Aktuella disputationer

Ambulance nurses are an important part of the acute care trajectory. Since 2005, Swedish regulations require that every ambulance is staffed by at least one registered nurse. Although specialist training is not mandatory but it is considered beneficial due to the increasing complexity of prehospital care. To support competence development, Swedish prehospital care utilizes concept-based courses such as AMLS, PHTLS, TNCC, and PS. These courses aim to enhance nurses’ ability to manage complex situations. The overall aim of this thesis is to explore ambulance nurses’ self-assessed professional competence, and to assess the impact of participation in concept-based courses on their self-assessed professional competence. Several factors influence ambulance nurses' competence, including education level, work experience, and personal attributes. Specialist nurses often report higher competence in specific areas. Participation in concept-based courses was linked to significantly higher self-assessed competence, particularly in Medical-Technical Care, Supervision, and Leadership. PHTLS and AMLS demonstrated the broadest impact, while PS contributed primarily to improvements in Supervision and Professional Conduct. Further research is needed to understand how various educational interventions such as formal education, specialist training, ongoing development and how it can optimize competence growth. The goal is to establish evidence-based strategies that enhance professional development and improve patient safety. This thesis provides knowledge that can support evidence-based improvements in prehospital care, by highlighting ambulance nurses’ self-assessed competence and the perceived impact of concept-based courses.

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As brain development begins early in pregnancy, exposure to environmental factors during this sensitive period can interfere with this process. This thesis explores two such factors—endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and their mixtures and adverse life events—in relation to neurodevelopmental outcomes, along with the biological mechanisms that may explain these associations. We used data from the Swedish Environmental Longitudinal Mother and child Asthma and allergy (SELMA) study, which included pregnant women in Värmland and followed them until the children were 7.5 years old. The exposures of interest were urine and serum concentrations of EDCs and adverse life events during pregnancy within the family. The neurodevelopmental outcomes of interest were behavioural difficulties, autistic traits and cognitive function.

Prenatal exposure to EDC mixtures was associated with behavioural outcomes in children at 7.5 years, with differences observed between boys and girls. Maternal thyroid function emerged as a potential biological mechanism underlying these associations. Furthermore, adverse life events during pregnancy were linked to behavioural, but not cognitive outcomes, in the offspring. Lastly, children's play behaviour was associated with behavioural outcomes.

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Analogies are appreciated explanatory tools in science teaching. However, analogies may cause misconceptions. Science teachers therefore need competence in how to use analogies. This thesis defines analogy competence for science teachers through a literature review in which key aspects of teaching with analogies were constructed into the Analogy Competence for Science Teachers (ACT) framework. It comprises three interrelated dimensions, conceptual, procedural and performance, grounded in the Competence-Performance model proposed by Weinert (1999). Conceptual analogy competence includes selecting accurate analogies, procedural involves context-sensitive planning, and performance refers to teaching. The thesis validates ACT with upper secondary biology pre-service teachers, demonstrating its utility for evaluating and monitoring analogy competences. The findings support an extension of the ACT framework to include subject-specific conceptual competence as a conceptual sub-competence. The research presented here offers a theoretically grounded and empirically supported framework for science education and science teacher education, clarifying what teachers need to know, consider, and master for effective teaching with analogies.

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The nurses’ scope of practice defines their roles and functions, addressing the fundamental physical, relational, and psychosocial needs of individuals requiring care. This understanding is conceptually linked to what nursing is and serves as an expression of professional identity.

While the fundamentals of care are central to nursing, the scope of practice for addressing older people’s fundamental care needs in long-term care is sparsely described in the literature and often viewed in isolation rather than within the systems and contexts in which it occurs. This thesis explores nursing practice in long-term care, employing a contextual lens to examine how environmental factors influence the professional working environment, nurses’ scope of practice, and their activities related to the fundamentals of care.

Insights are based on a pragmatic, fixed sequential mixed-methods design, employing diverse approaches to explore the core concepts underpinning this work. The findings are applicable to nurses, leaders, managers, educators, and policymakers, offering insights to improve the professional working environment, enhance the scope of practice, and elevate the quality of fundamentals of care in long-term care settings.

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The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly affected children’s everyday experiences, highlighting the importance of infectious diseases in science education. As future outbreaks are inevitable, it is essential to understand how teaching and learning about diseases was shaped by the pandemic, in order to develop biology education to meet the needs for future epidemic-prone diseases. This thesis explores how knowledge about infectious diseases is transformed from external sources into content taught and understood in Swedish middle school. The central research question is: How is the portrayal of knowledge about infectious diseases reflected in textbooks, teachers’ practices, and pupils’ understanding in the aftermath of COVID-19? 

The thesis includes 4 empirical studies examining different stages of this transformation. A comparative textbook analysis (Paper I) shows that representations of infectious diseases remained largely unchanged post-pandemic. Teaching (Paper II) was shaped by pupil-driven discussions rather than curriculum expansion. Studies of pupils’ understanding (Papers III–IV) reveal limited conceptual grasp, with informal sources outweighing formal instruction. Interpreted through the lens of contagion literacy and powerful knowledge, the thesis argues for integrating the contagion literacy framework including immune response into science education.

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Trots rektors centrala roll i skolorganisationen är kunskapen om rektorers professionella lärande begränsad. I studier som fokuserat på rektorers professionella lärande framträder återkommande att kompetensutvecklingsinsatser sällan leder till förändring i rektorers dagliga yrkespraktik. 

Avhandlingen utmanar traditionella synsätt på lärande som individuell kognitiv utveckling och fördjupar förståelsen för rektorers professionella lärande som praktikförändring. Studien tar utgångspunkt i en aktionsforskning där rektorer förändrar sina ledningspraktiker vad gäller att leda digitalisering i förskolan. Avhandlingens resultat lyfter fram tre centrala aspekter som särskilt betydelsefulla för förändringsprocessen och därmed betydelsefulla för rektorers professionella lärande:

• Hur lärande kan organiseras för att möjliggöra praktikförändring.
• Hur en processorienterad förstÃ¥else av tid bidrar till historisk medvetenhet om teknologi och sociala praktiker.
• Hur känslor fungerar som drivkraft i reflektion, utvärdering och kritisk granskning av det egna ledarskapet.

Avhandlingen bidrar med kunskap om hur rektorers lärande kan förstås som förändring i och för praktik – med implikationer för styrning, ledning, kollegialitet och professionell autonomi.

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