This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity and identify associated sociodemographic and familial factors among school-aged children (6-12 years) in Zhuzhou, China. A multistage cluster sampling strategy was employed to obtain anthropometric data, including weight, height, and waist circumference, from 115,227 children enrolled in 110 primary schools across Zhuzhou. The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were calculated. Additionally, parental questionnaires were distributed on a voluntary basis to collect sociodemographic and familial data. Binary logistic regression analyses was conducted to identify factors independently associated with overweight and obesity. Among the sampled population, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 13.90% and 8.76%, respectively. Children residing in suburban areas exhibited higher prevalence values than those in urban areas (overweight: 15.12% vs. 13.70%; obesity: 9.41% vs. 8.66%; p < 0.05). Central abdominal obesity was significantly more common than peripheral obesity among children classified as obese (8.11% vs. 0.59%). Boys had a higher prevalence of both overweight and obesity compared with girls (overweight: 15.41% vs. 12.20%; obesity: 12.58% vs. 4.48%). Among children with obesity, the proportion of central obesity was higher in girls than in boys (95.02% vs. 92.64%). Independent risk factors for overweight and obesity included male sex, birth weight > 4kg, parental overweight or obesity, parental educational attainment at the bachelor's level or higher, and high household socioeconomic status. Given that the rate of overweight and obesity among school-age children in Zhuzhou City is relatively high. Targeted early monitoring and weight management interventions are recommended for children with a birth weight > 4kg, particularly males. Preventive strategies should also include health education for families with a history of overweight or obesity, those with higher educational attainment, and those with favorable socioeconomic conditions. The promotion of regular physical activity is essential for reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity in this population.

Non-technical skills, such as communication, teamwork, empathy, and emotional intelligence are critical for safe and effective nursing practice. While current nursing education tends to emphasize technical skills, the nuanced development of non-technical skills-particularly how they are shaped by personal experiences, low-fidelity simulation, and their interplay with technical skills-remains underexplored. To explore pre-registration nursing students' experiences in developing and applying non-technical skills within clinical and educational contexts. A qualitative descriptive study. A large Australian university offering pre-registration nursing programmes. Eight pre-registration nursing students (Bachelor and Master levels) with clinical placement experience. Data were collected through two focus groups (one face-to-face, one virtual) using a semi-structured interview guide. Reflexive thematic analysis was applied to identify patterns in non-technical skills development. Three key insights emerged: (1) Personal life experiences-including prior healthcare roles, volunteering, and non-clinical work-significantly shape how students understand and apply non-technical skills, suggesting a valuable but underrecognized learning pathway; (2) Low-fidelity simulations, while accessible, provide limited opportunities for developing the emotional and interpersonal dimensions of non-technical skills, raising concerns about their educational efficacy; (3) non-technical skills are not separate from technical skills but actively support their application, with strong communication and emotional regulation skills enhancing the effectiveness and safety of technical procedures. Nursing education should intentionally integrate students' lived experiences into the development of NTS, explicitly teach emotional intelligence as a core component of non-technical competency, and design simulations that foster emotional realism. Recognising the interdependence between NTS and TS will better prepare students for the emotional and relational complexity of real-world nursing practice, ultimately enhancing resilience, adaptability, and humanistic care.

Translation and validity testing of the Self-Assessment of Nursing Informatics Competencies Scale

At our breast reconstruction center, we have, over time, developed a focused program to increase access to care for low-resource patients. This program includes outreach clinics, physician extenders, care coordinators, and telehealth utilization.A retrospective review of all free flap breast reconstruction patients between 2017 and 2022 at our center was performed. Specific criteria, including insurance carrier, educational attainment, and zip code median household income, language barriers, and distance to hospital, were used to create favorably-resourced (FR) and unfavorably-resourced (UR) cohorts. Propensity score matching was then used to control for clinical factors and comorbidities.A total of 49 and 52 patients met the inclusion criteria for FR and UR cohorts, respectively, producing 33 matched pairs. FR was associated with a greater average number of donor site revisions (0.73 vs. 0.45, p = 0.05). Other statistically significant differences included average zip code household income ($109,477 FR vs. $71,996 UR, p < 0.01), bachelor's degree education level (26% FR vs. 16% UR, p < 0.01), and average distance to hospital (25 miles FR vs. 82 miles UR, p < 0.01). No significant differences were detected between groups regarding mastectomy skin flap necrosis, recipient site infection, recipient site wound, breast revisions, donor site infection, donor site wound, seroma, fat necrosis, hernia/bulge, length of follow-up, or drain removal time.This study shows that within a health system utilizing dedicated access to care programs, equivalent results were observed in autologous breast reconstruction among favorably and unfavorably resourced patients.

