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Public Views on Violence Towards Clinicians
Background: Patient-perpetrated violence (PPV) against clinicians is a significant global concern that affects both the safety and well-being of clinicians. Despite abundant research into the negative impact on safety and quality of care, studies exploring public perceptions of PPV remain scarce. This study aimed to examine public perceptions of PPV against clinicians, focusing on the perceived prevalence of the phenomenon and public support for preventive and punitive measures.
Methods: This cross-sectional survey collected data from 1,375 Israelis, who rated the frequency of PPV incidents and their support for intervention strategies. Descriptive statistics were used to test the distribution of socio-demographic and study variables. Differences between groups were measured using a t-test for independent samples and ANOVA.
Results: A robust public acknowledgment of PPV was evident, with over 60% of respondents recognizing a frequent occurrence in healthcare settings. There was substantial support for preventive measures, with 85% endorsing stricter security protocols and legal actions and a significant positive correlation (r = 0.45, p \u3c 0.01) between education and support for more stringent policies against PPV.
Conclusions: The study highlights the critical role of public opinion in shaping health policy to combat PPV. Our results suggest that policymakers should leverage these perceptions to formulate effective measures, recommend higher security, and conduct comprehensive educational public campaigns to address and reduce PPV across healthcare settings
Enhancing Pediatric Nurses\u27 Competency in Assessing Difficult Intravenous Access in Central Taiwan
Objective: Peripheral intravenous (IV) access is a routine yet challenging procedure in pediatric settings, as children are particularly prone to difficult venous access. Multiple puncture attempts can elevate a child’s pain and fear and increase family anxiety, potentially leading to mistrust in nursing staff. In central Taiwan, this study evaluated the effectiveness of the Difficult Intravenous Access (DIVA) scale in enhancing pediatric nurses\u27 ability to assess and manage difficult IV access. We aimed to improve insertion success rates, reduce family complaints, and foster family trust.
Methods: From February 2023 to September 2024, the “DIVA Scale Execution Accuracy” was set as a quality indicator in a central Taiwan medical center’s pediatric ward. Using a “DIVA Scale Execution Record,” we tracked accuracy in DIVA scale usage. The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle was applied with interventions including (1) educational training on DIVA scale application, (2) reminder scorecards in injection rooms, and (3) a poster illustrating the “DIVA Scale in Intravenous Injection Processes.” The “Peripheral IV Catheter Insertion Record” monitored success rates.
Results: During the study period, 48.8% of pediatric patients encountered difficult venous access. Initially, the IV catheter insertion success rate was 67.5%. After the PDCA cycle and DIVA scale interventions, this rate improved to 86.6% in 2024, with DIVA scale execution accuracy rising from 96.7% to 97.1%.
Conclusion: Implementing the DIVA scale in central Taiwan effectively improved pediatric nurses\u27 competency in assessing and managing difficult venous access, contributing to higher IV insertion success rates, reduced family complaints, and enhanced trust. This approach also lowered hospital costs and advanced pediatric nursing quality
Effects of an App-Based Walking Program on Weight Management in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients
Background: The global rise in obesity, driven by high-calorie diets and sedentary lifestyles, has become a significant public health issue. Simultaneously, the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing. Obesity in IBD patients exacerbates symptoms, interferes with treatment and leads to additional complications. As a result, managing weight loss and preventing obesity are crucial for improving outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a mobile app-based walking program for obese IBD patients at a clinical IBD center. The primary outcomes measured were body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, and skeletal muscle mass.
