Academic literature on the topic 'Nurses Australia Attitudes'

Objective: Self-injury can be described as the deliberate destruction of the body without the intent to die, and is a distinct clinical presentation needing to be assessed separately from suicide and para-suicide. Nurses attitude to self-injury is a largely unexplored area particularly within Australia. The aim of this paper is to explore Australian general and mental health nurses’ attitudes towards self-injury taking into account their preparation as registered nurses (RNs) or enrolled nurses (ENs) and length of experience.Methods: This was a mixed methods exploratory design study. Phase one used a combination of two established surveys, the Self-Harm Antipathy Scale (SHAS) and the Attitudes Towards Deliberate Self-Harm Questionnaire (ATDSHQ). Nurses who were either RNs or ENs, mental health educated (MHE) or not, working in the area of mental health or emergency departments (ED) were recruited through a number of professional nursing organisations. A total of 172 nurses completed the phase one online questionnaire. The results of this survey are reported in this paper.Results: The key findings indicated a significant relationship between years of mental health nursing experience and mental health nursing qualification. A significant difference was noted in the knowledge level of self-injury between the mental health nurses who had a greater knowledge compared to those who were not mental health educated. Lastly, the attitudes of nurses to self-injury were generally found to be positive.Conclusions: These results extend much of what is in the literature on knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of nurses to non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and place these results in an Australian context. Further research to assess the effectiveness of increased education and community engagement should be undertaken.

Failure to perform good hand hygiene is considered as an major cause of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs). From the WHO data, compliance rate of nurses hand hygiene activity at the United States is about 50%, Australia 65% while in Indonesia 47%. This study aims to determine healthcare workers knowledge, attitude, and availability of facilities toward that affect hand hygiene compliance. This research method is analytical descriptive with cross-sectional approach. The object of data collection is an healthcare workers (nurse, doctor, and pharmacy) at General Hospitalin West Java as many as 51 samples. Sample selection using stratified sampling method with research instrument in the form of questionnaire and observation sheet about knowledge and attitude to hand hygiene adopted from WHO. The results of this study that obtained in the group of nurse were 48.6% doing imperfect hand hygiene and group of doctor respectively 80.0% and pharmacy were 100.0%. In terms of nurses knowledge about hand hygiene is 59.5%, doctor80.0% and pharmacy 50.0%. In terms of attitudes about the implementation of hand hygiene, the nurses group is 48.6%, doctors respectively 40% and pharmacy 50.00% have a positive attitude. In terms of facilities is 40.5% nurses stated available, doctors 20% and pharmacy 0.00%. There was a significant relationship between hand hygiene with knowledge (p = 0,019), attitude (0.004) and hand hygiene facility (p = 0.040). Keywords: attitude, hand hygiene, health care, knowledge

Surgical desexing of cats is typically carried out after six months of age (Mature Age Desexing, MAD); between 4–6 months (Traditional Age Desexing, TAD); or before four months (Early Age Desexing, EAD). We complemented existing surveys of veterinarians’ acceptance of EAD with online and face-to-face surveys, to ascertain the preferred desexing ages for cats and rationale of 957 Australian veterinarians, veterinary nurses, veterinary science students, and veterinary nursing students. A complementary survey of 299 veterinary practice websites across Australia documented any information provided about desexing cats. The most common reason for preferred desexing ages was reducing stray cat populations (30%); 78% of these respondents chose ages aligning with EAD. Vet nurses and nursing students were more conservative than vets or vet students, preferring to desex cats >4 months. Perceived anaesthetic risk was a major motivation, especially for nurses ≤5 years’ experience. Across 299 urban practices in Australian capital cities, 55% of surveyed websites provided no information about desexing cats or listed desexing without explaining why it was necessary, or when to perform it. Increasingly, Australian legislatures mandate desexing of cats by three months of age, so the practices of some current/future veterinary professionals do not match changing legislation.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines e-health as the use of information and communication technology for health [1]. The use of e-health, including electronic medical records (EMR), is a growing trend. This integrative review of the literature examines nurses experiences of e-health in Australian acute care settings. A search of the literature identified 21 papers for inclusion in this review. Two discernable themes in the literature are apparent. Research to date largely focuses on nurses experiences of e-health, including its usefulness in their work. Findings indicate that nurses attitudes to e-health and computer usage are positive, however there are indications that nurses currently using e-health in practice are often dissatisfied with the implementation of new e-health systems in their workplace and that there are a number of barriers to its successful implementation. Secondly, a discernable gap in the literature regarding the impact of e-health, and in particular EMRs, on nursing outcomes is identified with research to date limited to findings related to nursing documentation and multi-disciplinary discharge planning. Future research that considers nurse experiences in implementing e-health and applies focused strategies across a range of health settings, both in Australia and around the world, can influence successful adoption and implementation of e-health.