Alternative crisis response programs have emerged nationwide in response to the need for social service and not law enforcement responses to mental health calls. The Community Assistance and Life Liaison (CALL) program in St. Petersburg, Florida, is one such initiative. Pairs of trained bachelor's level professionals ("community navigators") are dispatched to nonviolent crisis calls (e.g., mental health and substance use issues, neighborhood disputes, disorderly youth) instead of police. Following a quantitative first-phase evaluation of CALL, the present study represents the second-phase evaluation that focuses on implementation processes, impact, and acceptability. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 23 informants from three key groups (CALL leadership and team members, police and 911 staff, and community members). Six prominent themes emerged from the thematic analysis: support and initial buy-in; tension between safety and accessibility; fidelity and purposeful delivery; police referral/reduced burden; community awareness; and equity implications. A main tension involved ensuring the safety of navigators by adhering to stringent vetting of calls for nonviolence and ensuring that high-risk individuals most in need of resources could still access CALL's services. Police officers varied in their opinions of workload reductions and 911 call takers reported the program increased the impact of their work. Community members who came into contact with CALL endorsed having positive experiences overall. Finally, Black community leaders viewed CALL as a positive meaningful step toward culturally responsive services and requested further data on its equitable implementation. Recommendations from this study are provided to inform future or existing programs on processes that optimize acceptability and increase accessibility. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Building research culture in clinical practice: Experience from clinical practice - A hospital experience.

The present study investigates the teaching-learning method and its effectiveness at the bachelor’s level, focusing on BBS and B. Ed. programs in community campuses of the Chitwan district, Nepal. It adopts an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design: survey of 100 students and interviews with 24 faculty members, to explore current teaching practices, perceptions and challenges. Findings indicate that traditional class teaching is more prevalent in BBS program, while student-centered approaches like group discussions, project work, and group tasks are more common in B. Ed. program. B. Ed. students perceived that such approaches are more effective than BBS students on aspects of participation, understanding, critical thinking, application, and motivation, which is highly significant at (p &lt; 0.01). Interviews with faculty members of BBS point out the limitations of class size, resources, and time constraint, which do not permit much student activity. In B. Ed. program, the faculty adopts constructivist, experiential learning pedagogy, which is facilitated by smaller class size, greater alignment with the curriculum, and greater use of technology. Based on the conclusion of the study, the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process depends on pedagogical practices and contexts. Encouraging student-centric learning activities, participation in education, use of technologies in the learning process, and capacity building of faculty members could enhance academic performance and lifelong learning skills of the students in the Nepalese community campuses at bachelor level.

Dysphagia is a swallowing difficulty that is primarily observed in patients with neurological, surgical, and geriatric conditions, posing significant risks for malnutrition, aspiration, and reduced quality of life (QoL). As part of the multidisciplinary team, nurses play a critical role in the early identification, monitoring, and management of dysphagia. This study aimed to identify the knowledge of dysphagia among nursing students in Nepal. Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the bachelor level’s nursing students of Maharajgunj Nursing Campus (MNC). Complete enumerative sampling method was adopted to collect the data from 206 nursing students. Data collection was done through self-administered questionnaire developed by Andrea Pickle Voight (2015). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive (frequency and percentage) and inferential statistics (chi-square) were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that students had a moderate level of knowledge of dysphagia (61%), and the knowledge has a significant association with age (p = 0.01), types of nursing program (p = 0.002), and no prior experience with dysphagia patients (p = 0.41). The nursing students at MNC demonstrated a moderate level of knowledge, which was significantly associated with their age and types of nursing program. Given that nurses play a critical role in dysphagia care, gaps in their knowledge may compromise patient management. Therefore, there is a clear need to strengthen dysphagia education within the Nepalese nursing curricula.