Methods: This study was designed as a randomized clinical trial, with the intervention and data collection taking place from June to August 2024. A total of 54 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the intervention or control group. The intervention group received educational materials, including videos, and was instructed to walk a minimum of 7,000 steps on at least five days per week for 10 weeks using the mobile app. The control group was instructed to use the app to track step counts but did not receive any educational materials or videos. To assess changes within each group, differences in outcome variables before and after the intervention were analyzed using paired t-tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Between-group differences were assessed using independent t-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests in IBM SPSS version 25.Results: A total of 49 participants completed the study (intervention group: n = 24, control group: n = 25). During the 10-week intervention period, the intervention group recorded a statistically significantly higher average daily step count compared to the control group’s (Z = 2.44, p = .015). The intervention group also showed a significant reduction in BMI (Z = 3.79, p \u3c .001) and a decrease in total body fat (t = 3.50, p = .002). However, there was no significant increase in skeletal muscle mass.Conclusions: This study is the first in Korea to implement and evaluate an intervention for weight management in IBD patients. Our findings support the effectiveness of moderate-intensity walking exercise as a beneficial adjunct therapy for obese IBD patients. Based on these results, we recommend incorporating mobile application-based exercise programs into future research for various chronic disease populations and promoting their use as adjunct therapies in IBD management
The Influence of SDOH on Symptoms, Symptom Management, and Outcomes in Cardio-Oncology Patients
Cardio-oncology focuses on comprehensive cardiovascular care throughout their cancer journey1. When cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) coexist in the same individual, the overlapping symptoms intensify the challenges in managing cardio-oncology symptoms and impacting health outcomes2,3. Social determinants of health (SDOH) play a critical role in influencing cancer and CVD symptoms, symptom management, and outcomes4. Health outcomes across cancer and CVD are substantially impacted by disparities in environment and healthcare systems5. Notably, gaps in utilization and access to cardio-oncology care services are especially pressing in regions where essential healthcare systems are limited, contributing to heightened cancer mortality rates in these areas6,7. Addressing these disparities related to the environment and healthcare systems is essential from the SDOH perspective. This study aims to explore the influence of SDOH domains on symptoms, symptom management, and outcomes in cardio-oncology patients. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis by using the All-of-Us Research Program participant survey responses. The study sample was restricted to adults with cancer and CVD who had completed the surveys. Then, we created the concept set according to relevant variables by using survey responses in this cohort. After that, the calculated dataset, including each concept set within the built cohort, was analyzed using the R within the All-of-Us workbench. We performed multiple linear regression to predict how symptoms, symptom management, and outcomes influence on environment and healthcare systems. The environment model was significant, with depression (B = 0.40, p \u3c 0.001) and relationship (B = 0.28, p \u3c 0.05) as predictors, suggesting that higher levels of depression and strong relationship were associated with less favorable perceptions of the environment. The healthcare system model was also significant (F = 4.80, p \u3c 0.001), with pain (B = 0.35, p \u3c 0.001) and fatigue (B = -0.22, p \u3c 0.05) as significant predictors, indicating that greater pain correlated with increased healthcare burden, while higher fatigue levels were associated with reduced healthcare engagement. This study provides insights into the complexity of symptom management and underscores the importance of addressing SDOH perspectives to enhance health outcomes in cardio-oncology patients
Prevalence of Stress and Depression in Nursing Students: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis
Background: Undergraduate nursing students have a high level of stress and depressive symptoms. Despite growing awareness of mental health issues in nursing students, no recent systematic review assessed the global prevalence of stress and depressive symptoms in undergraduate nursing students, nor the contributing sociodemographic and interpersonal factors.Purpose Statement: The purpose of this review is to 1) identify the prevalence of stress and depressive symptoms among undergraduate nursing students, and 2) identify the sociodemographic and interpersonal factors that contribute to these symptoms.Methods: This review follows the PRISMA guidelines. Four databases were searched. Narrative synthesis was used to explore the contributing risk factors. Prevalence rates of stress and depressive symptoms were calculated using random-effects models. Subgroup analyses were performed based on the severity of symptoms, study location, assessment instruments, and country income groups. Effect size, 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and p-values are reported.Results: A total of 43 articles were included in the review. The prevalence of depressive symptoms and stress was 