwhelmingly, the Polish response to the 24 February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has been based on the moral imperative of ‘It is the right thing to do’. Within three months, Poland was hosting 3.3 million Ukrainian refugees. This is equivalent to 8.7% of Poland’s population of 38 million. The numbers are difficult to grasp. I have identified four specificities in the Polish response. Firstly, a collective intergenerational trauma and fear that Russia may not stop at Ukraine. Secondly, the attitude of the Polish state towards refugees is generally restrictive and hostile with the exception of Ukrainians. Thirdly, there were pre-existing Polish-Ukrainian relationships upon which Polish society’s response has been layered upon. Lastly, there has been sustained collective and grassroots response for over nine months. For how much longer can the humanitarian response be driven by local authorities, local organisations and civil society ‘to do the right thing’

Opettajan toiminta oppilaiden kokeman kouluviihtyvyyden taustalla

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, mitkä behavioraaliset, emotionaaliset ja kognitiiviset tekijät edistävät oppilaiden kouluun kiinnittymistä ja sitä kautta oppilaiden kokemaa kouluviihtyvyyttä. Lisäksi tutkittiin, millaisia eroja kiinnittymisen ulottuvuuksien heijastumisessa tutkimukseen osallistuneiden oppilasryhmien välillä voidaan havaita. Tutkimus suoritettiin tapaustutkimuksena haastattelemalla erään Satakuntalaisen yhtenäiskoulun 6. luokan oppilaita (n=43). Haastattelut litteroitiin, jonka jälkeen aineisto analysoitiin teoriaohjaavan sisällönanalyysin avulla. Teoriaohjaavaa analyysia ohjasivat aiemmat teoreettiset tutkimukset kouluun kiinnittymisestä sekä kouluviihtyvyydestä. Tutkimustulosten mukaan oppilaiden kokemaan kouluviihtyvyyteen vaikuttivat useat opettajan olemukseen ja toimintaan liittyvät tekijät. Suurimmat behavioraaliseen kiinnittymiseen vaikuttavat tekijät olivat opettajan monipuoliset opetusmenetelmät, selkeä opetus ja esimerkkinä toimiminen. Emotionaaliseen kouluun kiinnittymiseen vaikuttivat oppilaiden kokemusten mukaan eniten opettajan huumorintaju sekä toisaalta tyyneys, rauhallisuus sekä turvallisuus. Erilaisten oppijoiden huomiointi taas tulkittiin suurimmaksi kognitiiviseen kiinnittymiseen vaikuttavaksi kiinnittymistekijäksi. Tutkimuksen merkittävimpinä havaintoina voidaan pitää opettajan huumorin merkittävää vaikutusta oppilaan kokonaisvaltaiseen kiinnittymiseen tämän tutkimuksen kohdejoukossa. Myös oppilaan ja opettajan vastavuoroiseen ymmärtämiseen tuotiin tutkimuksessa uusi näkökulma. Erot kouluun kiinnittymisen ulottuvuuksien heijastumisessa tutkittujen kahden koululuokan välillä olivat pienet. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tuoda esiin kouluun kiinnittymiseen liittyviä konkreettisia tekijöitä, joiden kautta opettaja voi vaikuttaa oppilaiden kokemaan kouluviihtyvyyteen. Kun opettajat tulevat tietoisiksi näistä tekijöistä, voivat he joko hyödyntää jo toimiviksi havaittuja toimintatapoja tai kehittää niitä opetustyössään. Oppilaiden kouluun kiinnittymiseen ja kouluviihtyvyyteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä on tärkeä selvittää oppilaiden kokonaisvaltaisen hyvinvoinnin lisäämiseksi koulupolulla ja erityisesti sen nivelvaiheissa

Cognitive Training Interventions for Patients with Alzheimer's Disease : A Systematic Review