Disruptive behavior problems are common in early childhood, yet access to evidence-based parent training remains limited in many communities due to workforce shortages and service delivery barriers. Behavioral Skills Training for Families (BSF) is a Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)-informed, home-based behavioral skills practice model designed to be delivered by bachelor's-level paraprofessionals under close supervision. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and preliminary caregiver and child outcomes associated with the Child-Directed Interaction (CDI) module of BSF to inform refinement of training and implementation protocols and guide future evaluation. Using a non-randomized pre-post design embedded within routine services, caregiver-child dyads (children ages 2-10 years) receiving BSF CDI across community-based agencies in Minnesota were included. Outcomes were assessed using observational coding of caregiver skills (Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System; DPICS) and caregiver-reported child behavior measures (Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory [ECBI]; Weekly Assessment of Child Behavior-Positive [WACB-P]). Paired-sample t-tests with intent-to-treat analyses examined changes from the baseline to the last attended CDI session. Caregivers demonstrated statistically significant and large increases in observed positive parenting skills and reductions in negative verbalizations during child-led play. Children showed significant reductions in disruptive behavior intensity and problem scores on the ECBI, reflecting movement toward clinically meaningful improvement. No significant change was observed in caregiver-reported positive child behaviors on the WACB-P. Post hoc analyses were conducted to further explore these differences and found consistent changes in the ECBI for cases, regardless of no reported changes in positive child behaviors on the WACB. The results provide preliminary evidence that a structured, PCIT-informed CDI skills practice model can be feasibly implemented by paraprofessionals and is associated with meaningful improvements in caregiver behavior and child behavior outcomes in the first 2-3 months following service initiation. The findings support BSF as a promising workforce-embedded approach and inform future controlled studies examining effectiveness, sustainability, and broader implementation outcomes.

Authorship patterns in medical journals continue to evolve with expanding team science, academic incentives, and updated authorship guidance. Previous American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM) work (1994-2014) reported rising author counts and a growing share of international contributors. To update AJSM authorship trends (2014, 2019, 2020, and 2024) and test whether the past decade shows greater mean authors per article, more international and/or academic groups, and a higher proportion of nonphysician first authors. Cross-sectional bibliometric analysis. We reviewed AJSM articles in 2014, 2019, 2020, and 2024 via the journal archive; editorials, letters, society news, and corrigenda were excluded. For each article, we recorded the first/last author's highest degree and sex, the number of authors, country (United States vs international), and institution type (academic vs nonacademic). Articles with >20 authors were excluded. Differences across years were tested with a chi-square test (Bonferroni-adjusted α = .0083) and a 1-way analysis of variance with the Tukey honest significant difference post hoc test. A total of 1482 articles met the inclusion criteria (2014: n = 336; 2019: n = 383; 2020: n = 383; and 2024: n = 380). Article volume did not differ significantly across years (χ2[3] = 4.30; P = .23). From 2014 to 2024, article volume increased by 13.1%. Mean authors per article increased from 5.82 (2014) to 6.47 (2019), 6.55 (2020), and 7.02 (2024) (F[3,1470] = 15.69; P < .0001); all but the 2019 versus 2020 pairwise contrasts were significant. International groups increased from 42.6% (2014) to 51.3% (2024) (χ2[3] = 8.92; P = .03). No pairwise comparison met the Bonferroni threshold (α =.0083); the lowest P value was .0097 (2014 vs 2019). Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science first authorship rose (χ2[3] = 13.78; P = .003), reaching 9% (2020) and 11% (2024). Sex distributions for first and last authors did not change (all P > .05). Twelve articles exceeded the >20-author cutoff and were excluded. From 2014 to 2024, AJSM authorship shows expanding team size, increased international participation, and a higher proportion of bachelor's-level first authors-largely medical trainees-while sex representation remained stable. These patterns underscore the need for transparent contributorship and mentorship to maintain rigor as collaboration intensifies.