<p>The effective communication increase is one of the seven goals of patient safety. The SBARcommunication technique is part of it. There are several factors that influence the application of SBAR communication namely; knowledge, attitude and motivation. According to the Joint Commission International (JCI) and the World Health Organization (WHO) of 25,000-30,000 cases of permanent disability in patients in Australia, 11% was due to communication failure. Based on interviews by researcher with head nurses on February 19, 2018, March 3, 2018, March 4, 2018 and March 6, 2018 with several nurses and also the head nurse, and in three observations conducted in March in a Private Hospital in West Region of Indonesian, it was found that nurses had not conducted SBAR communication technique in accordance with the SOP (Standard Operational Procedure). This study was conducted to analyze the factors associated with the implementation of SBAR communication technique while doing patient handover by emergency Room nurses in a Private Hospital in West Region of Indonesia. This study employed quantitative methodology with a cross-sectional research design. Sampling was done by total sampling technique to 12 nurses. Data collection was done using a questionnaire to measure variables of the attitudes and motivation of nurses and observation sheets to assess the implementation of SBAR communication technique by nurses. The results of bivariate analysis using Chi-Square showed that there was a correlation between the attitude of emergency nurses with the implementation of SBAR communication technique while doing patient handover (p value &lt;0.05), but there was no correlation between the motivation of nurses with the implementation of SBAR communication technique while doing patient handover (p value&gt; 0.05). As the Suggestions for the hospital, the results of the study can be used as a reference in the implementation of SBAR communication technique by improving positive attitude of nurses.</p>

Nurses are well positioned to initiate and conduct advance-care planning (ACP) conversations; however, there has been limited research on practice nurses performing this role in Australia. The aim of the present study was to understand the beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, confidence, training and educational needs of New South Wales practice nurses with regards to involvement in ACP. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in August to October 2014. Nurses were recruited through nursing organisations and Medicare Locals. There were 147 completed surveys (n=147). Participants were mostly female registered nurses, with a median age of 50, and 6 years of practice-nurse experience. Practice nurses were generally positive towards their involvement in ACP and believed it would be beneficial for the community. Their confidence in initiating ACP increased as their familiarity with patients increased. They showed a high level of interest in participating in training and education in ACP. Barriers to their involvement in ACP included the lack of a good documentation system, limited patient-education resources and unclear source of remuneration. Nurses were also concerned over legalities of ACP, ethical considerations and their understanding of end-of-life care options. Nevertheless, they were highly receptive of integrating ACP discussions and were willing to enhance their skills. These findings uncover a need for further training and development of practice nurses for ACP discussions.