Background: Cognitive training (CT) refers to guided cognitive exercises designed to improve specific cognitive functions, as well as enhance performance in untrained cognitive tasks. Positive effects of CT on cognitive functions in healthy elderly people and persons with mild cognitive impairment have been reported, but data regarding the effects of CT in patients with dementia is unclear. Objective: We systematically reviewed the current evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to find out if CT improves or stabilizes cognition and/or everyday functioning in patients with mild and moderate Alzheimer's disease. Results: Altogether, 31 RCTs with CT as either the primary intervention or part of a broader cognitive or multi-component intervention were found. A positive effect was reported in 24 trials, mainly on global cognition and training-specific tasks, particularly when more intensive or more specific CT programs were used. Little evidence of improved everyday functioning was found. Conclusions: Despite some positive findings, the inaccurate definitions of CT, inadequate sample sizes, unclear randomization methods, incomplete datasets at follow-up and multiple testing may have inflated the results in many trials. Future high quality RCTs with appropriate classification and specification of cognitive interventions are necessary to confirm CT as an effective treatment option in Alzheimer's disease.Peer reviewe

Registered nurses' perceptions of having a calling to nursing: A mixed-method study

Aim: To explore how nurses perceived having a calling to nursing.Design: A mixed-method study.Methods: Survey data collected in autumn 2020 and semi-structured individual interview data collected in spring 2021. The 7925 survey respondents were care professionals and 414 of them were registered nurses. The 23 interview participants were registered nurses who responded to the survey. We examined the survey results using analysis of variance and t-tests and the interview data with qualitative thematic analysis.Results: Registered nurses had a lower calling than other care professionals. Based on the interviews, having a calling to nursing produce four key findings. Nurses with a calling experienced their work as meaningful. They also adopted a humane and holistic approach to their work. However, their calling could change during their professional career. Due to its historical roots, having a calling was seen as a risk for the nursing profession, as it meant nurses had an oppressed position in society and nurses associated it with poor working conditions and low pay.Conclusion: Our study showed that having a calling to nursing had multidimensional benefits for the individual nurse, their patient, colleagues, organization and society, but showed strong association between calling and nurses' poor working conditions and low pay.Impact: We found that nurses had a lower calling than other care professionals. Calling still exists, but it can produce tension in modern nursing. Organizations and society need to focus on how calling can be seen as a more positive attribute of nursing and improve nurses' working conditions and pay.</p

Family background and classroom belonging among adolescent students in Finland

We study whether a family’s economic situation and parental educational level areassociated with classroom belonging among students in comprehensive secondary,upper secondary general and upper secondary vocational education in Finland. Wealso study whether there are educational-level differences in this possible association.We use survey data from the Finnish School Health Promotion study from 2017(N = 114,528). We conduct random effect linear probability models with schools asthe second-level grouping variable. The results show that family’s low economicsituation predicts a higher probability of lack of sense of classroom belonging inFinland, despite the country having one of the world’s most equal educational systemsand comparably low economic inequality. Neither mother’s nor father’s educationallevel has any association. A family’s low economic situation seems to predictthe lack of a sense of belonging most strongly in comprehensive secondary educationand most weakly in upper secondary vocational education. Our results slightlysupport the proposed significance of context-specific hierarchies in determining theassociation between economic resources and sense of belonging. A family havinga poor economic situation is not reflected in the sense of classroom belonging asstrongly in schools where students have a low average economic situation comparedto those where students have a high average economic situation. We suggest measures,in addition to alleviating economic inequalities, to support the sense of schoolbelonging, especially for low-income students.</p

Registered nurses' perceptions of their career - An interview study

Aim We aim to explore registered nurses' perceptions of their career. Background Career development options have been found to increase attraction to nursing and support nurses' engagement with their organization and profession. Methods We collected qualitative individual interviews with 23 registered nurses; data were analysed with thematic analysis and reported according to the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) criteria. Results Three themes emerged: career choices, career engagement and career development. Participants had chosen a nursing career because they perceived it as humane, people oriented, meaningful, diverse and secure work. Participants' engagement in their career was connected to the content of the work, in which direct patient care was central. Nurses connected career development with high competency, independence, influence and meaningful working life experience. However, they perceived career development opportunities as minute within direct patient care. Conclusions Career development opportunities for nurses in direct patient care are needed to foster their career engagement and the attractiveness of the nursing profession. Further research is needed on the career planning and development of nurses working in patient care. Implications for Nursing Management Nurse managers must play a central role in engaging nurses in their careers and promoting their competency and career planning and development in organizations.</p