Nurses, assuming a wide range of clinical and patient care responsibilities in a healthcare team, are highly susceptible to direct and indirect exposure to traumatic experiences. However, literature has shown that nurses with certain traits developed a new sense of personal strength in the face of adversity, known as post-traumatic growth (PTG). This review aimed to synthesize the best available evidence to evaluate personal and work-related factors associated with PTG among nurses.
Mixed studies systematic review.
Studies examining factors influencing PTG on certified nurses from all healthcare facilities were included. Published and unpublished studies were identified by searching 12 databases from their inception until 4th February 2023. Two reviewers independently screened, appraised, piloted a data collection form, and extracted relevant data. Meta-summary, meta-synthesis, meta-analysis, as well as subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed. Integration of results followed result-based convergent design.
A total of 98 studies with 29,706 nurses from 18 countries were included. These included 49 quantitative, 42 qualitative, and seven mixed-methods studies. Forty-six influencing factors were meta-analyzed, whereas nine facilitating factors were meta-summarized. A PTG conceptual map was created. Four constructs emerged from the integration synthesis: (a) personal system, (b) work-related system, (c) event-related factors, and (d) cognitive transformation.
The review findings highlighted areas healthcare organizations could do to facilitate PTG in nurses. Practical implications include developing intervention programs based on PTG facilitators. Further research should examine the trend of PTG and its dynamic response to different nursing factors.
Research on trauma-focused therapies targeting nurses' mental health is lacking. Therefore, findings from this review could inform healthcare organizations on the PTG phenomenon and developing support measures for nurses through healthcare policies and clinical practice.
To investigate the relationship between work readiness and work well-being for newly graduated nurses and the mediating role of emotional labor and psychological capital in this relationship.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in mainland China. A total of 478 newly graduated nurses completed the Work Readiness Scale, Emotional Labour Scale, Psychological Capital Questionnaire, and Work Well-being Scale. Descriptive statistical methods, Pearson correlation analysis, and a structural equation model were used to analyze the available data.
Newly graduated nurses' work readiness was significantly positively correlated with work well-being (r = 0.21, p < 0.01), deep acting (r = 0.11, p < 0.05), and psychological capital (r = 0.18, p < 0.01). Emotional labor and psychological capital partially mediated the relationship between work readiness and work well-being. Additionally, emotional labor and psychological capital had a chain-mediating effect on the association.
Work readiness not only affects newly graduated nurses' work well-being directly but also indirectly through emotional labor and psychological capital. These results provide theoretical support and guidance for the study and improvement of newly graduated nurses' work well-being and emphasize the importance of intervention measures to improve work readiness and psychological capital and the adoption of deep-acting emotional-labor strategies.
This study examines the intricate language and communication patterns of nurse-to-nurse handoffs across three units with varying patient acuity levels and nurse–patient ratios, seeking to identify linguistic factors that may affect the quality of information transfer and patient outcomes.
A mixed-methods cross-sectional design.
This study used the Nurse-to-Nurse Transition of Care Communication Model to explore the content and meaning of language in nursing handoffs within a large academic medical centre. Data were collected on three units through digital audio recordings of 20 handoffs between June and September 2022, which were transcribed and analysed using the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count programme. Trustworthiness was established by adhering to COREQ and STROBE guidelines for qualitative and quantitative research, respectively.
Analysis revealed a preference for casual, narrative language across all units, with ICU nurses demonstrating a higher confidence and leadership in communication. Cognitive processes such as insight and causation were found to be underrepresented, indicating a potential area for miscommunication. Communication motives driven by affiliation were more pronounced in ICU settings, suggesting a strong collaborative nature. No significant differences were observed among the units post multiple testing adjustments. Speech dysfluencies were most pronounced in ICU handoffs, reflecting possible stress and cognitive overload.
The study highlights the need for improved communication strategies such as interventions to enhance language clarity and incorporating technological tools into handoff processes to mitigate potential miscommunications and errors. The findings advance nursing science by highlighting the critical role of nuanced language in varied-acuity hospital settings and the necessity for structured nurse education in handoff communication and standardized handoff procedures.
This study underscores the critical role of language in nurse-to-nurse handoffs. It calls for enhanced communication strategies, technology integration and training to reduce medical errors, improving patient outcomes in high-acuity hospital settings.
Nurses only.
Teamwork among healthcare professionals is a key aspect of patient safety that influences the prevalence of missed nursing care. The association between teamwork and missed care in acute care hospitals is now well established in the literature. Therefore, this review aimed to synthesise the existing empirical evidence on the association between teamwork and missed care in the acute care setting.
A mixed-method systematic review study.
