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To (1) examine the attitudes of community-dwelling adults towards death and their ability to cope with death, as well as (2) understand the influence of advance care planning on community-dwelling adults' death attitudes and coping with death.
A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was conducted in Singapore.
In Phase I, a case–control study was conducted to examine the differences in death attitudes and coping with death ability between community-dwelling adults who have completed advance care planning and those who have not. A univariate general linear model was used to compute the mean difference in death attitudes and coping with death scores. In Phase II, a descriptive qualitative study was conducted to provide an in-depth understanding of the influence of advance care planning among community-dwelling adults. Thematic analysis was used for qualitative analysis. Mixed-methods analysis was conducted to integrate the quantitative and qualitative data.
In Phase I, 80 community-dwelling adults who had completed advance care planning and 81 community-dwelling adults who did not have advance care planning were included. Adults who had completed advance care planning had significantly higher coping with death scores (t = 4.14, p < 0.01). In Phase II, a purposive sample of 24 adults who had completed advance care planning was selected for individual semi-structured interviews. From the thematic analysis, three themes were developed: (1) Advance care planning enables coping with death, (2) overcoming fear of death with advance care planning and (3) confronting death with advance care planning.
Advance care planning may influence death attitudes and coping with death. Further work on longitudinal designs and among individuals from different age groups should be used to gain further in-depth understanding of the impacts of advance care planning.
Strategies to enhance one's coping abilities with death and death attitudes should be developed to stimulate the uptake of advance care planning.
This paper was reported according to the Good Reporting of A Mixed Methods Study framework.
Community-dwelling adults participated in the survey and interviews.
by Natnael Teferi, Tara Wilfong, Dawit Firdisa, Samrawit Berihun, Behailu Hawulte
BackgroundThere is growing proof to recommend eating breakfast has positive health and school-related outcomes for adolescents, including improved performance, attention, brain development, and physical growth. However, there is a dearth of evidence on the comprehensive understanding of breakfast consumption patterns and associated factors. Therefore, this study aimed to assess breakfast consumption patterns and their associated factors among adolescent high school students in the Tullo district, Eastern Ethiopia.
MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 405 randomly selected adolescent high school students in the Tullo District, Eastern Ethiopia, from October 09–29, 2023. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized to collect the data. Epidata version 4.6 and SPSS Statistics version 27.0.1 were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the factors associated with breakfast consumption patterns. An adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to determine the strength of the association, and a p-value of 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance.
ResultNearly half, 46.2% (95% CI: 41.5, 51.4), of participants had irregular breakfast consumption (skipped). Being female (AOR = 5.28; 95% CI: 2.69, 10.36), family size of >5 (AOR = 4.76; 95% CI: 2.41, 9.36), being a rural resident (AOR = 3.34; 95% CI: 1.78, 6.25), no formal maternal education (AOR = 3.89; 95% CI: 2.09, 7.22), chewing khat (AOR = 3.13; 95% CI: 1.59, 6.16), cigarette smoking (AOR = 3.06; 95% CI: 1.02, 9.17), and eating disorders (AOR = 6.54; 95% CI: 2.19, 19.43) were significantly associated with irregular breakfast consumption patterns among adolescents.
ConclusionThe findings of this study showed that the prevalence of irregular breakfast consumption (breakfast skipping) among adolescent high school students was high. Being female, rural residency, no formal maternal education, current smoking of cigarettes, current khat chewing, and eating disorders were identified as factors associated with breakfast consumption patterns. Given that almost half of adolescents in Tullo District skip breakfast, several modifiable factors associated with this practice, focused interventions are essential.
To explore the prescribing practices and behaviours of Advanced Practice Nurses (APN) and pharmacist prescribers in Singapore, assess their confidence in key prescribing competencies, examine their use of information sources, and understand their views on the consequences of prescribing errors.
Cross-sectional national survey.