Background: Childhood immunization is among the most effective public health interventions for preventing vaccine-preventable diseases and reducing childhood morbidity and mortality. Maternal knowledge substantially influences the timely uptake and completion of routine childhood vaccination. In Pakistan, inadequate awareness and persistent misconceptions about vaccine safety and contraindications may contribute to suboptimal immunization practices. Objective: To assess mothers’ knowledge regarding immunization of children under five years of age. Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study. Settings: Ittefaq Hospital Trust, Lahore, Pakistan. Duration of Study: March 2025 to August 2025. Methods: A total of 153 mothers with children under five years of age were enrolled through convenience sampling. Data were collected using an adopted and translated structured questionnaire comprising demographic characteristics and 13 knowledge-based items related to childhood immunization. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics were computed as frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviation. Knowledge was categorized as low, average, or high based on predefined scoring criteria. Results: Among 153 participants, the mean age was 30.4 ± 6.8 years, and most mothers were aged 26–35 years (58.2%). The majority were married (90.2%), while 41.8% had a bachelor 's-level education. Overall, 69 (45.1%) mothers had low knowledge, 56 (36.6%) had average knowledge, and 28 (18.3%) had high knowledge regarding childhood immunization. Although most participants acknowledged the importance of vaccination and its protective role against infectious diseases, notable misconceptions persisted regarding vaccine contraindications and safety. Conclusion: Maternal knowledge regarding childhood immunization was suboptimal, with most mothers demonstrating low to average knowledge. Targeted health education and clearer communication by healthcare professionals may improve maternal awareness and support better immunization coverage in children.

This study aims to determine the level of anxiety in students approaching the Final Semester Exam (UAS) through the provision of intervention in the form of Sape Bunsu Rusa music. The research method used is quantitative survey research with a pretest and posttest design on the distribution of questionnaires to the same subjects. Respondents in this study amounted to 127 students, consisting of 70 males (55.1%) and 57 females (44.9%). Most respondents were at the Bachelor (S1) level of education as many as 111 people (87.4%), followed by Masters (S2) 14 people (11%), and Doctoral (S3) 2 people (1.6%). The prerequisite analysis test was carried out using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test. The test results depicts that the posttest data (Sig. 0.011), pretest (Sig. 0.012), and the difference between the two (Sig. 0.000) had showed abnormal. Therefore, the data analysis used for further hypothesis testing is using the non-parametric Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test as an alternative to the Paired Sample T-Test. The results of the hypothesis test with the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test showed a significance value of 0.000 (p &lt;0.05), so the first research question was accapted. This finding indicates that there is a significant effect of giving Sape Bunsu Rusa music in reducing students' anxiety levels, where 76 out of 127 respondents experienced a decrease in anxiety scores after the intervention was given. Meanwhile, the analysis using descriptive statistics in this study, the decrease in students' mean anxiety scores decreased from 22.4 at the pretest to 20.7 at the posttest. Descriptively, there was a decrease of 1.9 points after being given treatment. Meanwhile, Student Perception: The average student perception of local traditional music therapy was at a score of 27.6, which is included in the high category. This indicates that students have a positive perception of the music as a relaxation medium.

Personality traits and time management are widely recognized as key psychological constructs that shape students’ ability to adapt, stay organized, and perform successfully in academic environments. Numerous studies have highlighted the predictive value of personality dimensions—particularly Conscientiousness and Neuroticism—in shaping students’ self-regulatory behaviors, including time management, which in turn influence academic achievement.This study investigates the interrelations between personality traits, time management skills, and academic performance among undergraduate students enrolled at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tirana, Albania. Grounded in the Five-Factor Model (Big Five), the research explores how individual differences in Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Openness to Experience influence students’ ability to manage time effectively and achieve academic success. Using the BFI-10 for personality assessment and the Time Management Questionnaire (TMQ-25), data were collected from a sample of 303 bachelor-level students via an online survey. Academic performance was measured using students’ weighted average grades. Results supported most hypotheses, revealing that higher Conscientiousness significantly predicts academic success, while Neuroticism negatively affects both time management and academic performance. Extraversion showed a positive relationship with time management, particularly in collaborative academic settings. Mediation analysis confirmed that time management mediates the effect of Conscientiousness and Neuroticism on academic outcomes. Furthermore, gender differences emerged in trait–performance correlations. These findings suggest that integrating personality-informed time management strategies in academic support programs may enhance student outcomes. Received: 18 May 2025 / Accepted: 10 December 2025 / Published: January 2026