47%, p\u3c0.01, and 49%, p\u3c0.01, respectively. For depressive symptoms, studies conducted in Latin America reported the highest prevalence at 57%, as did studies from lower-middle-income countries (60%) and those using the BDI-II assessment tool (68%). For stress, the highest prevalence was found in North America (69%), high-middle-income countries (63%), and studies using the PSS-10 assessment tool (57%). The sociodemographic factors— younger age, female gender, being single, lower income, family financial challenges, lack of children, and housing insecurity—are associated with increased stress and depressive symptoms. Interpersonal conflicts were also linked to higher levels of stress and depressive symptoms.Discussion: The high prevalence of depressive symptoms and stress in nursing students highlights a global mental health issue that requires urgent attention. The regional variations emphasize the need for culturally tailored interventions to address the mental health challenges faced by nursing students worldwide. Nursing students\u27 ability to manage mental health issues impacts their capacity to provide high-quality care. Therefore, it is crucial for educators, faculty, and researchers to foster a supportive and resilient student body to ensure a diverse and sustainable healthcare workforce
Development of a Prone CPR Protocol
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the challenges associated with managing cardiac arrest in patients positioned in the prone position due to refractory respiratory failure (Guérin et al., 2013; Ludwin et al., 2020). Studies suggest that clinical staff often lack confidence in delivering effective prone resuscitation (Amien et al., 2022; Genç et al., 2023), indicating a need to review literatures on the efficacy, feasibility, and the proper technique for performing prone cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).Aim: This project aimed to identify the effective approach for performing prone resuscitation and to translate the best available evidence into a prone CPR protocol.Methods: The study employed the Johns Hopkins Model as the conceptual framework (Dang et al., 2022). A systematic literature review was conducted to compare the performance of prone CPR versus supine CPR for patients requiring prone ventilation. Major databases and grey literature sources were searched, and original research, case reports, manikin studies, and clinical guidelines were included. Data was synthesized and critically appraised by two independent authors.
A protocol was developed based on the synthesis. Comprehensive training on the prone CPR will be provided to clinical staff to improve preparedness and competence.Results: The search identified 311 articles via 6 databases, with 45 full-text articles reviewed in depth. The majority were lower-level case reports (n=32), and 8 were practice guidelines.Five original studies evaluated the effectiveness of prone CPR in terms of physiological measures. The existing evidence suggests that prone CPR may offer a viable alternative, potentially improving hemodynamic parameters. However, the lack of high-quality trials limits the ability to draw conclusions, and confounding factors related to patient heterogeneity could not be adequately addressed.A prone CPR protocol was developed based on the synthesized evidence, outlining optimal hand placement and compression techniques. Comprehensive training on this protocol is currently underway, with pre- and post-training assessments to evaluate changes in relevant skills and knowledge.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that prone CPR may serve as an alternative when immediate supination becomes impossible. Further high-quality research is needed to establish definitive guidelines. The effectiveness on enhanced nurses\u27 competency on prone CPR will become evident followed by subsequent evaluation
The Universal Humanuniverse Living Experience of Feeling Lonely: A Parsesciencing Inquiry
Feeling lonely is a universal humanuniverse living experience. Universal humanuniverse living experiences are phenomena that occur throughout a lifetime and experienced to some degree by everyone. Feeling lonely within the context of the humanbecoming paradigm is a phenomenon concerned with living quality since individuals structure personal meaning in choosing to feel lonely or not from moment to moment. Feeling lonely has not been substantially investigated within nursing.
The purposes of this inquiry were to (a) discover the discerning extant moment of feeling lonely, (b) enhance understanding of the universal humanuniverse living experience of feeling lonely, (c) add to the body of knowledge about the phenomenon of feeling lonely, and (d) further nursing knowledge related to the humanbecoming paradigm.
Method: The investigation method was Parsesciencing, a unique mode of inquiry within the humanbecoming paradigm. Parsesciencing consists of three phases: (a) dialoguing-engaging, (b) distilling-fusing, and (c) heuristic interpreting and answered the inquiry stance: What is the discerning extant moment of the universal humanuniverse living experience of feeling lonely? The investigation included ten adults who volunteered to share their experiences of feeling lonely. The process of abstracting each volunteer’s language to the theoretical level was clearly described. Core ideas of the discerning extant moment of feeling lonely were connected to the conceptual foreknowings and the humanbecoming paradigm.
Results: The major discovery of this Parsesciencing inquiry was the discerning extant moment: Feeling lonely is disheartening detachment with incapacitating anguish surfacing with the unanticipated.