Rationale.Many cancer patients and survivors do not meet nutritional and physical activity guidelines, thus healthier eating and greater levels of physical activity could have considerable benefits for these individuals. While research has investigated cancer survivors’ perspective on their challenges in meeting the nutrition and physical guidelines, little research has examined how health professionals may assist their patients meet these guidelines. Cancer nurses are ideally placed to promote healthy behaviours to their patients, especially if access to dieticians or dietary resources is limited. However, little is known about cancer nurses’ healthy eating promotion practices to their patients. The primary aim of this study was to examine current healthy eating promotion practices, beliefs and barriers of cancer nurses in Australia and New Zealand. A secondary aim was to gain insight into whether these practices, beliefs and barriers were influenced by the nurses’ hospital or years of work experience.Patients and Methods.An online questionnaire was used to obtain data. Sub-group cancer nurse comparisons were performed on hospital location (metropolitan vs regional and rural) and years of experience (<25 or ≥25 years) using ANOVA and chi square analysis for continuous and categorical data respectively.Results.A total of 123 Australasian cancer nurses responded to the survey. Cancer nurses believed they were often the major provider of nutritional advice to their cancer patients (32.5%), a value marginally less than dieticians (35.9%) but substantially higher than oncologists (3.3%). The majority promoted healthy eating prior (62.6%), during (74.8%) and post treatment (64.2%). Most cancer nurses felt that healthy eating had positive effects on the cancer patients’ quality of life (85.4%), weight management (82.9%), mental health (80.5%), activities of daily living (79.7%) and risk of other chronic diseases (79.7%), although only 75.5% agreed or strongly agreed that this is due to a strong evidence base. Lack of time (25.8%), adequate support structures (17.3%) nutrition expertise (12.2%) were cited by the cancer nurses as the most common barriers to promoting healthy eating to their patients. Comparisons based on their hospital location and years of experience, revealed very few significant differences, indicating that cancer nurses’ healthy eating promotion practices, beliefs and barriers were largely unaffected by hospital location or years of experience.Conclusion.Australasian cancer nurses have favourable attitudes towards promoting healthy eating to their cancer patients across multiple treatment stages and believe that healthy eating has many benefits for their patients. Unfortunately, several barriers to healthy eating promotion were reported. If these barriers can be overcome, nurses may be able to work more effectively with dieticians to improve the outcomes for cancer patients.

To understand factors that influence Western Australian nurses’ attitudes towards using information technology in nursing practice, a mixed-methods approach involving quantitative and qualitative approaches was used. A questionnaire was responded to by 134 registered nurses and this was followed by interviews with selected participants. Various barriers that hampered nurses’ embracing computers and information technology were identified.

The nursing workforce in Australia is a workforce under pressure. Within in-patient settings, rapidly increasing turnover of more acutely ill or co-morbid patients, and staff retention issues, place those staff that remain under extra pressure to maintain a quality service. In nurse education settings the increasing imperative to recruit more students into the profession combined with financial cutbacks leading to staff retention issues creates a similar tension. Yet many Registered Nurses (RNs) do remain in their chosen work setting displaying tenacity and resilience despite well documented trials and tribulations. A qualitative approach, Portraiture, was used to construct a collection of portraits which enabled an exploration of the ‘why’ that relates to the individual nurse’s remaining in a workplace often described as awful. A narrative analysis of the portrait data allowed a meaningful interpretation based in current literature and contemporary experience in uncovering the individual’s resilience and motivation to continue. The portraits give an overarching insight of the nurse participant’s world view and why each continues in her work. The traits and attitudes uncovered have implications for educators and employers of nurses as well as for consumers of nursing care. Several recommendations arose from the findings in relation to further research, education and policy making. These recommendations could contribute to enhance a satisfying professional milieu for the practising nurse; and to the education and ongoing professional development of nurses which acknowledges the changing socio-political and fiscal environment in which nursing service takes place.

This thesis is based on a model of critical feminist ethnography, designed to explore how practice nurses experience their daily work life in rural and regional general practice. Here, rural and regional practice includes small and large organisations based outside the metroploitan area that employ practice nurses, some in large regional centres and others in small regional communities. Ownership of the general practicioners, local government, regional health services, Aboriginal medical services, universities and private-for-profit businesses.

