The journal of nursing research : JNR最新文献

Background: Falls are the most frequent accident experienced by inpatients in hospitals. As falls affect patient outcomes, high fall risk factors should be studied to prevent falls and improve patient safety. However, the relationship between hospital unit characteristics and fall risk has never been assessed.

Purpose: This study was designed to identify the unit characteristics significantly related to fall risk.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on the medical records of patients hospitalized in a Japanese academic hospital between 2018 and 2019. This study quantified unit activities and utilized Diagnosis Procedure Combination data to examine unit characteristics related to falls based on unit day.

Results: Data on 16,307 patients were included in the analysis, and 355 unit days were certified as fall events. Based on patient condition and medical treatment, the results identified antineoplastic injections, radiation therapy, aseptic treatment room, and functional status of partly assisted transfers, meals, and oral care as unit characteristics associated with increased fall events. Decreased nursing time per patient at night (odds ratio [OR] = 0.75, p = .04) and higher numbers of partially assisted transfer patients were also identified as unit characteristics associated with higher fall incidence rates (OR = 5.56, p = .01).

Conclusions: The results of this study are expected to assist nurses to predict falls based on unit characteristics; reducing nursing time in the units was found to be a factor associated with higher fall risk. Nurse managers must understand the unit-related fall risk factors, appropriately assign nurse staffing numbers, and demonstrate nursing leadership to prevent falls in their units.

Background: The prevalence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in Taiwan is among the highest in the world. Although kidney transplant is the most effective treatment for ESRD, the willingness of patients with ESRD to undergo kidney transplantation is low in Taiwan. The factors associated with willingness to accept kidney transplantation remain unclear, and studies on kidney transplant willingness and associated factors among Taiwanese patients with ESRD are scarce.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess willingness to undergo a kidney transplant and related factors among patients with ESRD in Taiwan.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was employed. Two hundred fourteen participants from a single medical center in Taiwan were recruited, and 209 valid questionnaires were collected (valid response rate: 97.7%). The study instruments included a kidney transplant knowledge scale, a kidney transplant attitude scale, and a kidney transplant willingness scale. Data were analyzed using Pearson's product-moment correlations, t tests, one-way analyses of variance, and multiple regressions.

Results: The mean kidney transplant willingness in the sample was 13.23 (out of 20). Being male, younger, married, or employed; having a college education or above; and having a shorter dialysis duration were all associated with higher kidney transplant willingness. Sociodemographics, dialysis duration, knowledge, and attitudes explained 45.4% of the variance in kidney transplant willingness, with two of these, kidney transplant attitudes (β = .61, p < .001) and dialysis duration (β = -.11, p = .041), identified as significant.

Conclusions/implications for practice: The findings support the important role of cultivating positive attitudes in patients with ESRD to increasing willingness to undergo kidney transplantation interventions.

Background: Sarcopenia, prevalent in patients with cancer, negatively affects quality of life. However, generic tools are unable to capture the minor effects of sarcopenia on quality of life. The short-form version of the Sarcopenia Quality of Life (SF-SarQoL) questionnaire was developed as an efficient tool to assess the impact of sarcopenia on quality of life in older adults. However, its clinimetric properties in patients with cancer remain unknown.

Purpose: This study was designed to examine the clinimetric properties of the Chinese SF-SarQoL in patients with colorectal cancer, particularly with regard to its ability to detect changes in quality of life.

Methods: A longitudinal survey was conducted using the SF-SarQoL and other questionnaires on 408 patients with colorectal cancer planning to undergo surgery. Follow-up was subsequently conducted on 341 of these patients 1 month after surgery. The clinimetric properties of the SF-SarQoL were examined, including reliability (internal consistency), validity (construct validity, concurrent validity), sensitivity (ability to detect changes, discriminative ability), and floor and ceiling effects.

Results: The internal consistency of the SF-SarQoL was found to be acceptable (Cronbach's alpha = .94 and McDonald's omega = .94). Strong scalability of the total score and each item was confirmed using Mokken analysis. Concurrent validity analyses indicate the SF-SarQoL is significantly correlated with muscle-related and health-related questionnaire scores. The SF-SarQoL showed adequate sensitivity due to its good ability to detect changes in quality of life with a moderate effect size (Cohen's d = 0.56) and discriminate between sarcopenic and nonsarcopenic patients (area under the curve = 0.73, 95% CI [0.66, 0.79]) using receiver operating characteristic curve analyses. No floor or ceiling effects were observed.

