The aim of this research study is to collaboratively generate insights in the current institutional long-term care environment for activity and mobility of older adults, and of solutions that could be used to increase the activity and improve the mobility of the older adults.
This research constitutes a qualitative study with a critical approach.
Data were collected using photo-elicitation in four long-term care units in Finland during the spring of 2022. Older adults participated in individual data collection sessions which combined photographing and discussion. Staff members individually took photographs and later participated in a group discussion based on the photographs. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse all data together.
Ten older adults and 12 staff members participated in the research study. Four themes were identified: (1) facilities should be designed and equipped for their users, (2) moving in the institutional environment, (3) passivity as a norm, and (4) nurses should act differently and have the resources to do so.
To increase the activity and improve the mobility of older adults, improvements are needed in terms of the design of facilities, opportunities for freedom of movement, outdoor activity, daily life activities, exercise, nurses' role in activating older adults and resources.
Increased attention to the support of activity and mobility could benefit older adults in institutional long-term care. Physical activity promotion should be incorporated as an integral part of nursing practice.
Directors of units were consulted when planning the study. Older adults and nurses contributed to the data collection and interpretation of data.
What problem did the study address? ○Older adults have recurrently been reported as living inactive lives in institutional long-term care. ○There is evidence of the relationship between the environment and the activity and mobility of older adults, but there seems to be a research-practice gap in terms of implementing activity- and mobility-promoting environments. ○Older adults and staff members are important in developing practice and change-oriented knowledge that can be used to increase the activity and improve the mobility of older adults in institutional long-term care.
What were the main findings? ○Various environmental improvements are recommended to increase the activity and improve the mobility of older adults in institutional long-term care settings. ○Improvements for the design of facilities, opportunities for freedom of movement, outdoor activity, daily life activities, exercise, nurses' role in activating older adults and resources for activity support would benefit older adults' activity and mobility.
Where and on whom will the research have an impact? ○Increasing the activity of older adults requires better activity promotion and mobility support by nurses in institutional care. Sufficient education and resources should be organized for activity promotion, in addition to a care and organizational culture that values activity. ○Environmental aspects to promote activity and mobility need to be considered already at the planning, building and renovating phases of facilities. ○Policymakers and care organizers should consider evidence of the harms and benefits of different institutional living environments when making decisions on organizing care.
The study is reported using the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ).
To examine the multidimensional properties of caregiver burden among family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer in a palliative context.
A sequential, explanatory, mixed-method study was performed.
Family caregivers of patients diagnosed with advanced cancer were recruited from a palliative care department of a third-level hospital in Sichuan Province, China. The Caregiver Burden Inventory, Social Support Rating Scale and Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale were used to collect quantitative data, and a total of 150 caregivers were recruited from January 2022 to September 2022. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and a total of 22 caregivers were interviewed from October 2022 to November 2022. Survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and the factors of caregiver burden were identified using the Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis H test and Spearman correlations. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was performed to analyse the interview data to initially explore the multidimensions of caregiver burden. The following-a-thread method and convergence coding matrix were used for triangulation to examine the multidimensional properties of caregiver burden.
The participants experienced a moderate level of caregiver burden (32.97 ± 13.09). Through triangulation, six meta-themes and nine meta-subthemes were identified as multidimensional properties of caregiver burden, including physical (too many caring tasks and poor health condition), emotional (strong negative emotions resulting from patients' suffering and insufficient and ineffective family communication), social (less social interaction and social role conflict) and economic burdens, factors that aggravate burden (prevention and control of COVID-19 and spousal relationship with patients) and factors that mitigate burden (social support).
Multiple dimensions of caregiver burden were experienced by family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer in the palliative context. Family-centred palliative care must be further developed.
It is important to develop family-centred palliative care. Therefore, the focus must be on developing a rational understanding of palliative care in public and a culture-oriented death education in palliative units.