Since 1982, healthcare institutions and professionals have been questioning whether family members should be allowed to enter resuscitation rooms during such critical period of treatment. A self-administered questionnaire is used in this research to investigate Western Australian emergency nurses’ attitudes towards family witnessed resuscitation and to explore possible factors influencing their attitudes.The findings of this work suggest that nurses, assuming a betwixt-between position, evaluate the costs and benefits of allowing family presence in the resuscitation room from patients, families and healthcare professionals’ perspectives. Nurses have an overwhelming agreement on the beneficial aspects of the practice, while also share concerns commonly reported in previous studies with an emphasis on a family member’s capability to cope with and comprehend the resuscitation procedures and a healthcare professional’s ability to handling pressure.Overall, the research suggests nurses are ambivalent in their attitude. Despite the nurses’ awareness of some family members’ desire to witness resuscitation and their reported benefits, in doing so, they are reluctant to initiate or formally incorporate this practice as a standard procedure. There is also a lack of consensus on the management of families’ presence, however, nurses agree on the need for preresuscitation assessment, support staff during resuscitation and post-resuscitation debriefing. Institutional factor is identified as a significant influence on nurses’ attitudes. This work will provide useful input in the future development of guidelines and will help stimulate discussion on this topic in Western Australia.

In a country such as Australia which claims adherence to democratic values, it would appear important that policies and laws on such a controversial and value laden issue as active voluntary euthanasia (AVE), need to have at least some basis in public opinion and in that of relevant professional groups. It has been argued that public opinion may be of limited value due to the public's lack of experience and exposure to this issue. The opinions of people with more exposure to and reflection on the ethical issues surrounding euthanasia need to be ascertained. Nurses are one group who have prolonged involvement with the care of dying or suffering people and their families. Nurses in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) could be a particularly well informed group because of the ongoing open debate resulting from four proposed laws on AVE in this Territory since 1993. The overall purpose of this thesis was to identify the attitudes of nurses in the ACT towards AVE. This thesis was supported by a study which provided information on four aspects of nurses' attitudes towards AVE. Firstly, the attitudes of registered nurses in the ACT were compared to those of other nurses, medical practitioners and members of the general public in Australia. Secondly, the associations between characteristics of the nurses and their attitudes were investigated. Thirdly, the legal conditions which nurses believe should be in a law allowing active voluntary euthanasia were identified. Finally, the arguments nurses put forward to support their attitudes towards AVE were analysed This thesis does not attempt to evaluate the ethical arguments proposed, merely to reflect the views put forward. A postal survey was carried out in late 1996 of 2000 randomly selected registered nurses from the Australian Capital Territory. Responses were received from 1218 nurses (61%). Attitudes of Nurses: A majority of nurses who responded, supported AVE as "sometimes right", be it homicide by request (72%) or physician assisted suicide (71%). A slightly smaller majority of nurses believed the law should be changed to allow homicide by request (69%) and physician assisted suicide (67%) under certain conditions. If AVE were legal, 66% of the nurses indicated they were willing to be involved in the procedure. Only 30% were willing to assist patients to give themselves the lethal dose, while 14% were willing to administer the lethal dose to the patient. Comparing these results with previous surveys, it appears that nurses are less in favour of AVE than the general public but more in favour than medical practitioners. Associations between Characteristics of Nurses and Attitudes: Those nurses who were more likely to agree that the law should allow AVE, were under the age of 40 years, agnostic, atheist or of the Anglican religion, to have less contact with terminally ill patients, to work in the area of critical care or mental health, and to take less interest in the issue of AVE. Palliative care nurses were the only subgroup without a majority in favour (33%). There is other evidence in the euthanasia literature indicating that nurses and doctors are less in favour of AVE than the general public. Taken together with the present findings, it may be concluded that attitudes towards AVE are more favourable in people who have less contact with the terminally ill. Legal Conditions in an AVE Law: The conditions most strongly supported in any future AVE law were "second doctor's opinion" (85%), "cooling off period" (81%), "patient must have unbearable protracted suffering" (80%), "doctor must inform patient about illness and treatment" (78%) and "patient must be terminally ill" (63%). There was only minority support for "patient not suffering from treatable depression" (42%), "patient administers or assists to administer, the fatal dose themselves" (32%) and "patient over a certain age" (7%). Support for a change in the law to allow AVE was 38% for a young man with AIDS, 39% for an elderly man with early stage Alzheimer's disease, 44% for a young woman who had become quadriplegic and 71 % for a middle aged woman with metastases from breast cancer. Arguments Supporting AVE Attitudes: The most common argument in support of AVE was that people should have the right to control their own lives and thus be able to decide for themselves when and how they wanted to die. The most common argument against AVE was that of the slippery slope in which it is feared that the boundaries which society puts on killing will be extended. Conclusions: This inquiry pinpoints the discordance between attitudes towards AVE and the legal status of AVE. Parliamentary representatives need to consider the current attitudes of their constituents, and especially those of relevant health care professionals towards AVE. It is important that a nursing perspective is represented in any law legalising AVE and that the role of the nurse is clearly described in relevant legal acts. Future research would also be beneficial to investigate further the association between the experience of nurses working in a palliative care setting and AVE attitudes. There needs to be further debate about the legal conditions required in any future AVE bills. given the lack of support from nurses for some conditions which have been included in proposed AVE laws. Furthermore, it would be valuable to carry out surveys of the opinions of other health practitioners in order to inform legislators. These results form a baseline to examine the changes in attitudes towards AVE over time and change in the legal status of AVE.