Conclusions: The Chinese SF-SarQoL exhibits good clinimetric properties in preoperative patients with colorectal cancer and is sufficiently sensitive to capture changes in quality of life after surgery.

Background: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS), a global surgical quality improvement initiative, reduces the length of stay in the hospital. Temporary stoma care for rectal cancer is complex, and patients require prolonged care services to adjust to the stoma. The shorter stay durations in the new model challenge the conventional care pathways and create new patient needs.

Purpose: This study was designed to explore the supportive care needs of patients under the new surgical model to provide a reference for the design of ERAS nursing care plans.

Methods: A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was used in this study. Patients with temporary stomas for rectal cancer were recruited using a convenience sampling method in gastrointestinal surgery wards and wound & stoma clinics in two public tertiary care hospitals in China. Standardized questionnaires were administered to 140 patients to collect quantitative data, and semistructured interviews were conducted individually with 13 patients to collect qualitative data. The questionnaire data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and the interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: "Health system and information needs" and "care and support needs" were identified in both the qualitative and quantitative analyses as the most significant unmet needs of the participants. In addition, the qualitative analysis identified receiving focused stoma care instructions and easily understandable information as essential to fulfilling health system and information needs. Care and support needs included access to continued postdischarge services and attention from medical professionals.

Conclusion/implications for practice: The participants in this study experienced a variety of unmet supportive care needs under the ERAS protocol, with gaps particularly notable in two categories: "health system and information needs" and "care and support needs." Increased perioperative care and shorter hospital stays under the ERAS protocol reduce opportunities for patients to receive targeted instruction and shift much of the ostomy education and care workload out of the hospital, requiring greater attention from clinical nurses to ensure quality of care.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) refers to permanent damage to the kidneys that occurs gradually over time. Further progression may be preventable depending on its stage.

Purpose: This study was developed to evaluate the effect of a health literacy education program (HLEP) on mental health and renal functioning in patients with CKD.

Methods: A single-blind, randomized controlled trial study was conducted. Data were collected from March 25 to December 18, 2021. Participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 42), which received multidisciplinary care and HLEP, or the control group (n = 42), which received multidisciplinary care only. Data were collected at baseline (T1), Month 3 (T2), and Month 6 (T3), and the data included patient characteristics, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and responses to the Mandarin Multidimensional Health Literacy Questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory.

Results: After 6 months of the HLEP intervention, the results of generalized estimating equations analysis showed that, compared with the control group, the experimental group had significantly higher health literacy at Month 3 (β = -3.37, 95% CI [-5.68, -1.06]), significantly improved depression at Month 3 (β = -2.24, 95% CI [-4.11, -0.37]) and Month 6 (β = -4.36, 95% CI [-6.60, -2.12]), and a significantly higher estimated glomerular filtration rate at Month 6 (β = 5.87, 95% CI [1.35, 10.38]).

Conclusions/implications for practice: The findings of this study may provide a reference for healthcare providers to educate patients with Stage 3-4 CKD using the HLEP. Positive effects on health literacy, depression, and renal function in patients with Stage 3-4 CKD were observed in the short term. Findings from this study may facilitate the implementation of multidisciplinary and nurse-led strategies in primary care to reinforce patients' health literacy, self-care ability, and adjustment to CKD as well as delay disease progression.

Background: Genitourinary syndrome is commonly reported in postmenopausal women. Kegel's exercise is a noninvasive therapy that improves pelvic floor muscle parameters. However, the effect of Kegel's exercise on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in postmenopausal women with genitourinary syndrome has not been synthesized or shown.

Purpose: This study was designed to systematically review and analyze the previous literature to determine whether Kegel's exercise enhances HRQoL in postmenopausal women with genitourinary syndrome of menopause.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was conducted, and six databases were searched, including Embase, MEDLINE, Cochrane, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus, from their dates of inception to November 2021. Eligible studies evaluated the effects of Kegel's exercise on HRQoL in postmenopausal women with urinary, sexual, or genital symptoms. Review Manager software was used to perform the meta-analysis using a random-effects model. Chi-square and I2 tests were used to evaluate heterogeneity among the studies. Meta-analysis was performed based on the symptoms (i.e., urinary, sexual, and genital) identified in the quality-of-life questionnaires.