The search was carried out in February 2023 in four scientific databases, PubMed, ProQuest, Web of Science and Scopus based on their institutional availability. The search produced 1542 studies. The method of thematic analysis was used in data synthesis.
A total of 18 studies were selected that revealed the relationship between teamwork and missed care. The teamwork score was weak to moderate but significantly associated with the overall score of missed care and was found to be a statistically significant predictor of missed care in an acute care setting. Additionally, teamwork represented an important reason for missed care, primarily in the context of poor communication, lack of trust and cooperation in the nursing team and lack of leadership.
The review findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the intricate dynamics between teamwork and missed care and provide valuable information to healthcare professionals and institutions looking to optimise teamwork and mitigate instances of missed care in the acute care setting.
Recognising how teamwork influences the occurrence of missed care, healthcare organisations can strategically implement targeted interventions to enhance collaboration, address communication gaps, foster trust, and provide effective leadership.
This review suggests that improving teamwork seems to be one of the most important strategies focused on mitigating missed care in acute care settings.
The reporting of this review followed the PRISMA 2020 checklist.
No patient or public contribution.
To describe how workplace violence (WPV) is experienced by nurses in hospitals and community services and identify protective and risk factors.
An online cross-sectional national study was conducted from January to April 2021 in Italy. Hospitals and community services were involved in the study. The survey combined the adapted and validated Italian version of the Violence in Emergency Nursing and Triage (VENT) questionnaire, which explores the episodes of WPV experienced during the previous 12 months, the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) and some additional questions about staffing levels extracted from a previous RN4CAST study. Nurses working in all clinical settings and community services were invited to participate in the survey. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. We adhered to the STROBE reporting guidelines.
A total of 6079 nurses completed the survey, 32.4% (n = 1969) had experienced WPV in the previous 12 months, and 46% (n = 920) reported WPV only in the previous week. The most significant protective factors were nurses' age, patients' use of illegal substances, attitude of individual nurses and considering effective the organization's procedures for preventing and managing episodes of violence. The most significant risk factors included workload, recognizing violence as an inevitable part of the job, patients' cultural aspects and patients' agitated behaviour. The frequency of WPV was significantly higher in certain areas, such as the emergency department and in mental health wards.
Workplace violence (WPV) against nurses is a very frequent and concerning issue, especially in hospitals and community services. Based on our findings, integrated and multimodal programmes for prevention and management of WPV are recommended. More attention and resources need to be allocated to reduce WPV by improving the quality of nurses' workplace environment and implementing violence-free policies for hospitals.
Workplace verbal and physical violence is a widespread phenomenon, both in hospital and community settings, and even during COVID-19 pandemic. This problem is exacerbated by the lack of effective reporting systems, fear of retaliation and the tendency to consider violence as an inevitable part of the job. The characteristics of professionals, patients, work environment and organizational factors are involved in the spread of workplace violence, determining its multifactorial nature. Integrated and multimodal programmes to prevent and manage of workplace violence are probably the only way to effectively counteract workplace violence against nurses. Healthcare policymakers, managers of hospital and community services need to proactively prevent and effectively manage and monitor episodes of violence. Nurses need to feel protected and safeguarded against any form of verbal or physical violence, to provide high-quality care in a totally safe environment.
No patient or public contribution.
As a chronic skin disease, psoriasis often affects the physical, psychological and social status of the patient, which in turn impacts on their experience of illness and needs. However, there is no review of qualitative research that integrates and analyses the experiences and needs of these three influences from a holistic perspective.
This review follows the ENTREQ guidelines. Six English databases (JBI, Cochrane Library, PubMed, PsyINFO, CINAHL and Embase) and three Chinese databases (CNKI, VIP and Wanfang) were searched from January 2012 to October 2022. Literature was included if it was relevant to the experience of illness and caring needs of patients with psoriasis. The JBI-QARI was used to rate the quality of included studies.
Eleven studies were included in the meta-synthesis. Four analytical themes were identified for analysis: physical challenges, psychological discomfort, social phenomena and caring needs.
The combined physical, psychological and social effects of psoriasis and the consequent caring needs should be emphasised. Health professionals, including doctors and nurses, should be aware of the multiple changes in patients and their coping strategies, provide information about psoriasis, monitor and follow-up regularly over time and obtain feedback to inform further treatment and care so as to develop high-quality therapeutic interventions to help and guide patients with their coping strategies.
These findings describe the physical, psychological and social experiences of illness and caring needs of patients with psoriasis. Healthcare professionals should be more aware of patients' easily overlooked psychological and social distress, providing prompt attention and recognition of patients' experiences and needs, offering relevant assistance and support and enhancing daily, regular follow-up to help them improve their understanding of and ability to manage their illness.