This study adopted a mixed-method approach to comprehensively understand the phenomenon of and factors in caregiver burden in the Chinese palliative oncology context. Our findings suggest that family caregivers in palliative oncology experience a moderate level of caregiver burden, with dimensions including physical, emotional, social and economic burdens, among which emotional burden is the most prominent. The findings of this study provide policy makers and nurse practitioners with targets to be addressed in family-centred care in Chinese palliative units.
The results of this study are reported based on the guidelines of the Mixed-Methods Article Reporting Standards.
Eligible caregivers were invited to participate in the study and semi-structured interviews. Nurse managers of the palliative unit helped us access the patient-management system.
To learn about the attitudes of nurses working in the Andalusian Public Health System regarding euthanasia and its legalisation.
Euthanasia often finds itself in the crosshairs of ethical and political debate on an international scale. Currently, the Spanish Organic Law 3/2021 of 24 March, 2021, recognises euthanasia as a fundamental right in Spain. It is of particular interest to know about the views, attitudes and stances that Andalusian nurses have of euthanasia as they are key players within the framework of euthanasia and administration of life-ending drugs. They play a central role in guiding patients through the euthanasia application process.
Observational descriptive study.
A study of Andalusian Public Health System nurses was carried out using non-probability convenience sampling. 518 nurses with an average age of 44.75 years answered in a questionnaire that was distributed on an online platform. Socio-demographic and occupational variables were assessed, together with the Death Anxiety Scale and the Euthanasia Attitude Scale. A bivariate analysis and a multivariate linear regression model were performed. The STROBE checklist was used.
The mean score obtained on the Euthanasia Attitude Scale was 75.95 (SD = 16.53). The mean score obtained on the Death Anxiety Scale was 7.56 (SD = 3.05). The variables age and work experience were negatively correlated with the total scores of the Euthanasia Attitude Scale and the categories ‘Ethical considerations’, ‘Practical considerations’ and ‘Treasuring life’. On the other hand, there was a significant positive correlation between age and work experience and ‘Spiritual beliefs’ category.
The current situation shows a worrying paradox. There is a stark difference between positive professional attitudes towards euthanasia and the desire to participate in its application.
It is vital that educational and healthcare institutions make the necessary efforts to ensure that nurses develop sound moral judgement, displaying the moral conscience and ethical commitment required of this established profession.
No patient or public contribution.
The critical care nursing workforce is in crisis, with one-third of critical care nurses worldwide intending to leave their roles. This paper aimed to examine the problem from a wellbeing perspective, offering implications for research, and potential solutions for organisations.
Discursive/Position paper.
The discussion is based on the nursing and wellbeing literature. It is guided by the authors' collaborative expertise as both clinicians and researchers. Data were drawn from nursing and wellbeing peer-reviewed literature, such as reviews and empirical studies, national surveys and government and thinktank publications/reports.
Critical care nurses have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with studies consistently showing critical care nurses to have the worst psychological outcomes on wellbeing measures, including depression, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These findings are not only concerning for the mental wellbeing of critical care nurses, they also raise significant issues for healthcare systems/organisations: poor wellbeing, increased burnout and PTSD are directly linked with critical care nurses intending to leave the profession. Thus, the wellbeing of critical care nurses must urgently be supported. Resilience has been identified as a protective mechanism against the development of PTSD and burnout, thus offering evidence-based interventions that address resilience and turnover have much to offer in tackling the workforce crisis. However, turnover data must be collected by studies evaluating resilience interventions, to further support their evidence base. Organisations cannot solely rely on the efficacy of these interventions to address their workforce crisis but must concomitantly engage in organisational change.
We conclude that critical care nurses are in urgent need of preventative, evidence-based wellbeing interventions, and make suggestions for research and practice.
The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the point prevalence and associated risk factors of medical device-related pressure injuries (MDRPI) in intensive care patients in Turkey.
MDRPI remain a clinical problem that has garnered the attention of healthcare professionals.