Results: This systematic review covered five studies with 268 participants. The research appraisal found most of these studies had a low risk of bias. The intervention periods ranged from 4 to 12 weeks. Compared with non-Kegel's exercise or regular activity, Kegel's exercise was found to significantly improve HRQoL-related urinary symptoms (three studies, standardized mean difference = -0.95, 95% CI [-1.35, -0.54], I2 = 0%). However, the effect of this exercise on HRQoL-related sexual symptoms did not differ from non-Kegel's exercise or regular activity (two studies, standardized mean difference = 1.11, 95% CI [-0.25, 2.47], I2 = 94%). None of the covered studies examined the effect of Kegel's exercise on HRQoL-related genital symptoms.

Conclusions/implications for practice: Kegel's exercise is an effective intervention for improving HRQoL-related urinary symptoms in postmenopausal women. However, there remains insufficient evidence to assess the effectiveness of Kegel's exercise on HRQoL-related genital symptoms in this population. The results support using Kegel's exercise as a useful intervention to manage urinary symptoms in postmenopausal women.

Background: Poor functional status relating to heart failure (HF) negatively affects health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Patients with HF, especially those with New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III or IV HF, often exhibit poor HRQOL because of physical limitations and HF-related symptoms. Although sense of coherence (SOC) has been reported to be a determinant of HRQOL, its role as a mediator between functional status and HRQOL remains unclear, and few studies have explored the prevalence of HF in patients in NYHA Classes I and II.

Purpose: This study was designed to investigate SOC as a mediator between different functional status classes and HRQOL in patients with HF.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with HF recruited from a hospital in northern Taiwan from April 2020 to September 2020. The Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire and a questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics; functional classification in terms of NYHA Classes I, II, and III; and SOC were administered. The PROCESS v3.5 (by Andrew F. Hayes) macro was applied to analyze the effects, and Model 4 was used to examine the mediating role of SOC on the relationship between NYHA functional class and HRQOL.

Results: Of the 295 participants, SOC was found to mediate the effects of functional status on HRQOL more significantly in patients in Class II than those in Class III but not more significantly in patients in Class I than those in Class III. A weaker mediating effect of SOC was noted on the relationship between functional status and HRQOL in patients with HF in NYHA Class II than those in Class III.

Conclusions: In patients with HF, poor functional status often reduces HRQOL significantly. SOC mediates the relationship between functional status and HRQOL more significantly in those in NYHA Class II than those in Class III. Nursing staff should work to increase patients' SOC by strengthening their coping capacity and improving their functional status to improve their HRQOL.

Background: Disaster nursing deploys professional nursing knowledge and skills systematically to reduce disaster-related risks to life and health. Disaster nursing education requires providing simulations using standardized patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop, based on the International Council of Nurses' Framework of Disaster Nursing Competencies, a simulation-based disaster nursing education program for nursing students that employed standardized patients.

Methods: A nonequivalent, control group, pretest-and-posttest design was used. Participants were senior nursing students from two universities, with 70 assigned to the experimental group, 35 assigned to the comparison group, and 35 assigned to the control group. Data were collected from January 25 to April 3, 2019. The simulation-based disaster nursing education program consisted of a 60-minute theoretical lecture on disaster management and two scenarios. The effectiveness of the simulation-based disaster nursing education program was measured using levels of disaster nursing competencies, disaster triage competency, disaster preparedness, critical thinking disposition, and confidence in disaster nursing.

Results: Significant differences were found between the experimental and comparison/control groups in terms of disaster nursing competencies ( F = 20.06, p < .001), nursing triage ( F = 17.35, p < .001), disaster preparedness ( F = 60.37, p < .001), critical thinking disposition ( F = 19.63, p < .001), and confidence in disaster nursing ( F = 20.24, p < .001).

Conclusions: Simulation-based disaster nursing education programs using standardized patients can be useful in disaster nursing education. They can contribute to future changes in nursing education and practice by improving the disaster nursing capabilities and preparedness of students.