Conectar
Nursing as a profession remains underrepresented in research leadership, funding success and scholarly authorship globally, which limits its influence on policy and practice. Within this broader context, racially minoritised nursing academics, including Black academics, face additional inequities that further hinder their visibility and progression. Evidence from the United States, Canada and Australia highlights persistent barriers to research careers and leadership opportunities for Black nurses. In the United Kingdom, these disparities are particularly evident: Black nursing academics face barriers to conducting research while in the wider National Health Service workforce, Black nurses are twice less likely than their White counterparts to be promoted. Together, these patterns constrain career progression and hinder the development of culturally competent healthcare education and practice.
To explore the barriers to conducting research among Black nursing academics working in UK universities that are not traditionally research intensive, and to co-create pragmatic, theory-informed recommendations for enabling supportive and equitable research environments.
A qualitative multi-study design underpinned by Intersectionality Theory and The Silences Framework.
Two work packages are proposed. Work Package 1 will use semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences and barriers of conducting research among up to 15 Black nursing academics based at UK universities that are not research-intensive. Work Package 2 will adopt a modified Delphi methodology, engaging key collaborators in two rounds of online codesign workshops. Findings from Work Package 1 will inform structured discussions in which collaborators will develop theory-informed, pragmatic recommendations to strengthen research capacity and engagement among Black nursing academics.
This study will address the persistent underrepresentation of Black nursing academics in research. While grounded in the UK, the anticipated outputs will have wider applicability, informing policy, shaping institutional strategies and guiding future research priorities across diverse academic and healthcare systems worldwide.
Both air pollution and temperature variability (with cold wave as an extreme form) may influence the incidence of ischaemic stroke (IS). This study aimed to examine the association between winter air pollution-cold wave sequential events (persistent air pollution followed by cold waves) and IS incidence among adults aged>=60 years.
Clinical data were sourced from the Tianjin Medical and Health Big Data Platform (covering 81 secondary/tertiary hospitals), and meteorological/air quality data were sourced from the National Meteorological Science Data Centre. Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to assess the relationships between meteorological variables (eg, 24-hour temperature decrease), atmospheric pollutants (including Air Quality Index (AQI)) and elderly IS incidence. A distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) was applied to analyse lagged effects of winter air pollution and cold wave sequential events on IS incidence, while a generalised additive model (GAM) was used to evaluate additive interactions between air pollution and cold waves on IS incidence.
The study included 109 513 adults aged >=60 years with first-onset IS from 2016 to 2019. Eight winter air pollution-cold wave sequential events were identified over 4 years, with higher daily IS incidence during event periods (67 new cases/day), lag periods (68 new cases/day) than non-event periods (60 new cases/day). Subgroup analysis showed that among adults aged ≥80 years, proportional incidence during both events (80 to 85 years old: 1.89, 95% CI 0.52 to 3.26; 85 to 90 years old: 1.96, 95% CI 0.59 to 3.33) and lag period (80 to 85 years old: 0.90, 95% CI 0.02 to 1.78; 85 to 90 years old: 1.52, 95% CI 0.64 to 2.40) increased compared with the non-event period. Daily IS incidence was positively correlated with 24-hour temperature decreases, AQI and other air pollutants. DLNM showed that lag effects emerged 4 days post-exposure, with the highest IS risk at a 9-day lag (RR=1.122, 95% CI 0.443 to 2.838). GAM confirmed positive additive interactions between air pollution and cold waves on IS incidence (p
Winter air pollution-cold wave sequential events exert a synergistic, lagged effect on IS incidence in the elderly, with adults >=80 years being the most vulnerable. The observed risk patterns and underlying mechanisms underscore the importance of integrated environmental and public health strategies to reduce IS burden in this high-risk population.
A skilled and diverse healthcare workforce is essential in nursing homes, yet recruitment and retention remain a major challenge. Gaining insight into the well-being of different care worker groups and how they perceive their work environment can highlight areas of concern and opportunities for improvement.
To compare the perceived work environment and well-being among different care worker groups in nursing homes.
This descriptive study used cross-sectional survey data from the Flanders Nursing Home (FLANH) project, collected from February–July 2023. A total of 1521 care workers from 25 Flemish nursing homes participated (64.4% response rate), including care assistants (43.7%), registered nurses (20.5%), support staff (15.4%), allied health professionals (14.8%), and team leaders (5.7%). Chi-squared tests were used to compare the percentages of the care worker groups reporting the work environment items and well-being outcomes (job satisfaction, intention to leave, burnout). Post hoc analyses were conducted to identify which groups contributed to the significant differences observed.
Significant differences among care worker groups were found for almost all work environment items and well-being outcomes. Staffing adequacy was perceived least among care assistants and registered nurses. More registered nurses and team leaders perceived high workload and emotional burden compared to the other groups. Work–life interference and involvement were perceived most among team leaders. A person-centered vision, work autonomy, and salary satisfaction were reported most among allied health professionals and team leaders. Skill use and training opportunities were reported least among support staff. Work-related well-being appeared to be experienced most among allied health professionals and least among care assistants.
These findings highlight key differences in work environment perceptions and well-being among care worker groups, offering valuable insights for tailored initiatives to foster a supportive workplace that benefits the well-being of all types of care workers in nursing homes.
Background
A healthy nursing workforce is vital to ensuring that patients are provided quality care. Assessing nurses' well-being and related factors requires routine evaluations from health system leaders that leverage brief psychometrically sound measures. To date, measures used to assess nurses' well-being have primarily been psychometrically tested among other clinicians or nurses working in specific clinical practice settings rather than in large, representative, heterogeneous samples of nurses.
Objectives
This study aimed to psychometrically test measures frequently used to evaluate factors linked to nurse well-being in a heterogeneous sample of nurses within a large academic health system.
Methods
This cross-sectional, survey-based study used a convenience sample of nurses working across acute care practice settings. A total of 177 nurses completed measures, which included the Professional Quality of Life, the short form of the Professional Quality of Life measure, the two-item Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, the five-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index, the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, and the single-item Mini-Z. Internal reliability and convergent validity were assessed for each measure.
Results
All the measures were found to be reliable. Brief measures used to assess domains of well-being demonstrated validity with longer measures, as evident by significant correlation coefficients.
Discussion
This study provides support for the reliability and validity of measures commonly used to assess well-being in a diverse sample of nurses working across acute care settings. Data from routine assessments of the nursing workforce hold the potential to guide the implementation and evaluation of interventions capable of promoting workplace well-being. Assessments should include psychometrically sound, low-burden measures, such as those evaluated in this study. 
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