This study used a cross-sectional design and was conducted over a single day in all intensive care units.
Data were collected through face-to-face interviews, observation, skin examination and detailed diagnosis of MDRPI development and influencing factors. Presence of pressure injuries on the skin in the areas where the patient's medical device was placed was defined. The study was reported according to the STROBE declaration.
MDRPI developed in 65 out of 200 patients included in the study (32.5%). The most frequent locations were on the face (71%). The MDRPIs were commonly associated with nasogastric tube (29.2%), endotracheal tube (18.5%) and CPAP mask (15.4%). A significant proportion of these injuries were mucosal (53.8%, n = 35). The majority of the skin pressure injuries were classified as Stage II (18.5%, n = 12). The risk increased 14 times in patients who were hospitalised for 9–16 days and 13 times in those who received mechanical ventilator support.
The study findings suggest that MDRPI developed in approximately one of three patients hospitalised in the intensive care unit, and the length of hospital stay and mechanical ventilator support were important determining risk factors. The high prevalence of MDRPI may indicate inadequate nursing care quality. Therefore, it is recommended that nurses be aware of risk factors and evaluate the suitability and safety of medical devices.
No patient or public contribution was involved in this study.
Current guidelines stress the importance of exercise, especially multicomponent exercise to older adults with chronic conditions.
To critically synthesise evidence that evaluates the effects of multicomponent exercise on quality of life, depression and anxiety after stroke.
Systematic review and meta-analysis followed the PRISMA 2020 statement.
A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and PsycINFO from inception to 12 June 2023 was performed. Risk of bias was assessed using the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomised trials (RoB 2). Meta-analyses were conducted using Review Manager 5.4 and narrative syntheses were adopted whenever meta-analysis was inappropriate. The overall certainty of the evidence was rated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.
Of 15,351 records identified, nine were eligible and data were available for seven randomised controlled trials, three of which were identified as having a high risk of bias, one as low risk, and five as having some concerns. Subgroup pooled analyses indicated that multicomponent exercise engaged in longer exercise sessions (>60 min) was effective in improving quality of life immediately post-intervention and through 3–6 months post-intervention. However, multicomponent exercise did not significantly affect depression and anxiety.
Multicomponent exercise with longer duration of exercise sessions has promising effects on both short- to medium-term quality of life among stroke survivors.
This does not apply to our work as it is a review paper.
Healthcare providers could consider encouraging the patients to participate in multicomponent exercise sessions for more than 60 min. It is important to note that stroke survivors should be supervised by trained personnel at the beginning of the training.
The protocol was registered on PROSPERO.
To explore collaborative practice and perceptions and attitudes of key stakeholders on collaboration in type 2 diabetes management in a tertiary care setting.
Understanding collaborative practice in diabetes care in developing countries helps to design and provide patient-centred and cost-effective care.
An exploratory qualitative study.
Interviews were undertaken with 30 patients and 18 health professionals and policymakers. Thematic data analysis was undertaken to explore collaborative practice and examine participant perspectives on collaboration in diabetes management. We compared the findings with D'Amour's Collaboration Framework to determine the level of collaboration.
Most participants reported a lack of collaborative practice in diabetes management, while they appreciated its importance in improving care. Perceptions varied with respect to what constituted collaborative practice. Three themes were identified: (1) perspectives of key stakeholders on current practice of collaboration; (2) impediments to collaborative practice; (3) strategies to improve collaborative practice. Analyses of the themes using D'Amour's Collaboration Framework indicated a low level of collaboration among physicians, nurses, pharmacists and policymakers, which was attributed to workload and time pressures on health professionals, power dynamics and lack of role clarity of all actors in collaborative action. Participants commented on the need to improve collaboration by establishing strong leadership and governance at different healthcare structure levels, which is committed to coordinating collaboration and developing collaborative frameworks and policies that guide collaborative undertaking.