A census survey of all registered APN and pharmacist prescribers in Singapore was conducted from February to May 2024 using a validated 96-item instrument. The survey assessed prescribing practices, confidence in prescribing competencies, use of information sources, and prescribing safety. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis.
Ninety-one prescribers (54 APNs, 37 pharmacists) responded (32% response rate), most of whom worked in public medical/surgical settings. Prescribing comprised a median of 75% of their practice. Most time was spent prescribing continued medications, with less on initiating new medicines. Participants reported high confidence in communication, therapeutic partnerships, and working within professional standards. Greatest confidence was seen in educating patients, legal prescribing, and monitoring treatment response. Lower confidence was noted in complementary medicine-related tasks. Professional literature and colleagues were the most valued information sources. Most participants acknowledged the serious consequences of prescribing errors, though many believed such errors would likely be intercepted.
APNs and pharmacists demonstrate strong competencies in safe, holistic prescribing. However, cultural factors may limit patient engagement, highlighting the need to strengthen shared decision-making and collaborative practice.
Refining governance structures, adopting tiered prescriber autonomy, and enhancing training in complex prescribing are essential. Standardising deprescribing, improving access to decision-support tools, and promoting interprofessional collaboration and patient involvement can strengthen care quality and team-based delivery.
This study offers the first national insight into Singapore's Collaborative Prescribing Framework and informs training, policy, and workforce development for non-physician prescribers locally and in similar international contexts.
STROBE checklist.
This study did not include patient or public involvement in its design, conduct, or reporting.
Turnover intention among nurses is a well-established predictor of actual turnover. Despite the critical nursing shortages during COVID-19, the relative contributions of individual and organisational factors to increased turnover intention remain insufficiently understood.
This study aimed to identify the determinants of turnover intention among clinical nurses at both individual and organisational levels and to evaluate the independent effects of these factors in infectious situations.
This study conducted a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data collected in Hong Kong between April 2020 and September 2021.
A convenience sample of 188 Chinese registered nurses in Hong Kong was recruited. The survey assessed questions on demographic, organisational and workplace violence-related characteristics, the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version, the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory and the Anticipated Turnover Scale. Univariable and structured multi-phase linear regression analyses were performed to identify associated factors and to evaluate the influence of individual- and organisational-level factors. The study followed the STROBE checklist for reporting cross-sectional studies.
The regression model, incorporating individual- and organisational-level factors, explained 22.68% of the variance in turnover intention. Individual-level factors associated with increased turnover intention included younger age, high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms and low use of accommodation coping strategies. Organisational-level factors included exposure to workplace violence and insufficient support for reporting such incidents.
This study underscores the significance of minimising workplace violence and enhancing workplace safety, in addition to addressing individual-level factors, to reduce nurses' turnover intention—particularly in the context of future pandemics and epidemics.
These findings provide insights into the factors influencing clinical nurses' turnover intention, supporting the development and implementation of targeted clinical protocols and regulations to address modifiable factors and promote a sustainable nursing workforce.
No patient or public contribution.
To evaluate the effectiveness of multidisciplinary transitional care interventions on functional status, quality of life and readmission rates of stroke patients.
Quantitative systematic review and meta-analysis.
Studies with interventions to ease the hospital-to-home transition of stroke patients that were delivered by multidisciplinary teams consisting of registered healthcare professionals from at least two disciplines were included. Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used for quality appraisal.
Seven electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science) were searched for randomised controlled trials delivering transitional care interventions to hospitalised stroke patients.
Thirty-one randomised controlled trials were included in the final review. The studies featured multidisciplinary teams of two to nine professionals, most commonly nurses, physicians and physiotherapists. Although multidisciplinary care improved functional status and quality of life scores, the impact on readmission rates was inconclusive. Meta-analysis revealed significant improvements in functional status when care involved physicians, care coordinators (often nurses) or had teams of more than two healthcare professionals. Significant improvement in quality of life was also reported when care involved physicians or in teams with more than two healthcare professionals.
