Nursing Practice Today
Volume:9 Issue: 2, Spring 2022

Prevention of healthcare-associated infections targets health workers. Considering the crucial role of nurses, potential applications of mobile phone-based interventions are innovative, attractive, and easily accessible. This study synthesizes mobile applications with the involvement of nurses or nursing students in outcomes to prevent healthcare-associated infections and their implications.

 Systematic review, database searches included: SCOPUS, EBSCO MEDLINE, PubMed, ProQuest, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and SagePUb. Population involved nurses or nursing students with mobile-based interventions about healthcare-associated infectionsQuantitative design focused on publications between 2015-2021. Methodological quality applied the Cochrane and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute tools. Analysis used narrative synthesis.

11 studies met inclusion criteria from 1,792. Study populations were heterogeneous. Mobile phone interventions included: short message service (18.2%), (9.1%), mobile and computer access (18.2%), and iOs/Android-based (27.3%). healthcare-associated infections prevention focused on: surgical site infections (54.5%), central line-associated bloodstream infections (9.1%), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (9.1%), antimicrobials (9.1%), knowledge, attitude, and practice towards healthcare-associated infections (18.2%). Most bias risks were moderate to high. Participants showed positive responses. All studies described problems in implementing healthcare-associated infections applications. Five studies reported estimated cost savings.

Using mobile phone applications has involved nurses as researchers, participants, and intervention providers to patients. The impact is promising in preventing healthcare-associated infections. Response of user is influenced by technology familiarity, which involves interactive features and problem anticipation. This review showed significant cost savings, so stakeholders and future research plans can consider it.

Artistic nursing care is defined as combining knowledge, skills, and judgment to provide the best care. Different studies have introduced different and even contradictory characteristics for this concept. Therefore, nurses are confused about it. This study aimed to clarify artistic nursing care.

Rodgers' evolutionary method was used to clarify the concept of artistic nursing care. This method included the initial phase, core analysis phase, and further analysis phase. Literature from 1990 to 2020 was sought using Springer, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, OVID, and SID databases. In general, 28 articles and two books were selected and analyzed.

The attributes of artistic nursing care included discovering a unique way to establish a happy and integrated relationship with the patient, paying intuition attention to the patient individuality to recognize all their needs, creating a positive image of the patient's condition, manifesting love in caring behaviors, and creating opportunities for a healing presence. The antecedents for artistic nursing care include having knowledge and experience, commitment to ethical principles, altruism, and active presence in the field of care. Artistic nursing care improves the patient's physical and mental health, increases the patient's sense of well-being and happiness, increases patient and nurse satisfaction.

In this study, the antecedents, attributes, and consequences of artistic nursing care are presented objectively and practically, which can be used to teach the methods of providing artistic nursing care and design tools for measuring this concept.

The Critical Pain Observational Tool (CPOT) is one of the most valid and reliable pain assessment tools to assess pain in mechanically ventilated patients. This study aimed to investigate the Critical Care Pain Observational tool feasibility and clinical utility from the nurses’ perspective at a teaching hospital in Jordan.

 Descriptive design was used to collect data from 74 nurses working in five critical care units in a teaching hospital in Jordan. The study was conducted in August 2019. The Feasibility and Clinical Utility of Critical Pain Observation Tool collected the data. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 22.

The mean feasibility score was 69.0 / 100 (SD=8.56) with a range of 18-33/36 (50.0-91.0 / 100), indicating a moderate category of feasibility. Also, the mean of the clinical utility scores was 68.53 / 100 (SD=9.78) with a range of 11-26/28 (39.29-92.8 / 100), indicating moderate clinical utility.

Nurses reported moderate feasibility and clinical utility of the CPOT; thus, it is important to promote education and training of nurses to ensure maximum utilization of the tool.

Relocation stress syndrome is one of the consequences of moving someone to a nursing home; it causes unbearable feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and depression. However, it can be prevented by conducting proper and timely nursing interventions. The present study aimed to examine the effect of participation in support groups on relocation stress syndrome in residents of nursing homes.

 In this single-blind randomized clinical trial, 32 elderly residents of Kahrizak nursing home were randomly assigned to control and intervention groups. The intervention included holding support groups. Demographic information questionnaires, the short form of Geriatric Depression Scale (15-GDS), Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS), and the short form of University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA loneliness scale (ULS-8) were used to collect data. The data were then analyzed using statistical tests in SPSS software version 16.

There was no statistically significant difference between the mean scores of loneliness, depression, and anxiety between the two groups in the pre-test (p> 0.05). The results of the ANCOVA test to compare the mean scores of loneliness, depression, and anxiety in the post-test with controlling pre-test scores revealed that the intervention was effective on depression (p<0.001) and anxiety (p= 0.003), but it had no effects on loneliness (p= 0.156).

The development and implementation of support group programs for the elderly in a nursing home could improve the outcomes of relocation stress syndrome in terms of depression and anxiety. Nonetheless, it had no effects on the outcome of loneliness. Therefore, it is recommended to implement this intervention for the elderly in a nursing home if the cost-benefit analysis is positive.

The Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale measures the presence, frequency, severity, and distress of symptoms. The scale is available in Spanish, but it has not been validated in Colombia. This study aims to translate, validate, and culturally adapt the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale for adults with cancer in Colombia.