A sample of 208 nurses (a response rate of 63%) participated in a study by responding to a questionnaire comprising of 170 items which examined nurses’ attitudes towards mental illness, and the association between contact, cultural values, general and practice stigma. General stigma refers to attitudes towards the mentally ill while practice stigma is informed from differential clinical practice approaches towards the care of two case vignettes describing a patient with mental illness and one with diabetes. Subjects were recruited using the snowballing technique and comprised of nurses (83 Anglo Psychiatric, 41 Anglo General, 49 Chinese Psychiatric and 35 Chinese General) currently practising in Victoria. Age ranged from 21 to 65 years. Principal components analyses were conducted on items to develop subscales related to individualism and collectivism, contact types, general and practice stigma. Analyses of variance and covariance were conducted to examine differences between nurse type and ethnicity and respectively, to account for possible differences in background, contact and in the case of practice stigma, general stigma.
The key findings revealed differences according to nurse type and ethnicity in several of the subscales. Psychiatric nurses endorsed a higher level of contact than general nurses with mentally ill people on the variables ‘Contact Through Work Situation’, ‘Patient Help Nurses’ and ‘External Socialisation with Patient’, but not on the variable ‘Relative With Mental Illness’. By virtue of more contact, psychiatric nurses also endorsed less general stigma than general nurses, assessed by results from analysing social distancing, but not by negative stereotyping of people with mental illness. With respect to practice stigma, while care and satisfaction did not differ according to patient type and nurse type, psychiatric nurses expressed less authoritarianism and negativity than general nurses towards the mental illness case than general nurses while lesser differences between nurse types were evident for the diabetes case. Chinese nurses when compared with Anglo-Australian nurses, endorsed more highly collectivist values measured by the variables ‘Ingroup Interdependence’ and ‘Ingroup Role Concern’ but there was no difference in individualist values. This may reflect acculturation towards Western values but also retention of Chinese values, interpreted in the light of other results on cultural affiliation, as a bicultural position. Chinese nurses endorsed more highly general stigma towards the mentally ill than Anglo nurses when statistically controlling for differences in background demographics and contact factors.
Nursing satisfaction did not differ in ethnicity and patient type. Chinese nurses endorsed more highly care and authoritarianism in their clinical practice approaches than Anglo-Australian nurses, although there was no significant interaction effect between ethnicity and patient type on care and authoritarianism. Chinese nurses endorsed more highly negativity than Anglo-Australian nurses for the mental illness case than the diabetes case, an effect later shown to be mediated by differences in general stigma between the two ethnic groups. Within the Chinese sample, higher contact was associated with lower differential negativity for the mental illness than the diabetes case. Several path analyses suggested Chinese values influenced differential negativity, mediated by general stigma and prior diversified contact with people having a mental illness.
It may be concluded from these results that practice stigma is related to cultural values but the relationship is mediated by general stigma and contact. What aspect of the Chinese values specifically correlates with general stigma remains a question for further research, but several possibilities are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine some of the interrelationships between innovation in nursing education, professional attitudes and wastage from nursing. Five groups of students who participated in innovative nurse education courses in A.C.T. hospitals in the 1970's were surveyed by a self administered questionnaire which gathered biographical data as well as attitudinal information. Their responses were compared with those of students who had undertaken a traditional nursing course at an A.C.T. hospital in the same period. The findings of this study suggested that the instrument used may provide a better measure of satisfaction with nursing than of professional attitudes. One of the unexpected findings from the survey which suggested the need for further study was that many of those who had undertaken further nursing study indicating apparent commitment to continuing education in a chosen career would not encourage others to enter nursing. Another was that those who indicated greater career choice commitment may in fact be those who felt unable to obtain alternative employment. It was found that innovation in hospital based nurse education courses attracted different people and produced graduates with different attitudes to professional issues,who followed different career pathways compared to graduates of traditional nurse education courses. Innovative courses appear to have attracted older and better qualified entrants and to have increased the likelihood of graduates being promoted. Respondents from the innovative courses showed increased interest in continuing education and Professional Association activity than their control group colleagues. They were more frustated with the traditional role of the nurse as the selfless, dedicated worker and were less commited to their career choice, overall these findings perhaps indicated a level of dissatisfaction with nursing higher in the innovative course graduates than in the control group. These findings may support Brief's contention (1976) that expectations raised during the educational process, if not fulfilled, will lead to wastage. wastage from nursing was intimately linked with dissatisfaction with work conditions in nursing. Those who had permanently left nursing had more frequently left for work related reasons and undertaken non-nursing study than those who had left and returned or who had never left. Those who left for work related reasons were less likley to return and less likely to choose nursing again if given the chance than those who left for other reasons. Findings about the institutionalisation of innovation in nursing education were difficult to identify with certainty, since time lapse alone could explain many of the findings. Attitudes to the Professional Association were more favourabe in respondents from the later intakes into the innovative courses than from the earlier. Given the recent increases in industrial activity in nursing, this finding is consistent with time lapse. Later intakes also demonstrated greater commitment to continuing education than earlier. This too can probably be explained by the greater availability of such facilities in more recent times. In a period of shortages of nurses prepared to work in the health care facilities of Australia, and of changes in the educational preparation of nurses, the findings of this study relating to attitudes and wastage should be used as the basis for future workforce planning.