Multidisciplinary transitional care interventions show promise in improving functional status and quality of life after stroke. Their effectiveness depends on team composition and coordination, particularly the inclusion of physicians and care coordinators. Future research should address reporting gaps and evaluate broader strategies to reduce hospital readmissions.
Impact (Addressing)
What problem did the study address? ○
The effectiveness of multidisciplinary transitional care interventions for stroke patients.
○Evaluated the role of various healthcare professionals within these teams.
What were the main findings? ○
Multidisciplinary transitional care interventions significantly enhance stroke patients' functional status, especially within the first 3 months.
○Teams with care coordinators (often nurses) and supportive physicians improve functional outcomes, with effective communication being crucial despite underreporting of specific practices.
○Teams comprising of more than two health professionals can significantly improve stroke patients' functional status.
Where and on whom will the research have an impact? ○
Healthcare institutions and providers: The findings can guide healthcare institutions in developing and implementing effective transitional care services for stroke patients.
○Stroke patients: Patients receiving multidisciplinary transitional care are likely to experience enhanced functional recovery and improved ability to perform daily activities.
○Policymakers and researchers: The study highlights the need for more detailed reporting and research on communication practices within multidisciplinary teams and the importance of evaluating underreported outcomes like readmission rates.
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist.
No Patient or Public Contribution.
Falls are common causes of disability, reduced disability-adjusted life years and death in older adults. Balance deficits and cognitive impairment are common causes of falls. Dual-task training is a new strategy that can potentially improve balance and cognitive function, leading to decreased falls. The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of self-administered dual-task (sDT) training to improve balance and prevent falls is not known. We developed sDT training combining physical and cognitive tasks to improve balance and reduce falls. The proposed randomised controlled trial (RCT) with economic evaluation is to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the sDT compared with self-administered single-task training (sST) in this population.
In this RCT, we will recruit 190 community-dwelling older adults with a history of at least one fall over the last 6 months from 11 elderly centres. The older adults will be randomly assigned to the sDT (n=95) and sST groups (n=95). Each group will be offered in six training workshops to teach the participants either sDT or sST depending on the group allocation. Each workshop will last an hour and will be held once every 2 weeks for 3 months. Besides, the participants will be instructed to repeat the exercises at home two times weekly for 3 months. Following the intervention phase, the participants will continue unsupervised home-based exercises for 6 months. Assessments will be performed before, after and 6 months after completing the intervention. A fall calendar and cost diary will be provided to each older adult to record the number of falls and fall-related costs during and after the intervention to assess fall incidence and cost-effectiveness. Effectiveness will be assessed using a negative binomial regression model following the intention-to-treat principle for falls and a linear mixed model for the additional measure and cost-effectiveness using a Markov model.
This study has ethical approval from the PolyU Institutional Review Board for conducting research on human subjects (Ref: HSEARS20210322005). The results will be disseminated through seminars for individuals and health practitioners, international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.
The New York City (NYC) HIV Care Coordination Programme (CCP) is designed to help people with HIV (PWH) overcome barriers to care and treatment engagement. We assessed preferences for CCP components among programme enrollees (’clients’) and providers. Our objective is to compare client and provider preferences, which were previously analysed separately.
We used a discrete choice experiment to assess preferences for four CCP features (‘attributes’): Help with Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), Help with Primary Care Appointments, Help with Issues other than Primary Care and Where Programme Visits Happen. Each of these attributes had 3–4 variants (‘levels’). In the original surveys, levels within Where Programme Visits Happen varied by participant type (client vs provider). We recoded the levels by visit location (VL) or by travel time (TT) to make them comparable and report results from both approaches.
25 Ryan White Part A-funded NYC CCPs participated.
152 providers and 181 clients completed the survey.
Preferences were quantified using the relative importance of the attributes and utility of the levels.
From January 2020 to March 2021, 152 providers and 181 clients completed the survey. Most of the providers (52%) were
Client and provider preferences clearly diverged regarding CCP service intensity: in the aggregate, clients tended to prefer lower-intensity services, whereas providers endorsed higher-intensity services. These results highlight the importance of engaging clients as partners in decisions about programme services to facilitate alignment with client values.