Perceived shortcomings of collaboration were attributed to inadequate resources, power dynamics, a lack of strong team functioning and policies. Participants' positive perceptions provide an opportunity to improve collaborative practice through incorporation of collaborative frameworks and policies.
The findings in this study inform development of tailored and patient-centred diabetes care in tertiary care settings in sub-Saharan Africa.
The study was reported in accordance with the COREQ checklist.
Patients or the public were not involved in the design, analysis or interpretation of the data in this study. However, patients and healthcare providers participated in pilot interviews, which helped refine the interview guides. The summary of the findings of the study was also discussed with patients and healthcare providers, where they provided feedback.
Explore experiences and choices related to bowel management following spinal cord injury.
In one UK spinal centre, more are choosing a colostomy soon after injury in contravention of professional guidelines. Reasons for this were unknown.
Grounded theory study using semi-structured interviews with 12 individuals living with spinal cord injury.
All ‘Experienced Loss’ related to bowel function. Those who chose colostomy later ‘Progressed into Suffering’. Colostomy transformed lives and was likened to ‘Being Alive Again’. ‘Failures of Care’ contributed to experiences and decision-making.
Possessing information and choice emerge as key in transforming lives following spinal cord injury. They allow individuals to make choices from a lifeworld perspective, which may differ from those professionals assume. Present neurogenic bowel management guidelines fail to account for the wider lifeworlds of those they are designed for.
An imperative emerges to make information and choice available and involve patients in the reconstruction of guidelines.
Unique knowledge emerges about patient experiences and motivations, and points to a patient-led revolution in how bowel management following spinal cord injury is understood and managed. The imperative for adequate access to information and choice is demonstrated.
EQUATOR Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) were adhered to.
The methodology facilitated discussion of areas important to patients and made them co-constructors of theory.
To explore patients' and healthcare professionals' (HCPs) experiences of oral care during hospitalisation to identify needs and challenges.
Daily oral care is important to patients' health and well-being, to prevent diseases in the oral cavity, systemic infections and increased morbidity, which subsequently can lead to prolonged hospitalisation and, at worst, increased mortality. Despite this knowledge, oral care is a neglected part of nursing practice. Studies do not clearly identify barriers regarding oral care, as the existing knowledge is inadequate.
A qualitative study exploring participants' experiences to gain new in-depth knowledge of oral care among hospitalised patients.
A phenomenological-hermeneutic approach was applied. Participant observations were conducted on five hospital wards, combined with individual semi-structured interviews with 16 patients and 15 HCP. Data analysis was based on Ricoeur's theory of narrative and interpretation.
Four themes describing the challenges regarding oral care emerged: Oral care as a gut feeling; oral care fades into the background; even self-reliant patients need help with oral care; and the mouth reflects the life lived.
The identified challenges show there is a need for improvement in the health professional approach to oral care in nursing practice. Focus on increasing HCPs' knowledge, skills and competences can increase their nursing agency and support patients' self-care capacity.
Investigation of oral care during hospitalisation revealed four main challenges concerning both patients' and HCPs' lack of knowledge and awareness of oral care. Thus, patients and HCPs should be included in developing solutions to improve oral care in nursing practice.
The COREQ criteria for reporting qualitative research were adhered to.
A patient representative was involved in the discussion of the proposal, conduct and results of the study.
To determine the relationship between perception of COVID-19, fear of COVID-19 and self-care management in individuals with chronic diseases during the pandemic process.
Individuals with chronic diseases are a sensitive group during the COVID-19 pandemic process; it is thought that self-care management may be adversely affected as a result of their more intense exposure to the psychological, physiological and economic effects of the pandemic. In the literature, there is no study examining the effect of perception of COVID-19 and fear of COVID-19 on self-care management in individuals with chronic diseases.
Descriptive study.