Background. As assisted dying becomes a legal end-of-life choice in Australia, nurses will frequently encounter requests about or for that option. It is well established in nursing research that nurses can experience ambivalence in responding to these questions, regardless of individual attitudes toward assisted dying. The theory of planned behaviour guided this research to explore and explain how nurses in Australia intend to respond and how psychosocial influences shape those responses. Specifically, this research examines how attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control, and ethical beliefs inform response intentions. Method. To assess the impacts of those variables, this study had three objectives: 1) identify the range of possible responses; 2) assess the impact of the psychosocial variables on those intentions using data from an online survey distributed to members of professional nursing bodies; 3) identify patterns of intentions to form profiles of nursing cohorts, and examine the psychosocial variables that distinguish these profiles. A mixed-method approach was employed for these objectives. First, the range of intended responses was identified using Q-methodology that classified the subjective views of 45 nurses who work in typical end-of-life settings. Second, using survey data from 377 nurse respondents, the likelihood of an intended response was calculated as an interaction (or main effect) of attitude and the other variables of normative, control and ethical beliefs, using generalised linear modelling processes. Third, using k-means cluster analysis, five profiles were identified of nurses who shared similar patterns of intentions, and multinomial logistic regression calculated the likelihood of a psychosocial variable predicting a nurse's membership in a profile. Results. Most nurses would intend to explore the meaning of the request and assess the requestor's needs, and a large proportion of nurses would deflect the request to consider palliative alternatives based on some objection to the request. All nurses intended to refer the request to the responsible doctor regardless of their attitude toward assisted dying. The strength of each of those intentions, measured by the mean score of each intention, formed five different patterns of intentions that constituted profiles of Facilitators, Expediters, Compliers, Objectors, and Detached. The strength of respondents’ belief in beneficence predicted membership in most profiles, but only the Expediter profile reflected a balance of beneficence and respect for autonomy. The expectations of significant others to assist with a request predicted membership in all profiles except for Objectors and Detached. Conclusion. The results demonstrate the multiplicity of a nurse’s intentions in responding to requests for assisted dying and the beliefs that shape those intentions. Examining this issue with mixed-method design using regression models extends the knowledge base in a useful way for a profession adjusting to a legally novel and ethically contentious medical choice. These results have implications for organisational policy and professional development. Nurses can be supported for these encounters by knowing the law relevant to their role, understanding professional guidelines, and cognitively rehearsing their response to mitigate ambivalence in responding to requests while respecting patient autonomy.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Adelaide Nursing School, 2022