To investigate the factors influencing turnover intention among nurses, and to examine the association between psychological distress and turnover intention across different types of workplace bullying exposure.
A cross-sectional study was conducted with 188 registered nurses in Hong Kong, recruited through convenience sampling. Data collection took place from April 2020 to September 2021. Quantile regression analysis, which captures relationships that may be overlooked by ordinary least squares regression, was employed to explore the factors influencing turnover intention varied across different levels. This analysis examined the associations between demographic and work-related characteristics, work events, work environment features, affective states and turnover intention across quantiles ranging from 0.05 to 0.95.
Quantile regression analysis revealed that only indirect or direct exposure to workplace bullying was positively associated with turnover intention at the 25th percentile, while both forms of exposure were significantly associated with turnover intention across all percentiles. The absence of workplace violence reporting procedures was positively associated with turnover intention at the highest quantile. Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with turnover intention at the 5th, 25th and 50th percentiles. Additionally, nurses exposed to both direct and indirect workplace bullying exhibited higher levels of psychological distress and turnover intention compared to those exposed to either form alone or those without exposure.
Exposure to workplace bullying, the absence of workplace violence reporting procedures, and depressive symptoms significantly contribute to turnover intention among nurses across different levels. To improve nurse retention and workforce sustainability, healthcare organisations should implement targeted interventions that address turnover risk at varying levels.
These findings underscore the need for healthcare organisations to develop and enforce strategies aimed at preventing workplace bullying, providing comprehensive mental health support and establishing effective reporting mechanisms for workplace violence.
No patient or public involvement.
To undertake a systematic review of the practice patterns and roles of advanced practice nurses (APNs) in inpatient and outpatient stroke-care services; and to evaluate the impact of APN-led inpatient and outpatient stroke-care services on clinical and patient-reported outcomes.
A mixed-methods systematic review.
A systematic search was conducted across six electronic databases for primary studies. Data were synthesised using a convergent integrated approach.
A systematic search was conducted across PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase, PsycInfo and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, for primary studies published between the inception of the databases and 3 November 2022.
Findings based on the 18 included primary studies indicate that the APNs' roles have been implemented across the continuum of stroke care, including pre-intervention care, inpatient care and post-discharge care. Practicing at an advanced level, the APNs engaged in clinical, operational and educational undertakings across services and disciplines. Positive clinical and patient-reported outcomes have been attributed to their practice.
The review highlights the critical role of APNs in improving stroke care, especially in the pre-intervention phase. Their clinical expertise, patient-centered approach and collaboration can transform stroke care. Integrating APNs into stroke care teams is essential for better management and outcomes in light of the increasing stroke burden.
Healthcare institutions should integrate APNs to enhance pre-intervention stroke care, improve diagnostic accuracy and expedite treatment. APNs can prioritise patient-centric care, including assessments, coordination and education. Medication reconciliation, timely rehabilitation referrals and lifestyle modifications for secondary stroke prevention are crucial. Implementing advanced practice nursing frameworks ensures successful APN integration, leading to improved stroke care and better patient outcomes in response to the growing stroke burden.
What problem did the study address? Poor clarity of the role of advanced practice nurses among patients, physicians, healthcare professionals, health policymakers and nurses.
What were the main findings? Advanced practice nurses practise across the continuum of stroke care, mainly in pre-intervention care which takes place before initiating treatment, inpatient care and post-discharge care. The implementation of the advanced practice nurse role in stroke care has contributed positively to clinical and patient-reported outcomes.
Where and on whom will the research have an impact? Insights from the review are envisioned to inform healthcare policymakers and leaders in the implementation and evaluation of the APN role in stroke care.
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
No Patient or Public Contribution.
https://figshare.com/ndownloader/files/41606781; Registered on Open Science Framework osf.io/dav8j.
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