Conclusion: The newknowings arising from this investigation advance nursing science and were discussed in relation to the humanbecoming paradigm and extant literature. They expand the knowledge of the living experience of feeling lonely and contribute to nurses living the art of humanbecoming. This was the first Parsesciencing investigation of the universal humanuniverse living experience of feeling lonely and the only investigation in the humanbecoming tradition on the experience in adults
Promoting Reproductive Knowledge Among Youth Through a Summer Health Camp
Unplanned pregnancies are associated with adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes such as low birth weight, preterm birth, admissions into neonatal intensive care unit and significant cost of care. A strategy to reduce unplanned pregnancy is to provide more accurate information on reproductive physiology and conception risk to increase young people’s understanding of reproductive changes and improve pregnancy planning. This study examined the effect of a summer Health Education And Leadership Training for a Hopeful future (HEALTH) camp on the reproductive anatomy and sexual health knowledge of camp participants
Methods: This is a simple descriptive pre- and post-assessment study. The one-week health promotion day camps for the summer of 2024 were for girls (9-15 years) and boys (12-17 years) from majorly low socioeconomic and diverse racial backgrounds. The camps focused on promoting a general culture of health, leadership, and educating girls and boys about their reproductive system and sexual health. Data was analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses to determine changes in knowledge levels following camp participation.
Results: There were 125 boys and girls who completed the pre- and post-camp surveys. The majority (84.8%) were girls, and among the girls, 54.72% were older girls aged 12-15 years. More than a third (38.4%) were White, 20% were Black/African American, 19.2% Hispanic, and 12.8% were Asian. The camp led to an increase in girls expected scores across all the items examined, with several questions (especially those on how long egg lives, when ovulation occurs, risk of sexually transmitted infections and infertility with large gains (p\u3c0.001). In general, expected score increases were bigger post-camp for questions that girls did more poorly on in the pre-test, so that the majority of questions were answered correctly 80-90+% of the time after camp. Overall, boys’ expected chances of correct answers did mostly improve after camp, but more for some questions (such as parts of male reproductive system, functions of these structures, and how this affects reproductive health) than others.
Conclusions: A HEALTH summer camp that educates young people about their reproductive anatomy and sexual health contributes to creating a mindset and expectations that value promoting reproductive health
Bibliotherapy for Enhancing the Mental Well-Being of Informal Caregivers of People with Dementia
This project is designed to investigate the potential of bibliotherapy as a self-help intervention for informal caregivers of individuals with dementia. A series of studies were carried out to examine its feasibility and efficacy in improving mental health and enhancing caregiving appraisal among informal caregivers of people with dementia, emphasizing its potential for broad implementation following successful clinical trials
Linking International Students in an Exchange to Create Global Learning
As globalization around the world increases, creating meaningful international experiences for students is essential in higher education. Preparing nursing students with knowledge and skills to successfully interface and care for diverse populations equips them to provide culturally competent quality care.The purpose of this exchange was for faculty from Ohio State University (OSU) College of Nursing in Ohio and Lovisenberg Diaconal University College in Norway to collaborate, develop, and provide students with culturally rich experiences that mirrored students internationalizing at home or traveling abroad. Students’ learning experiences focused on community health care settings, common health concerns and resources that support people living in urban areas. In this inaugural exchange whereby OSU hosted Norwegian students, the faculty created a safe, immersive, engaging, inclusive and positive learning environment that facilitated global learning. This opportunity provided US students staying at home with a unique clinical experience to practice alongside their Norwegian peers. All students gained a global perspective on different healthcare systems, resources, diversity, culture, and the role and scope of clinical practice for nurses.During this 2-week exchange, OSU students acted as hosts and leaders for the Norwegian students by planning and developing cultural experiences. In working with the Norwegian students, the OSU students developed their critical thinking, adaptability, empathy, self-awareness, and cultural competence. The domestic students realized although time and language differences are present and thousands of miles separate each country their global exchange as leaders and hosts to their Norwegian peers cultivated relationships, connections, and the realization of the shared similarities professionally and individually impacting each student for a lifetime