The study was conducted with 322 individuals who applied to the internal medicine outpatient clinics of a university's Health Practice and Research Center, met the inclusion criteria, agreed to participate in the study and had a chronic disease. Questionnaire form, Perception of COVID-19 Scale (P-COVID-19), The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and Self-Care Management Process in Chronic Illness Scale (SCMP-G) were used to collect data. STROBE checklist was used to report the present study.
In the study, it can be stated that individuals with chronic diseases had a moderate to the high perception of contagiousness and dangerousness of COVID-19, they had a moderate-high level of fear of COVID-19 and their self-care care management was above moderate level. There was a significant positive correlation between P-COVID-19, FCV-19S and SCMP-G in the study.
It was found that the perception of COVID-19 contagiousness and the fear of COVID-19 had a positive effect on the self-care management of individuals with chronic diseases.
Determining the level of COVID-19 perception and fear of COVID-19 and their effects on the life of the individual, and evaluating self-care management during the difficult pandemic process will increase the success in the holistic nursing care and management of chronic diseases.
To develop an advance care planning intervention based on the needs of patients with chronic kidney disease, families and healthcare professionals.
Patients with chronic kidney disease and their families request early advance care planning that continues throughout their illness trajectory. Healthcare professionals experience barriers to initiating advance care planning. Involvement of stakeholders in development of health interventions is important, to identify priorities, understand the problem and find solutions.
The development was inspired by the Medical Research Council's framework, and codesign was applied. One future workshop and one design workshop were conducted with the consumers. The process was iterative, and data were analysed using the action research spiral. The Guidance for reporting intervention development studies in healthcare (GUIDED) was used.
Five areas were considered significant to an advance care planning intervention; a biopsychosocial approach, early palliative care, a family-focused approach, early and continuous advance care planning and a consumer-centred approach. Based on these, a conversation process with healthcare professionals was designed to give patients and families the opportunity to share values, preferences and wishes for treatment and their family and everyday life.
Codesign facilitated a collaborative process that allowed the consumers to have a significant impact on the design of an advance care planning intervention. A conversation process concerning everyday life, illness and treatment was designed for patients and families. The intervention included an advance care planning tool to guide the healthcare professionals.
The intervention has the intention to improve the communication between healthcare professionals, patients and families. The study provides important knowledge about the significance of giving the patients and their families support in sharing their values, preferences and wishes for treatment and everyday life, thus, to improve care and treatment in their illness trajectory.
What problem did the study address Patients with chronic kidney disease and their families strongly request early initiation of advance care planning that continues throughout the illness trajectory. Healthcare professionals experience barriers to the initiation of the advance care planning and request a more systematic approach. What were the main findings Development of a conversation process about everyday life, illness and treatment for patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and families, including an advance care planning tool to guide the healthcare professionals. Where and on whom will the research have an impact The study contributes an advance care planning intervention to patients in the early stages of chronic kidney disease and their families. We believe that the intervention could be included during consultations with healthcare professionals in other stages of chronic kidney disease as well as other chronic disease.
To strengthen the reporting of the development of the advance care planning intervention, we used the Guidance for reporting intervention development studies in healthcare (GUIDED).
The development of the intervention in this study was a collaborative process between patients, families, healthcare professionals and representatives from the Danish Kidney Association, the department's user council and the research team.
The aims of the study were to explore the experiences of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their partners and examine the factors influencing partner involvement in GDM management, seeking to inform a targeted couple-based intervention.
A descriptive qualitative study.
We conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 women with GDM and their partners. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling from a tertiary hospital in Xi'an, China. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Three themes and 12 subthemes were identified. Theme I: Women's expectations of their partner's involvement in GDM management—practical support and emotional support. Theme II: Partner involvement in GDM management—constructive involvement, unhelpful involvement with good intentions and insufficient involvement. Theme III: Factors that influence partner involvement in GDM—knowledge of GDM, GDM risk perception, health consciousness, attitudes towards the treatment plan, couple communication regarding GDM management, family roles and appraisal of GDM management responsibility.
