Importance Of National Context Research Articles

Spaces of international gender justice: a reply to Baldez and DeLaet

In assessing the effectiveness of international human rights law to achieve meaningful gender equality, Lisa Baldez and Debra DeLaet offer two complementary yet different case studies. De Laet argues that despite the rhetoric and promise of international women's rights law, such codification has yet to achieve ‘systemic progress’ to address gender inequality. DeLaet concludes that progress is most often attributable to national law reform and enforcement rather than global legalism. Picking up on the importance of national context, Baldez comes to a different conclusion in examining the case of Cuba's submissions to Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Both papers point not only to the limitations and potential of international law but also to the limitations of feminist strategies that emphasize law reform at the exclusion of other non-juridical strategies for social change. As I read the papers together, I am reminded of the need to see global legal strategies as embedded in and alongside other strategies for social change. I argue that, despite its frailties, international law remains a useful resource for national or grass-roots feminist strategies for positive social change.

Educational reform and modernisation in Europe: The role of national contexts in mediating the new public management

This article examines the spread of new public management (NPM) across European education systems as it has traversed national boundaries. While recognising the transnational dimensions of the spread of NPM, the authors offer new insights into the importance of national contexts in mediating this development in educational settings by focusing upon NPM within three European countries (England, Italy and Norway). We reveal its recontextualisation in these sites and the interplay between NPM, and local and national conditions. This analysis is underpinned by a theoretical framework that seeks to capture the relationship between education and the state and to reveal tensions produced by NPM both as a shaping force and an entity shaped by local conditions in these contexts. The article concludes by focusing upon the complexities and specificities of NPM recontextualisation in the three countries as a basis for a reflection upon possible future policy trajectories.

Importance of national context in the translation of personalised treatments for smoking cessation

Caryn Lerman and colleagues1 present the results of a placebo-controlled randomised trial of two smoking cessation treatments, nicotine replacement therapy patch and varenicline, in a sample of adult, daily smokers. Participants were stratified within each treatment group according to a biomarker of nicotine metabolism, the nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR; 3-hydroxycotinine:cotinine). The NMR reflects the rates of nicotine and cotinine metabolism, which are affected primarily by the activity of the CYP2A6 enzyme, which is itself affected by genetic and environmental factors.

Revisiting the Paradox of Well-being: The Importance of National Context

Despite age-related changes or declines in circumstances, health or income, many older people are able to maintain subjective well-being (SWB) in later life. This is known as the paradox of well-being. To date, much research has focused on either individual- (e.g., age, health, and income) or country-level (e.g., national wealth, inequality) differences in SWB. The present research investigates how these levels combine, and whether the paradox of well-being persists across different economic contexts. This research uses the 2008-2009 European Social Survey to test the multilevel hypothesis that economic circumstances, reflected by a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), affect the paradox of well-being, that is, the relationship between age and SWB. Analyses also account for other relevant psychological, individual, and country differences. Possible avenues by which GDP affects SWB are also explored. The multilevel analysis revealed that GDP disproportionally affects the SWB of older people relative to younger people, and that the paradox of well-being is only observed in countries with higher GDP. The findings clarify the relationship between age and SWB by demonstrating that the paradox of well-being is conditional on the economic context. Implications for individual- and country-level strategies for successful aging are discussed.

Nurses’ intention to leave their profession: A cross sectional observational study in 10 European countries

BackgroundAs the European population ages, the demand for nursing care increases. Yet, a shortage of nurses at the labour market exists or is predicted for most European countries. There are no adequate solutions for this shortage yet, and recruitment of future nurses is difficult. Therefore, retaining nurses for the profession is urgent. ObjectiveTo determine factors associated with nurses’ intention to leave the profession across European countries. DesignA multi-country, multi-centre, cross-sectional analysis of survey data. Setting2025 surgical and medical units from 385 hospitals in ten European countries that participated in the RN4Cast study. Hospital selection was based on a stratified randomised selection procedure. ParticipantsAll nurses from the participating medical and surgical hospital wards received a survey. 23,159 nurses (64%) returned the survey. MethodsThe nurse survey included questions about intention to leave the profession, nurse characteristics, factors related to work environment, patient-to-nurse staffing ratio, burnout and perceived quality and safety of care. Multilevel regression analyses with ‘intention to leave the profession’ as dependent variable were conducted for all 10 countries combined as well as per country. ResultsOverall, 9% of the nurses intended to leave their profession. This varied from 5 to 17% between countries. Seven factors were associated with intention to leave the profession at European level: nurse–physician relationship (OR 0.86; 95%CI 0.79–0.93), leadership (OR 0.78; 95% CI 0.70–0.86), participation in hospital affairs (0.68; 95%CI 0.61–0.76), older age (OR 1.13; 95%CI 1.07–1.20), female gender (OR 0.67; 95%CI 0.55–0.80), working fulltime (OR 0.76; 95%CI 0.66–0.86) and burnout (OR 2.02; 95%CI 1.91–2.14). The relevance of these factors differed for the individual countries. Nurse perceived staffing adequacy, patient-to-nurse staffing ratio, perceived quality and safety of care and hospital size were not associated with intention to leave at a European level. ConclusionBurnout is consistently associated with nurses’ intention to leave their profession across the 10 European countries. Elements of work environment are associated with intention to leave the nursing profession but differ between countries, indicating the importance of national contexts in explaining and preventing nurses’ intention to leave their profession.