This is a meta-synthesis without direct patient involvement.
Based on the two-factor model of caregiving appraisals, this study aims to (1) investigate the relationships between competence in dementia care and job satisfaction (work attitudes in positive aspect) and turnover intention (work attitudes in negative aspect) among formal caregivers in nursing homes, and (2) examine the mediating roles of positive aspects of caregiving (caregiving appraisals in positive aspect) and caregiving burden (caregiving appraisals in negative aspect) in the above associations.
A cross-sectional design was used. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the proposed model. STROBE checklist guides the reporting of this study.
Using the multistage cluster sampling method, 407 formal caregivers were selected from 43 nursing homes across 7 districts/counties in China.
The proposed model shows a good model fit. Competence in dementia care shows significant positive associations with increased job satisfaction and decreased turnover intention among formal caregivers in nursing homes. Caregiving burden and positive aspects of caregiving mediate the relationships between competence in dementia care and both job satisfaction and turnover intention. Furthermore, the relationship between positive aspects of caregiving and job satisfaction is stronger than that with turnover intention, but the relationship between caregiving burden and turnover intention is not stronger than that with job satisfaction.
The results demonstrate that the two-factor model of caregiving appraisals effectively elucidates the associations and underlying mechanisms between competence in dementia care and formal caregivers' work attitudes. Specifically, two crucial conclusions are drawn: (1) competence in dementia care is associated with higher levels of job satisfaction and lower levels of turnover intention among formal caregivers in nursing homes; (2) caregiving burden and positive aspects of caregiving serve as parallel mediators in these associations.
Policymakers and nursing homes managers should implement a series of measures aimed at formal caregivers in nursing home. Specifically, allocating more resources to enhance the competence in dementia care of formal caregivers is crucial, given its significant association with elevated job satisfaction and reduced turnover intention. Besides, positive and negative caregiving appraisals emerge as proximal factors influencing work attitudes of formal caregivers. Therefore, intervention projects focused on formal caregivers in nursing home should target enhancing positive experiences and alleviating caregiving burden.
No patient or public contribution.
To obtain a deeper understanding of peoples' experiences of cancer treatments with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).
ICIs are transforming survival outcomes for many with certain advanced cancers. Given the possibility of unique immune-related adverse events (irAEs), understanding treatment experiences is crucial to identify support needs and provide safe and effective person-centred care.
A systematic review of qualitative research and thematic synthesis. To report this review, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Analysis and Meta Analysis (PRISMA) checklist and Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research (ENTREQ) guidance have been used.
MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Web of Science databases were searched in January 2022 for eligible studies published in English from database inception.
Two reviewers independently screened records, identified papers for inclusion and appraised methodological quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist. Themes were developed using thematic synthesis.
Eighteen papers were included and three analytical themes developed: immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment decision-making; the experience and impact of immune checkpoint inhibitor treatments; and appraising and responding to irAEs.
The synthesis renders visible individuals' unmet information, psychological and practical support needs. It identifies shortcomings in immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment decision-making processes and highlights the need for healthcare professionals to recognise and sensitively handle individuals' treatment expectations. Individuals' understandings of and responses to irAEs are also illustrated, and attention drawn to patients' concerns about healthcare professionals' checkpoint inhibitor and irAEs knowledge.
To sensitively manage treatment expectations and uncertainties, and optimise health outcomes, there are distinct points in treatment trajectories where care and support might require adapting and enhancing.
This review addresses people's experiences of immune checkpoint inhibitor treatments. The core findings reveal unmet information, psychological and practical support needs. Insights derived from this review will enhance individuals' experiences and outcomes and healthcare professionals' practice.
No patient or public involvement.
To examine the main effects and interaction effects of outcome expectations (e.g., anticipated satisfactory salary and benefits), nurse identity (a sense of membership in the nursing profession), and information-access efficiency of the electronic medical record system (how the system enables nurses to quickly retrieve the needed information) on nurses' retention.
This study uses a cross-sectional survey and adopts proportionate random sampling to recruit a representative sample of nurses of a medical centre in Taiwan.
This study successfully obtained completed questionnaires from 430 nurses during December 2021 to January 2022. Data are analysed by using hierarchical regressions.
Positive outcome expectations and identification as a member in the nursing profession are associated with retention. Information-access efficiency strengthens the link between outcome expectations and retention, while nurse identity weakens this link.
Outcome expectations can help retain nurses, particularly those who perceive high levels of information-access efficiency and possess weak nurse identity. That is, outcome expectations have a complementary role with nurse identity in retaining nurses.