Women desired practical and emotional support from partners. The types of partner involvement in GDM management varied. Some partners provided constructive support, while some partners' involvement was limited, non-existent or actively unhelpful. By combining these results with the factors influencing partner involvement, our findings may help healthcare professionals develop strategies to involve partners in GDM care and enhance women's ability to manage GDM.
Partner involvement in GDM care may help them understand and better attend to women's needs, thus improving their experience and potential outcomes. This study highlights novel factors that need to be considered in developing couple-based interventions for this population.
The reporting follows the COREQ checklist.
Some patients were involved in data interpretation. There is no public contribution.
Several studies have reported the prevalence of overweight and obesity in various countries but the global prevalence of nurses with overweight and obesity remains unclear. A consolidation of figures globally can help stakeholders worldwide improve workforce development and healthcare service delivery.
To investigate the global prevalence of overweight and obesity among nurses.
Systematic review with meta-analysis.
29 different countries across the WHO-classified geographical region.
Nurses.
Eight electronic databases were searched for articles published from inception to January 2023. Two independent reviewers performed the article screening, methodological appraisal and data extraction. Methodological appraisal was conducted using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Inter-rater agreement was measured using Cohen's Kappa. Meta-analyses were conducted to pool the effect sizes on overweight, obesity and waist circumference using random effects model and adjusted using generalised linear mixed models and Hartung–Knapp method. Logit transformation was employed to stabilise the prevalence variance. Subgroup analyses were performed based on methodological quality and geographical regions. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I 2 statistic.
Among 10,587 studies, 83 studies representing 158,775 nurses across 29 countries were included. Based on BMI, the global prevalence of overweight and obesity were 31.2% (n = 55, 95% CI: 29%–33.5%; p < .01) and 16.3% (n = 76, 95% CI: 13.7%–19.3%, p < .01), respectively. Subgroup analyses indicated that the highest prevalence of overweight was in Eastern Mediterranean (n = 9, 37.2%, 95% CI: 33.1%–41.4%) and that of obesity was in South-East Asia (n = 5, 26.4%, 95% CI: 5.3%–69.9%). NOS classification, NOS scores, sample size and the year of data collected were not significant moderators.
This review indicated the global prevalence of overweight and obesity among nurses along with the differences between regions. Healthcare organisations and policymakers should appreciate this increased risk and improve working conditions and environments for nurses to better maintain their metabolic health.
Not applicable as this is a systematic review.
PROSPERO (ref: CRD42023403785) https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=403785.
High prevalence of overweight and obesity among nurses worldwide.
To explore how patients with Inflammatory bowel disease experienced encounters with healthcare professionals in two gastrointestinal outpatient clinics to demonstrate what matters in the communication between patients and healthcare professionals.
This fieldwork study is part of a larger study developing an application for patients with inflammatory bowel disease in a framework inspired by Participatory Design. Participatory design consists of three phases and this study focused on the first phase, needs assessment. A phenomenological hermeneutic approach and qualitative methods were applied to obtain an understanding of patients' needs.
Three weeks of participant observations and three focus groups with 14 subjects were conducted at two university hospitals in Denmark. Field notes and interview transcripts were analysed using condensation of meaning and interpreted based on interactional nursing practice theory. The reporting method adhered to the EQUATOR guideline: COREQ.
Four themes emerged: Easy and dependable access to healthcare professionals. Predictability of follow-up appointments. Importance of privacy during patient exams and Quality of time spent with healthcare professionals.
Easy, dependable access, privacy, presence and predictability of follow-up appointments were important to patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
In communication with patients with inflammatory bowel disease, healthcare professionals must be aware of privacy and the importance of predictable follow-up agreements. They must be aware that presence and easy, reliable access positively affect patients' self-care skills.
This study is part of a larger project based on Participatory design involving patients and healthcare professionals in the development of technology to support communication.