Background: European nurses are expected to provide appropriate care for patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. However, there is limited knowledge and understanding of this process. The aim of this study was to analyse the perceptions of culture and experiences of caring for patients from diverse cultural backgrounds of a purposive sample of qualified nurses from four European countries, namely Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Turkey. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological approach was selected in order to understand complex phenomena through the participants’ lived experiences, meanings and perspectives. Individual interviews and focus groups took place with 28 staff nurses and 11 nurse managers from four European countries. The sociodemographic and cultural characteristics of the sample were described and analysed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were transcribed verbatim, translated into English and analysed following Braun and Clark’s phases for thematic analysis. Results: Five themes and twelve subthemes emerged from thematic analysis of the transcripts. The themes included: (1) relevance of culture for nursing; (2) culture in the healthcare service; (3) qualities of the healthcare professionals; (4) challenges to culturally competent care; (5) becoming a culturally competent nurse. Conclusions: There are challenges to the delivery of culturally congruent care, namely language and communication difficulties, prejudices and stereotyping in the health service, a tendency for ethnocentrism, a lack of education and training in cultural competence and a lack of support from the health service to facilitate new ways of acting.

The circumstances arising from the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated the use of digital teaching and learning in health professions education. Digital gamification-based teaching and learning activities are innovative and versatile tools for the acquisition of professional competencies in higher education, which can be used on a range of topics and can be supplemental to other teaching methods. This study aimed to investigate nursing students' gameful experience whilst playing a digital escape room. In addition, we aimed to analyze the students' motivation, learning experience and outcome of the activity, and the students' perception of the degree of achievement of the intended learning outcomes. Cross-sectional descriptive study. A total of 136 undergraduate first year student nurses enrolled in a “Fundamentals of Nursing” course. The digital escape room game took place online during the academic year 2020–2021. The measures included the GAMEX scale in its Spanish version and a self-reported questionnaire to evaluate the outcome of the scape room game and the degree of achievement of the intended learning outcomes. More than 80 % of the participants were moderately to very motivated to play the game. Three GAMEX dimensions achieved a mean score of 3 or above 3, namely Enjoyment, Creative Thinking and Absence of Negative effects. The mean score for each of the outcome variables was over 3. However, the degree of achievement of the learning outcomes after exiting the digital escape room was uneven. Gamification-based teaching and learning activities, such as digital escape rooms, can be effective in fostering specific skills, including teamwork, communication and critical thinking. However, they should be designed carefully, and used as a complement, rather than a substitute, of other educational activities.

This systematic review aimed to summarise and update existing knowledge about ageism among nursing students through the following research question: what is the perception and attitudes of ageism among student nurses? A systematic review of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of ageism in nursing students was carried out. The literature search was conducted in the scientific databases Pubmed and Scopus in February 2021. After the screening process, 22 studies meeting the selection criteria were selected; 8 more were identified after manually searching the selected paper' reference lists. A total of 30 studies were included in the review. The JBI Critical Appraisal Checklists for Analytical Cross-Sectional studies and for Cohort Studies were used to appraise the articles' quality. There was large variability in the manifestation of ageism among student nurses, as well as in the instruments used for assessment. Most of the articles analysed attitudes towards old age, the majority of which were positive. Being a female student, being on the final year of study and having regular contact or cohabitation with an older adult were three of the main determinants in the expression of positive attitudes towards the elderly. Our findings suggest that student nurses generally have positive attitudes towards old age, although ageist beliefs and discriminatory behaviours were identified and should be studied in greater depth. Training programs for future care professionals have a responsibility to educate from a non-stereotypical perspective based on current societal needs.

Background: Men with prostate cancer who undergo radical prostatectomy experience a decrease in quality of life, often related to sexual disfunction and urinary incontinence. Knowing and measuring the impact of radical prostatectomy on the individual’s social, emotional, and family quality of life could help to plan and develop an appropriate, patient-centred therapeutic approach. Aim: In this study, we aimed to evaluate changes in quality of life of patients with prostate cancer before and after radical prostatectomy. Methods: A longitudinal, observational study of 114 participants was conducted using the method of test–retest. Quality of life before and after radical prostatectomy was measured through the following self-administered questionnaires: (1) The EORTC QLQ-C30 in its Spanish version was used to assess the generic quality of life the participants; (2) the EORTC QLQ-PR25 in its Spanish version was used to assess the specific, health-related quality of life of prostate cancer patients. Results: A total of 114 men took part in this study. The results from the QLQ-C30 questionnaire indicated an improvement in the dimensions of emotional role and cognitive function, as well as in the symptoms of fatigue, pain, nausea and vomiting, insomnia, and loss of appetite, after surgery. Patients scored lower in the dimensions of role functioning, social function, and economic impact after radical prostatectomy. According to the results from the QLQ-PR25 questionnaire, 61.40% of the participants experienced sexual impotence and 26.31% suffered urinary incontinence after surgery. There were significant differences in some postsurgical outcomes between patients who had neurovascular bundles preserved and those who had not. Conclusions: In-depth knowledge of, and measurement of changes in, quality of life after radical prostatectomy should allow for comprehensive, multidisciplinary, patient-centred care planning. Psychosocial assessment, both before and after surgery, is crucial in patients with prostate cancer. This study was prospectively registered with the CEIC-A on 2012-06-27, with registration number C.P.-C.I. PI12/0088