'Too high an ideal for the work required'? Minnie James and the Intellectual Life of the Librarian

The relationship between the librarian and the intellectual is a complex one; it depends on time and place, and is mediated by the social status of both parties. Using the life and writings of Minnie Stewart Rhodes James (1865–1903), one of the first women to enter British librarianship, this article explores the extent to which the feminization of librarianship at the turn of the twentieth century was responsible for the de-intellectualization of the profession. It also offers a means of exploring the relationship between images of the woman, the intellectual, and the librarian, a relationship that was at the centre of both international debates and individuals' lives. In this article, James's earlier writings on women librarians and their intellectual contribution (or lack thereof) will be compared with the intellectual, social, and economic equality she later espoused. These ideals were influenced by her experiences of travel, her decision to settle in the USA, and the friendships she built with librarians around the world; they demonstrate the importance of national context and international influences when considering the role of gender in the construction of archetypes and images in librarianship.

Innovations in Dutch shipbuilding in the first half of the twentieth century

In this article, we focus on the Dutch shipbuilding sector in the first half of the twentieth century and address the question of how its innovative capacity evolved over time. Our attention to the importance of the whole constellation of actors in Dutch shipbuilding, their interrelations, interactions, and interdependence, as well as the institutional setting for innovation processes, contributes to gaining a better understanding of innovation in this sector. The article shows that the development of public knowledge institutes and the growth of scientific interest in Dutch shipbuilding was a slow process. Moreover, the developing knowledge infrastructure in the Netherlands did not lessen the dependence on foreign knowledge. The article illustrates that the relations between actors and the importance of specific knowledge sources changed over time. It also sheds light on an often neglected aspect in system of innovation studies, the importance of individuals. This personal aspect helps explain why the importance of national contexts can differ considerably.

A study of continuing nurse education in Malta: the importance of national context

The literature recommends that in the light of the constant changes in the contexts in which nurses perform [Buerhaus, P., 1997. The future of the nurse labour market. Image 29(4), 313-318], nurse education systems should incorporate specialised and continuing education [Lenera, V., 1987. The Nurse and the Future: Role and Function. In: Health Care and Nurse Education in the 21st Century. Commission of the European Communities, Brussels; Castledine, G., McGee, P., 1998. Advanced and Specialist Nursing Practice, Blackwell Science Ltd., Oxford; Chiarella, M., 1998. Developing the credibility of continuing education. Nurse Education Today 10, 70-73 ]. Using a qualitative approach, the research study reported in this article explored views of student and qualified nurses in Malta about such educational opportunities. Data were collected using questionnaires administered by post to student and qualified nurses in Malta (n=172) [Fenech Adami, M., 2002. An exploratory study of the adequacy of the nurse education system in Malta. PhD Thesis. University of Aberdeen.]. In congruence with the literature, the findings revealed widespread support for and interest in specialised and continuing education in general [Nolan, M., 1994. Continuing professional education: identifying the characteristics an effective system. Journal of Advanced Nursing 22, 551-560; Wilson-Barnett, J., 1994. Evaluating the clinical nurse specialist - a review. International Journal of Nursing Studies 31(6), 561-571]. However, some of the findings challenge that which is recommended in the literature. The findings should contribute to the effective development of specialised and continuing education opportunities in Malta. Moreover, by their divergence from the literature, these findings illustrate that nurse education should always be planned against a backdrop of the context in which it is to be delivered. In turn, the findings point out the importance of researching education within specific contexts rather than simply extrapolating research evidence and subsequent recommendations on nurse education from one national context to another.