Martin Červený

Background: Doctoral research in nursing is central to advancing scientific knowledge, strengthening professional identity, and informing evidence‐based practice, education, and health policy. Analyzing the thematic content of doctoral theses offers insight into research priorities and national variations in nursing scholarship. Yet, no systematic cross‐country analysis has examined the thematic focus of such work. Objective: To explore and describe the diversity and scope of doctoral nursing research themes across eight countries in the Sigma Europe Region, identifying key areas of scholarly focus and shared priorities. Design: A document‐based qualitative study using reflexive thematic analysis, as outlined by Braun and Clarke, to examine patterns of meaning within thesis summaries. Participants and Setting: The study included doctoral nursing thesis summaries defended between January 2020 and December 2023, sourced from national and institutional repositories in eight countries of the Sigma Europe Region. A total of 15 repositories (4 national, 11 institutional) were systematically searched, and additional summaries were obtained via direct contact with universities offering doctoral nursing programmes. Methods: Data were collected between September 2024 and February 2025 using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. In total, 431 eligible thesis summaries were analyzed following Braun and Clarke's six‐phase framework, supported by MAXQDA software for data management and coding. Results: Thematic analysis identified three overarching domains: (1) foundations of nursing practice and care philosophy, (2) systemic and organizational dimensions of nursing, and (3) clinical innovation and public health impact. Ten interrelated themes emerged, including holistic and patient‐centred care; emotional, psychological, and quality‐of‐life dimensions; communication in healthcare; workforce challenges; transforming nursing practice; maternal, neonatal and pediatric health; digital and virtual health innovations; public health and chronic disease management; and disease management, caregiving, and outcomes. Cross‐cutting elements such as cultural sensitivity and resilience spanned multiple themes. Conclusion: This cross‐national synthesis demonstrates the breadth and depth of doctoral nursing research in the Sigma Europe Region. Findings highlight nursing's pivotal role in addressing healthcare needs through innovative, person‐centred, and evidence‐informed solutions, and underscore the value of international collaboration in shaping resilient, equitable, and future‐ready healthcare systems.

Aim: To explore and map the landscape of doctoral nursing research across eight countries. Design: A scoping review. Methods: This review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews and included doctoral theses in nursing defended between 2020 and 2023 in Austria, Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. Data Sources: Searches were conducted across 15 national and university repositories (4 national, 11 university) in the eight participating countries. Results: This review included 431 doctoral nursing theses, the majority of which employed quantitative methodologies and focused on patient populations and healthcare professionals. Key topics included clinical nursing care, quality of care, quality of life, home care, perinatal care and the work environments. Conclusion: Nursing doctoral research shows progress in healthcare delivery, patient care and education via digital tools, holistic approaches and professional development. Yet gaps persist in mental health, paediatrics and marginalised groups. Limited qualitative/mixed‐methods research and weak interdisciplinary collaboration reveal further opportunities. Implications for the Profession and/or Patient Care: This review underscores that nursing doctoral research is addressing major healthcare and professional challenges. Nonetheless, the identified gaps emphasise the need for more comprehensive and inclusive research to enhance equity and guide future nursing practices and policies. Impact: This review provides an overview of the scope of doctoral nursing research across eight countries, identifying key trends and research gaps. The findings are expected to inform nursing academia, policymakers, and healthcare professionals by guiding future research priorities, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, and promoting equitable, patient‐centred care practices. Patient or Public Contribution: No direct involvement in data collection; one lay reviewer gave feedback on readability and practice implications, informing minor refinements.

Aim: To synthesize the contributions of this special issue examining how workplace culture, spirituality, religiosity, and mentorship shape positive clinical work environments and inform contemporary nursing management. Background: Amid workforce shortages, rising clinical complexity, and escalating moral demands, nursing management is often evaluated through operational metrics that fail to capture the ethical and relational foundations of sustainable practice. Growing evidence highlights the importance of organizational culture, meaning‐making, and inclusive leadership in supporting nurse retention and well‐being. Design: Editorial synthesis of contributions within the special issue. Results: The papers demonstrate that workplace culture is enacted through everyday leadership practices, ethical clarity, and relational consistency, directly influencing psychological safety and professional commitment. Spirituality is framed as a professional resource supporting meaning‐making and resilience when reflection and dialog are enabled. Religiosity and cultural diversity require culturally responsive leadership to foster trust and inclusion. Mentorship emerges as a strategic leadership function that strengthens confidence, moral coherence, and retention. Collectively, the contributions shift attention from individual resilience to organizational stewardship of ethical and relational infrastructure. Conclusions: Positive work environments are intentionally shaped through leadership that governs culture, inclusion, and mentorship alongside operational performance. Implications for Nursing Management: Nurse managers must extend their focus beyond operational performance to stewardship of culture and ethical climate. Workplace culture, spirituality, religiosity, and mentorship are structural drivers of psychological safety, retention, and professional commitment. Leaders should foster inclusive, respectful environments that support ethical dialog and cultural humility and formalize mentorship as a strategic workforce priority. Embedding values‐based and relational leadership within governance frameworks is essential for sustaining workforce resilience.

