[Educational curriculum and occupational status of nurses and midwives after second level degree (MNsc) at Catholic...

Our society requires health professionals of increasingly competence, able to modulate their skills according to the needs and the requirements of the context. This survey (cross - sectional) has as primary aim to collect information on employment status of individuals who have a Master degree in Nursing and Midwifery, and as secondary objective to describe if and how the post graduation education has affected the quality and the outcomes of nursing work. A questionnaire devised for the purpose has been used. The survey was conducted from May to August 2011 on all individuals who have a Master in Nursing and Midwifery at the UCSC (from 2004-2005 to 2009-2010). Results show that in 44 cases out of 111 (= 40%) there was a change of employment status after obtaining the Master's Degree and of these 68% (30 out of 44) state that the change is definitely linked to the Post graduation education. All respondents state that the University curriculum has certainly helped to modify some professional behaviors: research utilization (93%), skills in problem solving at work (68%); greater ease to communicate the reasons underlying their organizational choices or decision making (70%); self-training abilities (63%). Within the Italian context, however it seems that those individuals are involved in a managerial progression of their career rather than in the core nursing activities despite the fact that educational programs have important subjects for Advanced Nursing Practice and Nursing Science.