Adults with cancer undergoing chemotherapy in an oncological outpatient center in Bogota, Colombia, were invited to participate in the study. Patients in end-of-life care or with cognitive deficits were excluded. Psychometric research was carried out and included: 1) Translation and cultural adaptation of the scale from English, 2) Construct validity and reliability with a convenience sample of 249 cancer patients. A factorial analysis of principal components was carried out with the Varimax rotation method in IBM SPSS v26.0. The reliability of the scale was estimated using Cronbach's Alpha; subsequently, factor analysis was carried out using structural equations in MPlus.

The scale was adapted to the Colombian context. Two factors (physical and psychological) of the scale structure were produced by the factorial analysis that contributes 47.9% of the accumulated variance. The alpha coefficient of Cronbach ranged between 0.75 and 0.79. The final model goodness of fit was also adequate [X2 (128)=184.47, p = 0.008, CFI = 0.94, RMSEA: 0.04 [0.03, 0.06], SRMR: 0.06, TLI= 0.92].

The Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale has adequate validity and reliability to measure the prevalence, frequency, stress, and severity of symptoms in adults with cancer in Colombia.

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) was responsible for 7.4 million deaths globally. Self-care is an integral element of standard medical management for CHD. The aims of this study were: (1) to describe self-care maintenance, self-care monitoring, self-care management, and self-care confidence among patients with CHD patients; and (2) to identify predictors of self-care maintenance, self-care monitoring, self-care management, and self-care confidence in Jordanian CHD patients.

 A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. A sample of 193 patients with CHD was interviewed. Self-care behaviors were measured by the Self-Care Coronary Heart Disease Index (SC-CHDI). Anxiety and depression were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD), and social support was assessed using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS).

The mean age of the participants was 60.4 years (SD=10.61). 139 (72%) of the participants were males. Female patients were significantly worse than male patients in self-care management (P=0.045) and self-care confidence (P=0.014). Significant predictors for better self-care maintenance were older age and higher self-care confidence. The prediction model explained 17.6% of the variance in self-care maintenance (F= 4.188, P=. <001). The significant predictors for self-care confidence were self-care maintenance, self-care management, and BMI. The prediction model explained 29% of the variance in the self-care confidence (F= 7. 137, P=. <001).

The study revealed that self-care maintenance was adequate while self-care management and self-care confidence were suboptimal. Older age, higher educational level, and better self-care confidence were predictors of higher self-care maintenance.

Palliative nursing is based on the ability of nursing students to use their accumulated experiences and knowledge; however, basic nursing education does not provide adequate knowledge and skills regarding palliative and end-of-life care.  This study aimed to examine the relationship between knowledge of end-of-life care and attitudes toward dying people among nursing students.   

 Cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational design was used in this study. A total of 708 nursing students were recruited conveniently from nursing students in 11 nursing programs. Data was collected using an online self-administered questionnaire in relation to knowledge and attitudes regarding palliative care using the palliative care quiz for nursing and Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying Scale Form B (FATCOD-B).

Nursing students have a satisfactory level of knowledge about palliative care with a mean of 61.0% and 50% of them scoring 83% correct answers. Moreover, students also have a moderate to high mean score (102.7, SD= 11.2) on attitudes towards caring for dying patients, indicating positive attitudes. Positive correlation found between communication and family as caregiver subscales of attitudes with knowledge total score (r= .08, r= .20, p< .05; respectively). The significant difference was found in attitudes related to gender, type of university, and whether receiving training or education about palliative care at school (p< .05).

Attitudes of nursing students and improving the level of knowledge regarding end of life care should be a priority to nurse educators, and nursing schools need to integrate palliative and end-of-life care into nursing curricula across all levels.

Patients undergoing CABG might have increased complications postoperatively, especially prolonging postoperative Length of Stay (LOS). Perceived Control (PC) affects LOS post CABG and complications among different cardiac populations. However, this relation is not well-studied post CABG. This study aimed to determine whether PC was an independent predictor of LOS among patients post CABG.

 A prospective observational design was used. A consecutive sample consisted of 220 patients from four hospitals in Amman, Jordan, who underwent elective CABG between July 2020 and January 2021. PC was assessed using the Arabic Version of the Control Attitude Scale-Revised. LOS and other necessary information were retrieved from the patients' medical records. Data were analyzed using stepwise multiple regression.

169 males and 51 females participated in this study. Age, female gender, as well as PC were found to be independent predictors for the hospital LOS. On the one hand, advanced age and female gender increased the hospital LOS, while higher levels of PC were protective. A one-year increase in age increased hospital LOS by 0.16 days, being female increased hospital LOS by 0.17 days, and a one-point increase in PC levels decreased LOS by 0.33 days. On the other hand, only female gender and PC were independent predictors for the ICU LOS. Similarly to hospital LOS, the female gender increased ICU LOS by 0.18 days while the one-point increase in PC decreased the ICU LOS by 0.21 days.

PC was an independent predictor that affects LOS after CABG. Increasing PC among this population, especially females and the elderly, might improve outcomes of their CABG surgery decrease hospital's LOS, and the resultant morbidity