RISULTATI RICERCA

Nursing research in the United States is briefly reviewed. The history of nursing in the US is a story of incrementally increasing professionalism and academic rigor resulting in a robust national research enterprise led by the National Institute for Nursing Research. The current state of research in US nursing is reviewed including the major relevant institutions: American Nurses Association, American Nurse Credentialing Center, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research, and Institute of Medicine. Nursing research in the United States has become an inclusive element in the work of the faculty of major universities. Furthermore, American nurses are expected to integrate the results of research into their practice. This expectation is illustrated through the evidence-based practice model of care as well as quality improvement initiatives conducted by American nurses. Highlights of current trends and issues in US nursing research are discussed within this article.

The evolution of the Nursing profession in Spain over the past 40 years has determined the current situation of Nursing research. Thus, the social, political and economic context have modelled the academic consolidation of Nursing both in the University, and in the Health Care System. The aim of this paper is to describe the evolution, key milestones, and current situation of Nursing research in Spain as a result of all these influences. The full access of nurses to doctorate programs, the regulation of health professions and Nursing specialties, as well as the strong support from some institutions funding and promoting nurse-led research have been essential for the current development. There are 49 PhD Programmes for nurses, and 79 Nursing research groups, responsible for a scientific production that puts Spain in the seventh position in the world ranking of scientific production in the area of Nursing, from a total of 257 countries analyzed.

Nursing science belongs to the health sciences field in Finland and has been developed according to scientific criteria and evaluation processes, taking into account reforms in education and health care policies. This means that priorities in European and global health policies are considered as part of the research programmes carried out by departments of nursing science. The aim of this paper, which is based on publications and reports in this field, is to provide an overview of the history and challenges of nursing research in Finland. Recognising the changing focus of research is part of the general development of science. One critical question is how it will be possible to create an integrative research profile based on the diverse programmes and scientific goals. For each scientific field, there is a paradigm that determines the objectives, concepts and research, including theoretical and methodological assumptions.

There has been considerable progress made in the last three decades to firmly establish nursing research in Canada. However, progress has been uneven and there have been numerous challenges to the development of nursing research in Canada including the lack of graduate programs in the early days and concerns related to faculty capacity, research infrastructure and funding support. In spite of these challenges, nurse leaders have continually championed nursing research and the development of university based graduate education as well as financial investments in nursing specific infrastructure and research funding to ensure development of the field. In the future, the development of nursing research will be dependent on a continuing supply of well-prepared faculty mentors and strong research training environments to ensure nurses remain competitive in interdisciplinary and shifting research funding environments.

Nurse-to-patient ratios (N/P) are designed to ensure acceptable levels of patient load as well as enough nurses to properly care for patients. Representatives of the nursing profession and unions have been urging government to implement regulation to ensure the respect of mini-mum established N/P ratios at all times in Quebec healthcare organizations. This paper aims to examine N/P ratios, in the context of demands of many organizations for a law enforcing mandatory staffing ratios in Quebec healthcare organizations. A qualitative exploration was conducted using 42 semi-directive interviews with unionized nurses throughout the province of Quebec. A thematic analysis was carried out using NVivo. Using the Nursing job de-mands-resource model, which gives importance to the broader organizational climate, we assessed nurses’ perceptions of their working environment. Four main themes emerged: 1) intensifying workload, 2) inadequate skill mix, 3) cost-effective management, 4) adverse outcomes. Our findings suggest that reducing the number of patients per nurse will not neces-sarily result in better working conditions if other lean strategies are adopted to compensate for the higher staffing costs, nor will it make the work environment fundamentally more attractive. While higher staffing levels are needed, seriously caution should be paid to the ways in which ratios are implemented. Alternative models of healthcare institutions, such as Magnet hospitals or other models, should be examined.

Interventi di home visiting nei contesti familiari a rischio di maltrattamento sui minori sono fondamentali per ridurre i fattori di rischio e promuovere quelli di protezione. Lo studio propone una prima valutazione del programma di intervento fiorentino "Home Visiting: Percorsi di Sostegno alla Genitorialità" condotto dagli operatori dell’Azienda Usl Toscana Centro di Firenze. Hanno partecipato allo studio 20 madri. È stata condotta un’analisi retrospettiva delle cartelle cliniche e delle schede del progetto. I risultati mostrano che il 70 % delle madri non è stato segnalato per rischio di maltrattamento sui minori in seguito all’intervento e che la presa in carico tardiva costituisce un indice di rischio che aumenta la probabilità di segnalazioni per il rischio di maltrattamento. Lo studio indica la necessità che futuri interventi di home visiting tengano di conto del momento di presa in carico come fattore capace di garantire la riuscita dell’intervento e la sua efficacia.

Nida-Rümelin conduce il lettore lungo un affascinante percorso di esplorazione delle possibili risposte che l’umanesimo è in grado di fornire a una serie di questioni teoriche, etiche e politiche, alcune da sempre presenti nel dibattito filosofico occidentale, altre determinatesi a seguito delle mutate condizioni economiche e sociali degli ultimi decenni. Il confronto serrato con altre posizioni teoriche aiuta a definire in modo più netto e preciso i contorni di questa nuova forma di umanesimo.

The article discusses a Bonanate’s essay («Teoria politica», n. 1, 2001) in which he maintains that the classical perspectives of Political Science and International Relations are unable to give reasonable explanations of the recent tranformations the world has undergone. Since at present it is impossible to distinguish between domestic and international politics, an effort of both disciplines is required to work out a new paradigm. Finally, since international democracy and human rights are at stake, the author argues that political theory cannot any longer ignore normative issues.