To explore the relationship between sleep quality and mental health among medical staff in township health centers. From September 1 to September 20, 2024, stratified random cluster sampling was used to select healthcare workers from township health centers in five districts and three counties of Lanzhou City. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) were employed to measure sleep quality, mental health, and social support levels. Partial correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationships among these factors. (1) The majority of participants were female, of Han ethnicity, and nurses. Educational attainment was primarily at the junior college and bachelor's degree levels, with working years concentrated in the middle-aged and young backbone stage, showing a trend of high in the middle and low at both ends. The detection rate of sleep disorders was 55.70%, the SCL-90 positive rate was 45.50%, and the level of social support was moderate. (2) The total PSQI score was positively correlated with the total SCL-90 score (r = 0.602, p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with the total SSRS score (r = -0.272, p < 0.001). The total SSRS score was negatively correlated with the total SCL-90 score (r = -0.305, p < 0.001). (3) Sleep quality had a significant direct effect on mental health (direct effect proportion: 92.64, 95% CI: 6.194-8.722). Social support showed a significant partial mediating effect between sleep quality and mental health (indirect effect proportion: 7.36, 95% CI: 1.176-1.323). Social support plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between sleep quality and mental health among medical staff in township health centers.

ObjectivesAlthough menstrual cups have a long history and numerous benefits, many women of reproductive age remain unaware. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and use regarding menstrual cups and its associated factors among females of reproductive age in Siddharthanagar Municipality, Lumbini Province, Nepal.DesignCross-sectional studySettingSiddharthanagar municipality, Rupandehi was taken as the study setting.ParticipantA total of 250 women of reproductive age group (15–49 years) residing in Siddharthanagar Municipality.Outcome measureKnowledge, attitude and use of menstrual cups were assessed by a pretested structured tool. The knowledge scores for each question were given as one mark for a correct response, and the overall scores were categorised using a modified Bloom’s cut-off as follows: good knowledge≥60% and poor knowledge<60%. Attitudes scores were grouped into three categories: favourable (>80%), neutral (60%–80%) and unfavourable (<60%). Practice was assessed by a single question whether they use a menstrual cup. Pearson’s χ2 test and multivariable logistic regression analysis were performed to determine factors associated with knowledge, attitude and use at the 5% level of significance.ResultsThis study found that the majority (88.04%) had poor knowledge about the menstrual cup, with 31.2% of participants expressing a favourable attitude. Only 10.6% of participants had used a menstrual cup. The odds of adequate knowledge among the participants with bachelor and higher level of education was 3.470 times (adjusted OR (aOR)=3.470, 95% CI 1.08 to 11.10) as compared with participants with secondary or lower level of education, adjusting for other explanatory variables. The odds of having adequate knowledge among participants who were employed was 1.66 times (aOR=1.66, 95% CI 1.24 to 5.83) compared with those who were unemployed, which was 2.487 times (aOR=2.487, 95% CI 1.24 to 7.95) in case of favourable attitude. Similarly, the odds of using a menstrual cup among the participants with an adequate level of knowledge was 7.960 times (aOR=7.960, 95% CI 2.70 to 23.40) as compared with participants who had an inadequate level of knowledge, adjusting for other explanatory variables.ConclusionOur study revealed that, despite their advantages, participants have limited knowledge and usage of menstrual cups. This highlights the need for advocacy and education about menstrual cups to enable informed choices, enhance women’s quality of life and protect the environment by reducing waste from disposable menstrual products.

Over the past few years, generative AI has had an increasing impact on society, including an impact on how people learn and work. As a part of preparing students, at AP and bachelor levels, for the generative AI–assisted workplace, small-scale surveys were conducted and subsequently used as parts of task descriptions and structured dialogue with the students. Findings suggest that students see generative AI as a useful tool in their education. However, dialogue with students also indicates a need for further guidance on how to use generative AI in learning processes. Just as more guidance is needed to develop insights into generative AIs understanding of key concepts like relevance, as well as limitations to generative AIs ability to be helpful in more complicated workflows in the workplace. This said, exact answers from surveys are probably less important than using the questions to spark dialogue with students about the assumptions, biases, and implications of using generative AI in education and in the workplace. Any final conclusions at this stage would likely be premature anyway. However, the dialogue with students about generative AI’s role in education and in the workplace is seen as essential to question, analyze, understand, and set future directions.