Nurse managers should devise means to build positive outcome expectations for nurses. In addition, either strengthening nurses' identification with the nursing profession or improving the information-access efficiency of the electronic medical system may also help retain nurses.
This study examined how to transform outcome expectation to nurse retention, offering nurse managers to devise new means to retain nurses.
STROBE statement was chosen as EQUATOR checklist.
No patient or public contribution.
(1) To describe existing tools to assess the burden of informal caregivers of people with cancer, (2) to describe how these tools have been validated and (3) to describe the areas of interest of existing assessment tool entries.
The caregiver burden of informal caregivers of people with cancer greatly affects their lives. There is a wide variety of relevant assessment tools available, but there are no studies to help researchers to select tools.
A search was conducted using the keywords ‘cancer’, ‘caregiver’, ‘burden’ and ‘scale’ in Medline (PubMed), CINAHL and EMBASE to include articles that developed or applied tools to assess the burden on informal caregivers of cancer patients. Once eligible tools were identified, we searched their ‘primary reference’ studies. If the original scale was assessed in a population other than informal caregivers of cancer patients, we again searched for psychometric measures in the population of caregivers of cancer patients.
This study retrieved 938 articles on developing or applying the informal caregiver burden instrument for cancer patients, including 42 scales. Internal consistency of the original scales ranged from 0.53 to 0.96. Nineteen scales initially developed to assess caregiver burden for patients with dementia, stroke and other disorders were later used for caregivers of cancer patients, eight of which have not yet been validated. Reclassifying all scale domains of concern revealed that scale assessments focused more on caregivers' physical health, emotional state and caregiving tasks.
This review identifies many scales for assessing informal caregiver burden in cancer patients and gives scales recommended. However, a portion still needs to be validated. The development of a new scale proposes to be based on a theoretical framework and to consider dimensions for assessing support resources.
What problem did the study address?: This paper collates assessment tools on the burden of informal carers of people with cancer. It also provides information on the applicable population, reliability and validity.
What were the main findings?: 41 scales could be considered for use, eight of which have not been validated. The scales focus more on assessing caregivers' physical health, emotional state and caregiving tasks, and less on the dimension of support resources.
Where and on whom will the research have an impact?: There are implications for informal carers of cancer patients in hospitals or in the community, as well as for relevant researchers.
Retrieved with reference to systematic evaluation.
No patient or public contribution.
To determine the effectiveness of brief reminiscence-based psychosocial interventions in alleviating psychological distress in cancer patients.
Cancer patients suffer tremendous psycho-spiritual pain, which affects their quality of life. Brief reminiscence-based psychosocial interventions have demonstrated positive effects on the mental health of cancer patients; however, the efficacy of these interventions has been inconsistent.
A systematic review and meta-analysis.
This review was conducted and reported in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 checklist provided by the EQUATOR network. The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PsycINFO, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and Scopus databases were systematically searched from inception to 27 November 2022 to identify randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in English.
Twenty studies involving 1744 cancer participants were included. The meta-analysis showed statistically significant effects of brief reminiscence-based psychosocial interventions on hope, anxiety and depression at post-intervention. A separate analysis revealed that brief reminiscence-based psychosocial interventions had a sustainable effect on hope, spiritual well-being, anxiety and depression at 1 month after the intervention. However, no statistically significant effect on quality of life was found in our study either immediately after the intervention or at 1 month.
Brief reminiscence-based psychosocial interventions can significantly reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms and improve hope and spiritual well-being in cancer patients.
This study further supports that brief reminiscence-based psychosocial interventions should be incorporated into the routine care of cancer patients to address their psychosocial distress.
All authors of this article contributed to the study conception and design. All authors of the included studies provided original data for this paper.
Workplace incivility is a barrier to safe and high-quality patient care in nursing workplaces and more broadly in tertiary hospitals. The present study aims to systematically review the existing evidence to provide a comprehensive understanding of the prevalence of co-worker incivility experienced and witnessed by nurses and other healthcare professionals, the effects of incivility on patient safety culture (PSC) and patient outcomes, and the factors which mediate the relationship between incivility and patient safety.
A systematic review with narrative synthesis and meta-analysis was undertaken to synthesize the data from 41 studies.
Databases searched included MEDLINE, PubMed, SCOPUS, CINAHL, PsycInfo, ProQuest, Emcare and Embase. Searches were conducted on 17 August 2021 and repeated on 15 March 2023.