Background: The spiritual climate in the workplace has become more important in recent years, especially regarding organizational performance and employee well‐being. However, its effect on nurses’ organizational commitment in Poland and Slovakia has not yet been studied. Aim: This study aimed to examine the influence of hospital’s spiritual climate on organizational commitment as perceived by nurses in Slovakia and Poland. Design: Cross‐sectional and correlational study. Methods: The research involved a convenience sample of 390 nurses from Poland and Slovakia. The online questionnaire consisted of three parts: sociodemographic characteristics of respondents, Spiritual Climate Scale (SCS), and Three‐Component Model (TCM) Employee Commitment Survey. A standard multiple linear regression model was performed to investigate the influence of spiritual climate and sociodemographic variables on each of the TCM survey subscales. Results: Over half of the respondents (53.3%) experienced positive sensations according to the spiritual climate at their hospitals, but only one in three (33.1%) felt encouraged to express their spirituality at work. Affective commitment scored highest among nurses, followed by normative and continuance commitment. Regression models showed significant predictors, with managerial role, age, education, nationality, and perceived spiritual climate influencing commitment levels across subscales. Conclusion: The study showed that a positive hospital spiritual climate leads to higher organizational engagement, according to nurses from two European countries. Implications for Nursing Management: Hospital policymakers, administrators, and nursing leaders should consider integrating interventions and policies that promote a favorable spiritual climate in hospitals to ensure more committed nurses.

Aim. This study aimed to evaluate patients’ subjective perceptions of medication administration in the hospital setting and assess their involvement in the process. Material and methods. The research data were collected using a structured questionnaire. A total of 300 respondents from four hospitals in the South Bohemia region of the Czech Republic, who were hospitalized in the aftercare and rehabilitation department, surgical department, and internal medicine department, were included in the research. Results. From the patient’s perspective, there was a signifi cant improvement in the nurses’ behavior during the medication administration process. Nurses pay more attention to patient identifi cation, wait for the patient to swallow the medication, do not put the medication on the patient’s table, and realize that their concentration during medication administration is critical to making the entire process safe. Conclusions. Key aspects of patient engagement in the process include proper patient identifi cation, identifi cation of the correct medication, and proper administration method, including documenting the process in the patient’s record and reporting any adverse events. This comprehensive approach to patient involvement in medication administration contributes to safety and quality of care. Key words: patient, adverse event, medication error, Medication administration

Introduction and aim. Nursing doctoral research is vital for advancing the field, improving patient care, and addressing complex healthcare challenges. It contributes to evidence-based practices, innovative interventions, and the development of skilled nurse researchers and leaders, shaping the future of healthcare through enhanced knowledge and informed policy decisions. This scoping review aims to map the landscape of PhD dissertations in the nursing domain. Inclusion criteria: This scoping review will consider doctoral studies in nursing domain published in Dutch, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Portuguese, Polish, Slovak, Swedish, published between 2020–2023. Material and methods. The search strategy was to find published literature in the following electronic databases: CINHAL, PubMed, SCOPUS, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection, and ERIC. Additionally, national repositories of several countries was explored, and contact established with universities represented by the members of this research team. The screening process entailed two steps carried out by two independent reviewers: firstly, screening by title and abstract and secondarily by full text. Data describes the literature according to the review research questions that were defined following the PPC mnemonic. Data will be presented graphically when possible and accompanied by a narrative that describes the Ph.D. dissertation characteristics. Conclusion. Identifying areas of research in nursing contributes to the development of nursing as a science.

Kontakt is a platform for publishing contributions on the complexity of interactions between clinical and social actions in the context of health improvement.

Aim: This study aimed to compare the level of cultural competence among nurses working in clinical practice in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Background: Demographic changes have greatly affected the health sector in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. By identifying the level of nurses’ cultural competence, many of the complications encountered in caring for patients from different cultures can be avoided. However, few studies have explored the cultural competence of nurses in clinical practice in these countries. Method: This study was cross‐sectional, descriptive, and comparative. It followed the STROBE checklist and used the Cultural Competence Assessment Tool questionnaire to collect data. Descriptive and inferential statistical tests were utilized for data analysis, using SASD 1.5.8 and IBM SPSS Statistics version 28.0.0. Results: The sample comprised 424 nurses, with 202 from the Czech Republic and 222 from Slovakia, primarily female. Most nurses in both countries have not received cultural diversity training. Nevertheless, nurses in both countries indicate the necessity of conducting a cultural impact assessment of patients’ health. Cultural diversity training significantly increases the level of cultural competence in nurses. Discussion: Lower cultural competence scores can negatively impact nursing care for patients from different cultures, leading to additional cultural challenges. Implications for nursing and health policy: The findings highlight the need for enhanced cultural competence among nurses. Nurses need to learn and utilize cultural information to help maximize healthcare for patients from different cultures. By providing nurses with cultural knowledge and skills, they will be able to deliver more effective and culturally competent care to patients from varied cultural backgrounds.