Graduating Nursing Students' Empowerment and Related Factors: Comparative Study in Six European Countries

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Workforce Development
• Professional Empowerment

Background:

• Healthcare systems face shortages of registered nurses.
• Nursing student empowerment is critical for meeting role expectations upon graduation.
• Limited research exists on nursing students' empowerment levels and influencing factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe and analyze the empowerment level of graduating nursing students across six European countries.
• To identify potential factors related to nursing student empowerment.

Main Methods:

• A comparative, cross-sectional study involving 1746 graduating nursing students from the Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, and Spain.
• Utilized the Essential Elements of Nurse Empowerment scale and the Nurse Competence Scale.
• Statistical analysis of collected data on empowerment and related factors (e.g., age, previous degrees, work experience, study achievements, intentions to leave the profession).

Main Results:

• Graduating nursing students reported a moderate level of self-assessed empowerment, with significant variations observed between countries.
• High empowerment was associated with a lower intention to leave the nursing profession.
• Higher empowerment correlated with superior study achievements and greater self-assessed generic competence.

Conclusions:

• Nursing education programs should prioritize enhancing student empowerment.
• Empowerment appears to be a key factor in retaining nurses in the profession.
• Further investigation is recommended to understand empowerment development during the initial years of a nursing career.