Baccalaureate entry to practice: a systems view.

As the focus of health care shifts from inpatient hospital treatment to primary, community-based prevention, nurses will be required to learn new skills to take on new responsibilities. The authors use systems theory and a brief review of the history of nursing educational reform to explore the proposed requirement of a baccalaureate nursing degree for entry to practice and its potential effect on the nursing profession.

Giving voice to registered nurses' decisions to work.

The purpose of this paper was to give voice to the concerns of registered nurses (RNs) who wrote comments on a survey about RNs' intent to work. Each comment (n = 472) was analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themes describe RNs' reflections on working: (a) competing priorities, (b) balancing priorities, (c) practice deterrents, and (d) collegial support encourages nurses to stay in practice.

Organizational characteristics and their effect on health.

There is a complex relationship between work, employee health, and successful business results. At the individual level, multiple factors including physical, psychological, and social aspects of the work environment affect workers' health and well-being. At the organizational level, the consequences of unhealthy work environments may be traced to a decrease in the quality of service and products, and a loss in productivity.