The article thoroughly analyzes and substantiates the necessity of integrating the Common Data Environment (CDE), structured in accordance with the international ISO 19650 standard, into the educational process for students pursuing the first (Bachelor's) level of higher education under the educational and professional program 191 "Architecture and Urban Planning" at Lviv Polytechnic National University. The relevance of this work is determined by the critical need to adapt educational programs to the digital transformation of the AEC industry (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) and to train highly qualified specialists for the needs of national reconstruction. The study substantiates the limitations of the existing Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for supporting collaborative design, thereby proving the necessity of implementing CDE as a simulator of real-world production practices in BIM-coordination and data management, which is critically important in modern conditions. The key scientific novelty is the development and approbation of a hybrid CDE model based on the Laboratory of Information Modeling of Architectural Objects (LIMAO), which combines a local server repository with cloud services to ensure the resilience, security, and continuity of the educational process, mimicking distributed real-project teams. The article describes in detail the CDE architecture, its role as a central repository for the shared element library, regulatory documentation, and regulated workflows with controlled document exchange and status, in accordance with the requirements of ISO 19650. The proposed model is an effective educational tool aimed at developing students' practical skills in collaborative BIM work, coordination, and adherence to industry standards, and the research findings serve as a methodical foundation for integrating advanced practices into the AEC education.

Motivation is an inner drive to achieve a set goal for learning. Motivation from the inside of a learner and motivation from the outside matter a lot to achieve success in learning. Quality education in higher education is possible through motivation of learners in learning. This research article was based on a qualitative method involving administrators and teachers directly in the investigation process. The research was conducted in three provinces, Koshi, Bagmati, and Gandaki, using a purposive sampling method. The population size was six campuses, both including government and community-based. Research design was conducted using an inductive method, and data were collected from the interview and focus group discussion method using open-ended questions. The study found that extrinsic factors are responsible to demotivate the students for their higher education completion. Environmental factors such as teacher- students communication, teacher’s update on subjective knowledge and participatory learning, role of student’s union, policy level decisions demotivate learners. It was found from the study that students demanded practical based curriculum in higher education, however, there were traditional and theoretical based curriculum. Students had deeply realized that four year courses for bachelor level were lengthy and monotonous for them, because they interacted with fast and immediate result oriented actions in their lives, mainly, in the digital devices. The higher education plan need to focus on the national requirements. It is an urgent need at the job market. Students friendly classroom teaching should be in priority to ensure participatory learning for quality education.

The development of a competency model for a graduate of the bachelor's degree program «Life Safety and Environmental Protection» (or «Occupational Health and Safety in Production») is being considered, based on the provisions of the professional standard of the Republic of Kazakhstan «Occupational Safety and Health» (2024), the requirements of the State Compulsory Standard of Higher Education (SCSHE RK) at the bachelor's level, as well as international approaches. The structure of the model is substantiated in terms of requirements for knowledge, abilities, skills and competencies distributed across the levels of mastery defined in the SCSHE. A competency model for graduates has been presented, corresponding to the levels and learning outcomes for the training profile. The scientific novelty lies in the integration of international standards (NEBOSH, IOSH, INSHPO) and the national professional standard into a single model focused on real labor functions. The practical significance of the work lies in the possibility of using the proposed model in the design and updating of educational programs, as well as in the formation of requirements for the final certification of graduates

Purpose: Acknowledging the limitations of the widely used Bureau of Labor Statistics’ workforce profile, this study aimed to provide a national profile of the self-identified social work workforce and identify critical knowledge gaps about the workforce. Methods: Descriptive analyses were conducted on samples of self-identified social workers from the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey (CPS), along with data from social work regulatory boards. Results: The self-identified workforce includes many individuals without a college degree, and most of the bachelor's-level social workers without a Bachelor's in Social Work. Comparison of CPS data with regulatory boards’ data suggests that the household survey data do not accurately estimate the size, composition, and fields of practice of the workforce identified by the profession. Conclusions : The results call for a national workforce survey of social workers who hold social work credentials to provide a more accurate profile of the professional workforce.