Turnover Intention Among Nurses in Nurse Managers, Directors, and Executives: Developing a Tool for Measuring Environmental Factors

Background and PurposeTurnover among nurse managers, directors, and executives is associated with staff nurse retention and patient outcomes. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of an instrument to evaluate factors associated with intent to leave among these leaders within acute care facilities.MethodsThe Nurse Leader Environment Support Survey (NLESS) was developed and evaluated using exploratory factor analysis and reliability testing (Cronbach’s α). Data was obtained as part of a large nationwide electronic survey (N = 1,903).ResultsFactors converged into three major themes (organizational culture, professional vulnerability, and workplace relationships) which were consistent across all three leadership groups. Factor subscales exhibited Cronbach’s α > .7.ConclusionsThe NLESS is a useful tool in comparing reasons for turnover among nursing leadership groups. Future refinement may prove useful in identifying and clarifying foundational causes of turnover.

EXPLORATION OF COMPUTER NETWORK BY VULNERABILITY SCANNER NESSUS

For today, computer networks are an integral part of our daily lives. As the analysis shows, the network is ex-tremely vulnerable, it can serve as a place of information leakage, changes of configuration of settings and modification of data by the attackers. There are many more threats, and the security of the network requires a great deal of attention to ensure the security of the network in order to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of the data. Organizations must regularly assess the vulnerability of the entire network to test the security level and strengthen the network. We use vulnerability scanners to find weaknesses, which are useful for detecting security vulnerabilities on a case-by-case basis and across the network as a whole. The purpose of the work is to explore the computer network for vulnerabilities using the Nessus Professional scanner. Research Methods – network scanning by Nessus Professional vulnerability scanner. The Nessus Professional vulnerability scanner from Tenable Network Security, which is freely available, was used for the research. The Nessus Professional scanner has been found to have better functionality and performance than other available scanners. The only downside to the scanner is its cost per year, as well as scanning a large number of hosts on the network at a time (over 100 hosts). After the scanner was successfully installed, carried out it was in-spected from the moment it was launched to the generation of host test reports. For the work, the Lviv State University of Life Safety network was tested. In the post-scan report, which is displayed in HTML format, you can see scan details for each host; the number and nature of vulnerabilities; the error correction dashboard. According to the results of testing, vulnerabilities of low, medium and high levels of hazards were identified, totaling 376. Vulnerabilities were ana-lyzed based on the obtained results, namely: a brief description and a way to solve the problem.

The Vulnerable Researcher: Some Unanticipated Challenges of Doctoral Fieldwork

This paper draws explicitly on the field experiences of two doctoral researchers in geography to elucidate some of the challenges and issues related to researcher vulnerability that are especially acute for graduate students. In spite of significant differences in context, both researchers experienced an unanticipated degree of professional vulnerability during their doctoral fieldwork that warrants further exploration, including a theoretical interrogation of the complex (and shifting) terrain of power relations within qualitative research projects. This paper addresses the lacuna in the qualitative methodological research literature on the topic of researcher vulnerability (in contrast to the well-developed discussion of participant vulnerability). Throughout, the authors suggest possible strategies for mitigating researcher vulnerability while protecting the overall integrity of the research process.

“Being with” while retaining and asserting professional midwifery power and authority in home birth

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe what it is like to be a midwife in the professionally isolated and marginalised arena of home birth in Ireland and to explore whether the organisation of home birth services and professional discourse might be undermining the autonomy of home birth midwives. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is drawn from auto-ethnographic field work, with 18 of the 21 self-employed community midwives (SECMs) offering home birth support to women in Ireland from 2006 to 2009. The data presented are derived from field notes of participant observations and from interviews digitally recorded in the field. Findings – Home birth midwives must navigate isolated professional practice and negotiate when and how to interface with mainstream hospital services. The midwives talk of the dilemma of competing discourses about birth. Decisions to transfer to hospital in labour is fraught with concerns about the woman's and the midwife's autonomy. Hospital transfers crystallise midwives’ sense of professional vulnerability. Practical implications – Maternity services organisation in Ireland commits virtually no resources to community midwifery. Home birth is almost entirely dependent upon a small number of SECMs. Although there is a “national home birth service”, it is not universally and equitably available, even to those deemed eligible. Furthermore, restrictions to the professional indemnification of home birth midwives, effectively criminalises midwives who would attend certain women. Home birth, already a marginal practice, is at real risk of becoming regulated out of existence. Originality/value – This paper brings new insight into the experiences of midwives practicing at the contested boundaries of contemporary maternity services. It reveals the inappropriateness of a narrowly professional paradigm for midwifery. Disciplinary control of individuals by professions may countermand claimed “service” ideologies.

Exacerbation of vulnerability in a hospital setting in Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo)

This article presents an ethnographic study of the pseudonymous Saint Amand Hospital in Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo) and of the way in which struggles for control of the hospital’s resources contributed to shape certain practices that were damaging to the institution. We examine how, following the disengagement of both the State and a large bankrupt mining enterprise, the ‘atypical’ governance of the hospital and the institutional instability it generated led to professional vulnerability among care providers. We also look at how, in turn, this situation exacerbated the vulnerability of the helpless and uneducated patients attending that hospital.