Building resilience in contemporary nursing practice

YesThe nursing profession is being threatened by staff shortages. Catherine Best explains why building resilience from within the profession is vital to safeguarding its future, by keeping newly qualified nurses in the job and preventing emotional ‘burnout’ across disciplines Resilience in nursing has been critiqued and challenged throughout the nursing literature. Trends in nursing have led to many nurses leaving the profession early in their career, often due to the immense pressures that they work under. There are many opinions on how nurses can develop the resilience needed to maintain professional integrity and continue to provide safe and effective care, while attempting to shoulder the considerable impact of political and professional drivers. This not only leaves nurses exhausted but often without hope. By taking collective action, this article argues that nurses may benefit from sharing ideas and learning from others, and in so doing rekindle hope and a belief that things can change

Observational two-country study of undergraduate nursing students’ self-perceptions of leadership behaviours in clinical practice

Aim Strengthening the future of the nursing workforce through nurturing leadership development in novice and newly qualified nurses through educational programmes is viewed as crucial internationally. Enabling and developing leadership skills is challenging, and nursing students require clinical and academic support throughout their degree programmes. This study aimed to measure undergraduate nursing students’ self-perceptions of clinical leadership behaviours between two countries. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was completed with two cohorts of undergraduate nursing students in England and Israel following ethical approval. The Spanish version of Self-Assessment Leadership 40 item Instrument (SALI) ES-SALI measuring four leadership dimensions was used following translation into English and Hebrew. A web-based anonymous survey using Qualtrics online software was distributed from October 2021 to April 2022. Results: The overall response rate was 22.5% (n=138) [27% (Israel); 18% (England)]—Cronbach’s Alpha= 0.94 overall and >0.7 in each dimension. Demographic differences noted older aged students: (>32 years) in England 50.1% V Israel 6.6% p <0.001; and previous work experience: England 84.8% V Israel 44.3% p<0.001. Significant differences were identified in two leadership dimensions, with English students reporting higher scores: “Emotional Intelligence” England M= 3.22 (SD 0.54) V Israel M= 3.02 (SD 0.54) and “Impact and Influence” England M= 3.13 (SD 0.58) V Israeli M= 2.97 (SD 0.53). Year of study was consistent with higher leadership scores for both cohorts in the middle year of study. Conclusions: Previous evidence establishes the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership development and providing quality care. This study demonstrates differences in perceptions of leadership among nursing students in two countries with implications for the profession and workforce development. Nurse educators should consider enhanced leadership skill development in preparing nurses to provide quality, safe and person-centred care

The MDT-15 Subunit of Mediator Interacts with Dietary Restriction to Modulate Longevity and Fluoranthene Toxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans

Dietary restriction (DR), the limitation of calorie intake while maintaining proper nutrition, has been found to extend life span and delay the onset of age-associated disease in a wide range of species. Previous studies have suggested that DR can reduce the lethality of environmental toxins. To further examine the role of DR in toxin response, we measured life spans of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans treated with the mutagenic polyaromatic hydrocarbon, fluoranthene (FLA). FLA is a direct byproduct of combustion, and is one of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's sixteen priority environmental toxins. Treatment with 5 µg/ml FLA shortened the life spans of ad libitum fed nematodes, and DR resulted in increased sensitivity to FLA. To determine the role of detoxifying enzymes in the toxicity of FLA, we tested nematodes with mutations in the gene encoding the MDT-15 subunit of mediator, a transcriptional coactivator that regulates genes involved in fatty acid metabolism and detoxification. Mutation of mdt-15 increased the life span of FLA treated animals compared to wild-type animals with no difference observed between DR and ad libitum fed mdt-15 animals. We also examined mutants with altered insulin-IGF-1-like signaling (IIS), which is known to modulate life span and stress resistance in C. elegans independently of DR. Mutation of the genes coding for the insulin-like receptor DAF-2 or the FOXO-family transcription factor DAF16 did not alter the animals' susceptibility to FLA compared to wild type. Taken together, our results suggest that certain compounds have increased toxicity when combined with a DR regimen through increased metabolic activation. This increased metabolic activation appears to be mediated through the MDT-15 transcription factor and is independent of the IIS pathway