Status Quo Of Practicing Environment And Its Influencing Factors Among Male Nurses In Qingdao

ObjectiveThis study aimed at investigating the current situation of male nurses’ practice environment and professional identity in Qingdao area.Combined with the real experience of male nurses in the practice environment and a cross-sectional survey,the influencing factors of male nurses’ practice environment were explored,in order to provide the rational suggestions for improving male nurses’ practice environment and professional identity and to provide a reference for hospital managers.MethodsA cross-sectional survey and phenomenological research were conducted in this study.Phase 1: Male nurses who met the inclusion criteria were recruited via a convenience sampling method in second-level and above hospitals of Qingdao between November 2019 to February 2020.This survey was conducted using self-designed general situation questionnaire,Revised Nurse Practice Environment Assessment Scale,and Nurse Professional Identity Assessment Scale.SPSS25.0 software was used to analyze the data.rank sum test,Spearman correlation test and multiple stepwise regression were used to analyze the influencing factors of male nurses’ practice environment.Phase 2: Male nurses from 4 tertiary medical institutions and 2 secondary medical institutions in Qingdao were recruited by using the purpose of sampling method between June 2020 to February 2021.After the informed content was obtained,in-depth semistructured interviews were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of nurses’ true feelings about the practice environment.The Colaizzi’s phenomenological 7-step analysis method was used to analyze the data.Results1.The results of the quantitative research(1)A total of 747 male nurses participated in the survey,of which the medical institutions were mainly tertiary hospitals and teaching hospitals,accounting for 83.13%(621)and 96.92%(724)respectively.The departments in which they worked were mainly ICU,accounting for 41.23% %(308).The age of this sample was mainly 26-30 years old,accounting for 36.14%(270).The working years of this sample were mainly 6-10 years,accounting for 35.48%(265).The professional title of this sample was mainly nurse,accounting for 35.48%(265)39.89%(298)and the position of this sample was mainly nurse,accounting for 83.94%(627).(2)The total score of male nurses’ practice environment was 81.00(62.00,100.00)points.The highest score of dimension was quality management,and the lowest score of dimension was hospital management participation.(3)The total score of the professional identity evaluation of male nurses was 102.00(90.00,106.00)points,of which the highest scoring dimension was 34.00(28.00,41.00)points of professional cognitive evaluation,and the lowest scoring dimension was professional self-reflection 12.00(10.00,15.00).(4)The results of univariate analysis showed that the level of the medical institution,whether it was a teaching hospital,the department,monthly income,first education,marital status,and the total score of male nurses’ practice environment were statistically significant(P<0.05).(5)The results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that the total score of male nurses’ practice environment was related to the score of occupational cognition evaluation(r=0.776),the score of occupational social support(r=0.726),the score of occupational social skills(r=0.723),the score of coping with occupational frustration(r=0.753),and the score of occupational self-reflection(r=0.728)were correlated,respectively(all P<0.001).(6)Multiple regression analysis showed that the level of medical institution,department,age,working years,monthly income,first education,professional selfreflection,coping with occupational setbacks,and occupational cognitive evaluation were the influencing factors of the practice environment of male nurses,which can be explained64.4% total variance.2.The results of the qualitative research(1)A total of 13 male nurses were interviewed in this study.(2)6 themes and 12 sub-themes about the real feelings of male nurses’ practice environment were obtained through the analysis of interview data of 13 male nurses:(1)Occupational identity(employment prospects;strengths in physical strength,acceptance ability,and logical thinking;lack of professional awareness when entering the workplace);(2)professional and personal development(emergency and critical illness can better reflect nursing professionalism;career development is confused and lacks guidance);(3)social status(more and more recognition;society has prejudice against nursing work));(4)work and salary(there are differences in salary satisfaction;high work intensity,night shift pressure,biological clock disorder);(5)management participation(there are more opportunities to participate in department management);(6)medical and nursing collaboration(coexistence of advantages and disadvantages;more communication,mutual understanding).ConclusionThe practice environment of male nurses is affected by various factors such as medical institution grade,department,working years,professional self-reflection,coping with occupational frustration and cognitive evaluation.These factors are at a moderate level and need to be further improved.Hospital managers should pay attention to positive cognition of career and future career planning for male nurses,provide a career platform suitable for the development of male nurses,and carry out corresponding interventions in an all-round,multi-angle and targeted manner,so as to improve the practice environment of male nurses.