Aim: This study assessed the effects of hand-bathing on sympathetic nervous activity exacerbated by psychological stress. Participants immersed one hand in warm water for 2 min while exposed to noise, and changes in blood flow and skin temperature of the non-immersed hand were observed.
Methods: Twenty-nine healthy university students aged 20 years or older were randomly assigned to either the hand-bathing group (n = 14) or the control group (n = 15). After a brief rest in a quiet environment, participants were exposed to noise for 6 min. Those in the hand-bathing group submerged their left hand in a 40°C thermostatic bath for 2 min, starting 2 min into the noise exposure. The tympanic temperature, blood flow, and skin temperature of the non-immersed hand were continuously measured, along with blood pressure and subjective evaluations before and after the noise exposure.
Results: Both groups experienced a decrease in fingertip skin temperature at the start of the noise exposure, persisting longer in the control group. Conversely, the hand-bathing group showed increased fingertip skin temperature after 150 s, significantly higher after the noise exposure than the control group (p = .04). Participants in the hand-bathing group reported significantly increased overall body warmth, thermal comfort, and relaxation during hand-bathing (p = .007, p = .01, p < .001).
Conclusions: The 2-min hand-bathing intervention reversed the pronounced vasoconstrictive response induced by noise exposure and elicited heightened sensations of overall body warmth, thermal comfort, and relaxation. Hand-bathing may mitigate heightened sympathetic nervous activity associated with psychological stress induced by noise exposure.
Aim: We aimed to examine the mediating effects of the Sense of Coherence (SOC) on the relationship between stress and sleep in nurses during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey targeting nurses in Chiba and Tokyo during the summer of 2021 was conducted using Google Forms. Responses were obtained using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the 13-item version of the SOC scale (SOC-13), and questions regarding COVID-19-related stress. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to investigate relevant relationships.
Results: A total of 181 valid responses were obtained from 400 surveyed nurses. SEM analysis showed that COVID-19 stress was indirectly related to PSQI via its effect on SOC-13, with higher SOC-13 negatively correlated with PSQI.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest the need for interventions designed to promote SOC for nurses working under stressful conditions.
Aims: To develop a scale to assess difficulties that nurses experience when collaborating with physicians in responding to clinical deterioration during night shifts and identify factors associated with scoring using the developed scale.
Methods: A web-based questionnaire with a draft scale, the Nighttime Collaboration Difficulties between Nurses and Physicians for Nurses (NCDNP-N), was distributed to nurses working night shifts in acute-care hospitals across Japan. Data were collected between July and October 2023. Of 435 responses, 405 were examined for the NCDNP-N's psychometric validation, including structural validity, criterion-related validity, and reliability assessments. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed for 385 responses excluded by listwise methods to identify factors associated with NCDNP-N scores.
Results: The NCDNP-N has 10 items and three domains: Domain 1, dissatisfaction with physicians' actions; Domain 2, burden of working with night-shift physicians; and Domain 3, barriers to reporting during night shifts. Estimated reliability coefficients exceeded the recommended values. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that more years of experience in the current ward and frequency of calling the covering physician at night were markedly associated with higher scores, whereas more nursing experience was associated with lower scores.
Conclusion: We developed the NCDNP-N and confirmed its validity and reliability. The study results suggest that the responsibilities and competence of nurses working night shifts and communication with the night-covering physician are associated with difficulties in nighttime collaboration. The NCDNP-N may help identify challenges in clinical settings as well as can be utilized in the evaluation study for improving nighttime collaboration.
Aim: To explore patients' process of living with chronic liver disease while continuing regular healthcare visits for hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance.
Methods: Semistructured interviews and participant observations were conducted in this qualitative constructivist grounded theory study. The participants included 11 patients undergoing regular hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance every 1-6 months for 2-30 years. Data were analyzed using coding, memo-writing, theoretical sampling, and constant comparison.
Results: The participants incorporated regular healthcare visits into their living cycle. The cycle's core comprised two categories ("inferring my liver condition" and "desiring status quo"). The cycle underwent a transition described by three phases ("seeking ways to live with my chronic liver disease," "being overwhelmed by living with my chronic liver disease," and "reconstructing my life to live with my chronic liver disease"). This transition involved adjusting to living with chronic liver disease while continuing regular healthcare visits. The relative importance of the cycle's core progressively shifted from "inferring my liver condition" to "desiring status quo."
Conclusions: This study revealed the transition phases of patients' living cycles in adjusting to living with chronic liver disease while continuing regular healthcare visits. Understanding the different phases in which patients are and the psychological impact of healthcare visits can help them look forward to recuperative actions. Furthermore, patients who have a sense of ownership experience loneliness because of regular healthcare visits. A support system including nurses as part of regular hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance should be established to help ease patients' sense of loneliness by utilizing their sense of ownership.
Background: Current research separately analyzed the connection between postpartum depression, fatigue, sleep and infant development. However, depression, fatigue and sleep quality often coexisted as adverse symptoms in postpartum women and influenced infant development together. This study explored the maternal postpartum symptoms on infant growth.
Methods: Our study included 224 pairs of singleton full-term mothers and their infants who underwent routine pediatric outpatient clinics. Latent profile analysis was applied to identify the latent classes based on mothers' postpartum depression, fatigue and sleep profile characteristics. We evaluated the maternal adverse symptoms and infant development using multivariable logistic regressions.
Results: Totally, 224 pairs of eligible mothers (28.85 ± 4.43 years) and infants (30.93 ± 3.26 days) participated in this study. Latent profile analysis identified 3 latent groups: mild (58.04%), moderate (34.37%), and severe (7.59%) postpartum adverse symptoms. Postpartum adverse symptoms were associated with delayed development in the baby's motor level (χ2 = 6.572, p = .037) and weight-for-length (χ2 = 9.652, p = .008). After controlling for mother and infant related factors, postpartum adverse symptoms remained a risk factor for infant motor level (odds ratio [OR]: 4.35; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25-15.08) and weight-for-length (OR: 5.53; 95% CI: 1.55-19.74).
Conclusions: Maternal postpartum depression, fatigue and sleep quality are associated with infant development. Clinically, mothers with these symptoms should be intervened timely to avoid the aggravation of maternal symptoms, which affect baby's development.
Aim: This study aimed to investigate the relationships among factors affecting compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and compassion satisfaction in Japanese nurses, focusing on self-compassion, fears of compassion, and attachment styles.
Methods: This cross-sectional observational study enrolled 400 clinical nurses (aged ≥20 years) in Japan, registered with an online survey company, from June 6 to June 26, 2021. The subjects completed a web-based questionnaire that assessed compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress, burnout, compassion satisfaction, self-compassion, fears of compassion for self, anxiety, and avoidance. Additionally, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis and path analysis were performed to examine the relationships among the influencing factors.
Results: Compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress was influenced by anxiety and fears of compassion for self (R2 = .31). Burnout was affected by compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress, compassion satisfaction, self-compassion, anxiety, and avoidance (R2 = .63). Compassion satisfaction was impacted by self-compassion, anxiety, and fears of compassion for self (R2 = .31). Additionally, self-compassion (R2 = .28) and fears of compassion for self (R2 = .55) were influenced by anxiety and avoidance.
Conclusions: Compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress leads to burnout, whereas compassion satisfaction moderates burnout. Furthermore, there were associations among the factors leading to compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress and burnout and compassion satisfaction. Therefore, an approach that enhances self-compassion and promotes the development of a stable attachment style could mitigate compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress and fears of compassion for self while moderately maintaining and improving compassion satisfaction.