The pooled prevalence of experienced incivility was 25.0%. The pooled prevalence of witnessed incivility was 30.1%. Workplace incivility was negatively associated with the PSC domains of teamwork, reporting patient safety events, organization learning/improvement, management support for safety, leadership, communication openness and communication about error. The composite pooled effect size of incivility on these domains of PSC was OR = 0.590, 95% CI [0.515, 0.676]. Workplace incivility was associated with a range of patient safety outcomes (PSOs) including near misses, adverse events, reduced procedural and diagnostic performance, medical error and mortality. State depletion, profession, psychological responses to incivility, information sharing, help seeking, workload and satisfaction with organizational communication were found to mediate the relationship between incivility and patient safety.
Experienced and witnessed incivility is prevalent in tertiary hospitals and has a deleterious effect on PSC and PSOs. A better understanding of the mechanisms of this relationship will support the development of interventions aimed at reducing both incivility and patient harm.
This study quantifies the effect of incivility on PSC and outcomes. It provides support that interventions focusing on incivility are a valuable mechanism for improving patient care. It guides intervention design by highlighting which domains of PSC are most associated with incivility. It explores the profession-specific experiences of workplace incivility.
This report adheres to PRISMA reporting guidelines.
No patient or public contribution. The focus of this study is the nursing and healthcare workforce, therefore, patient or public involvement not required.
To examine the relationship between racial/ethnic disparities and substance use behaviours (alcohol and tobacco use) and their impact on the sleep health of South Korean adolescents.
Secondary analysis of cross-sectional study data from the 2021 Korea Youth Risk Behaviour Web-based Survey dataset.
Given that Korean society has historically linked its racial/ethnic identity to a shared bloodline, we categorized 2644 adolescents from the Korea Youth Risk Behaviour Web-based Survey based on their racial/ethnic status, determined by their parents' birthplaces. Using multiple linear regression, we investigated whether the impact of racial/ethnic disparities on sleep health (sleep duration, debt, and timing) varies depending on substance use behaviours (alcohol and tobacco use) after controlling for age, sex, household economic status, depressed mood, suicidal ideation, perceived excessive stress, and anxiety level.
Despite no statistical differences in sleep health and the prevalence of substance use between racial/ethnic groups, racial/ethnic minority adolescents experienced greater sleep debt than racial/ethnic majority adolescents when consuming alcohol. Moreover, racial/ethnic minority adolescents were more likely to report psychosocial distress and had lower parental education level.
Racial/ethnic minority adolescents were more vulnerable to the detrimental effects of alcohol use on sleep health compared to racial/ethnic majority adolescents. This heightened vulnerability may be attributed to the more pronounced psychosocial challenges and the lower socioeconomic status of parents in the racial/ethnic minority group.
Racial/ethnic disparities are concerning in South Korea, particularly since the negative effects of substance use on sleep health are intensified among racial/ethnic minority adolescents. Nurses and other healthcare providers should recognize the importance of addressing the social disadvantages linked to racial/ethnic disparities. Beyond just advocating for the cessation of substance use, it is crucial to address these underlying issues to reduce sleep disparities among South Korean adolescents.
No patient or public contribution.
To synthesise and map current evidence on nurse and midwife involvement in task-sharing service delivery, including both face-to-face and telehealth models, in primary care.
This scoping review was informed by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Methodology for Scoping Reviews.
Five databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, CINAHL and Cochrane Library) were searched from inception to 16 January 2024, and articles were screened for inclusion in Covidence by three authors. Findings were mapped according to the research questions and review outcomes such as characteristics of models, health and economic outcomes, and the feasibility and acceptability of nurse-led models.
One hundred peer-reviewed articles (as 99 studies) were deemed eligible for inclusion. Task-sharing models existed for a range of conditions, particularly diabetes and hypertension. Nurse-led models allowed nurses to work to the extent of their practice scope, were acceptable to patients and providers, and improved health outcomes. Models can be cost-effective, and increase system efficiencies with supportive training, clinical set-up and regulatory systems. Some limitations to telehealth models are described, including technological issues, time burden and concerns around accessibility for patients with lower technological literacy.
Nurse-led models can improve health, economic and service delivery outcomes in primary care and are acceptable to patients and providers. Appropriate training, funding and regulatory systems are essential for task-sharing models with nurses to be feasible and effective.
Nurse-led models are one strategy to improve health equity and access; however, there is a scarcity of literature on what these models look like and how they work in the primary care setting. Evidence suggests these models can also improve health outcomes, are perceived to be feasible and acceptable, and can be cost-effective. Increased utilisation of nurse-led models should be considered to address health system challenges and improve access to essential primary healthcare services globally.
This review is reported against the PRISMA-ScR criteria.
No patient or public contribution.
The study protocol is published in BJGP Open (Moulton et al., 2022).