Abstract Introduction: Within the context of addressing the high number of medical errors in hospitals, the overall aim of this thesis was to investigate and assess the attitudes of doctors and nurses towards the patient safety in Saudi Arabian and Australian hospitals emergency departments. Methods: A mixed method research design was employed to address this aim. The quantitative study was conducted among doctors and nurses working in the emergency departments of Saudi Arabian and Australian hospitals. The qualitative part was conducted among doctors and nurses working in the emergency department of Saudi Arabian hospital. It was hypothesised that doctors will have more positive safety attitudes than nurses (H1). It was also hypothesised that patient safety attitudes amongst nurses and doctors will be comparatively more negative on the dimensions of management and working conditions (H2). Moreover, it was hypothesised that positive safety attitudes would be correlated with fewer reported clinical errors (H3). This thesis also compared the difference in patient safety attitudes between Saudi doctors and nurses and non-Saudi doctors and nurses. In addition, the differences in patient safety attitudes between doctors and nurses in Australian hospital were compared. Finally, the study compared the differences in safety attitudes between the two countries: Saudi Arabian and Australian sampled hospitals. Results: In the quantitative phase of the research in this thesis, Saudi doctors and nurses (N = 503) and Australian doctors and nurses (N = 51) working in hospital emergency departments completed the safety attitudes questionnaire (SAQ). The safety attitudes questionnaire measured the safety attitudes of doctors and nurses on the dimensions of teamwork climate, safety climate, perceptions of management, job satisfaction, working conditions, and stress recognition. In the qualitative phase of this research, Saudi doctors and nurses (N = 20) engaged in semi-structured interviews to provide comprehensive and rich data on their attitudes towards patient safety climate. Whereas the data from the quantitative studies was analysed with inferential statistics. In support of expectations, the findings showed patient safety attitudes amongst nurses and doctors were comparatively more negative on the dimensions of management and working conditions (H1). The findings also confirmed the expectation (H2) that doctors working in hospital emergency departments would report more positive attitudes toward the patient safety than nurses. Moreover, the findings also showed nurses reported lower teamwork climate and collaboration attitudes on the SAQ than doctors in both the Saudi and Australian hospital contexts. Even though there was evidence of under-reporting of medical errors by doctors and nurses, the findings provided qualified evidence to support the expectation (H3) that positive safety attitudes would be related to fewer reported clinical errors. Conclusion: These main findings and others in the thesis raise several empirical, theoretical and practical implications that centre on considering the impact of cultural and status differences on patient safety attitudes of doctors and nurses working in hospital emergency departments. The findings suggest that interventions to improve management support and engagement would lead to more positive patient safety attitudes among doctors and nurses. The findings of this thesis are also consistent the view that safety training interventions (during and post-medical school) are an important remedy to improve the engagement of doctors and nurses in patient safety in hospitals and to impact positively on the patient safety climate of hospital staff more broadly. In conclusion, the findings of this thesis provide one of the few research contributions to knowledge on the differential of doctors and nurses attitudes toward patient safety in hospital emergency departments.

Growth in use of digital technology for leisure and learning has created challenges for healthcare environments globally. Its rapid evolution in nursing continues to outpace the more sporadic updating of registered nurse standards, guidelines and codes of professional conduct. Revised standards in Australia and the United Kingdom establish the contemporary governance context for the educational preparation of registered nurses. A document analysis of these standards reveals an omit of guidance regarding the expected knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour of undergraduate nurses about when and how to access and use of digital technology on campus, and during work integrated learning. Documents governing nursing do not currently foster the development of digital professionalism, an essential component of professional identity formation, which is necessary to acquire prior to graduation as a registered nurse.