Psychiatric Clinical Placement Upon Nursing Students Perceived Knowledge in Caring for Mentally Ill

Background: The implementation of a psychiatric clinical placement has been an integral component in Indonesia Nursing Academies. Purpose: The research was to investigate how nursing students\u27 perceived knowledge in caring for mentally ill patients as a result of their psychiatric clinical placement. Method: A descriptive survey design commonly called non-experimental design was used in this research. Students, who had completed two weeks in a psychiatric clinical placement as a component of mental health nursing subject, were invited to participate. Then, a questionnaire was distributed to nursing students (N=40), giving an overall responses rate of 85 %. Result: The finding revealed that as a result of clinical placement, the majority of nursing students had better perceived knowledge regarding the concept of mental health and mental illness, nursing care plan, medication and providing education towards patient and people in community about mental health. Conclusion: The findings provide evidence for the benefits of such a clinical placement in relation to students\u27 perceived knowledge in caring for psychiatric patients

Implementation of non-invasive prenatal testing by semiconductor sequencing in a genetic laboratory

Objectives: To implement non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for fetal aneuploidies with semiconductor sequencing in an academic cytogenomic laboratory and to evaluate the first 15-month experience on clinical samples. Methods: We validated a NIPT protocol for cell-free fetal DNA sequencing from maternal plasma for the detection of trisomy 13, 18 and 21 on a semiconductor sequencing instrument. Fetal DNA fraction calculation for all samples and several quality parameters were implemented in the workflow. One thousand eighty-one clinical NIPT samples were analysed, following the described protocol. Results: Non-invasive prenatal testing was successfully implemented and validated on 201 normal and 74 aneuploid samples. From 1081 clinical samples, 17 samples showed an abnormal result: 14 trisomy 21 samples, one trisomy 18 and one trisomy 16 were detected. Also a maternal copy number variation on chromosome 13 was observed, which could potentially lead to a false positive trisomy 13 result. One sex discordant result was reported, possibly attributable to a vanishing twin. Moreover, our combined fetal fraction calculation enabled a more reliable risk estimate for trisomy 13, 18 and 21. Conclusions: Non-invasive prenatal testing for trisomy 21, 18 and 13 has a very high specificity and sensitivity. Because of several biological phenomena, diagnostic invasive confirmation of abnormal results remains required

Meanings and Expressions of Caring Among Nurses in Clinical Workplace: a Literature Review

Background: Research shows that nurse retention is high as a result of a stressful work environment coupled with inadequate support in clinical workplace. Caring among nurses is therefore crucial in enhanced and enriched the working environment that helps increase nurse's satisfaction and retention in the profession.Purpose: To explore the meanings and expressions of caring among nurses in clinical workplace.Methods: Literature review of existing articles on electronic databases was conducted. The meanings and expressions of caring among nurses were identified. The year of publication ranged from 2000-2012.Result: Based on inclusion criteria, 10 articles reviewed were included. There was very limited result describing meanings of caring among nurses. However, caring expressions had been identified and categorized into personal and professional levels. There were some common themes such as caring through helping and support, caring through appreciating, and acknowledging unappreciated caring.Conclusion: Caring among nurses is very important to keep nurses emerged and able to work more effectively. However, caring varies within cultures and there are still limited studies among nurses in nonwestern society. Therefore, further research is needed to describe meanings and expressions of caring in clinical workplace that is beneficial in enhancing caring environment, increasing nurse's satisfaction and nurse retention

The Master Observational Trial: A New Class of Master Protocol to Advance Precision Medicine.

This commentary introduces a new clinical trial construct, the Master Observational Trial (MOT), which hybridizes the power of molecularly based master interventional protocols with the breadth of real-world data. The MOT provides a clinical venue to allow molecular medicine to rapidly advance, answers questions that traditional interventional trials generally do not address, and seamlessly integrates with interventional trials in both diagnostic and therapeutic arenas. The result is a more comprehensive data collection ecosystem in precision medicine

Postoperative low dose CT assessment of interbody fusion two years after thoracoscopic scoliosis surgery

The relationship between radiologic union and clinical outcomes in thoracoscopic scoliosis surgery is not clear, as apparent non-union of a spinal fusion does not always correspond to a poor clinical result. The aim of this study was to evaluate for the first time the interbody fusion rates using low dose CT scans at minimum 24 months after thoracoscopic scoliosis surgery, and to explore the relationship between fusion scores and; (i) rod diameter, (ii) graft type, (iii) fusion level, (iv) implant failure, and (v) lateral position in the disc space. The study found that moderate fusion scores on the Sucato scale secure successful clinical outcomes in thoracoscopic scoliosis surgery

The Lessons of Meta-Analysis: Does Group Counseling with Children and Adolescents Make a Difference?

Carey and Dimmitt present a brief overview and analysis of the article, Evaluating the effectiveness of child and adolescent group treatment: A meta-analytic review, originally published in Journal of Clinical Child Psychology. The authors present a summary of the key components of the article including the introduction, method and results of the study. They offer an additional analysis of implications for future practice, including a discussion of the positive outcomes that result from group counseling, both in clinical and school settings

Adaptive clinical trials incorporating treatment selection and evaluation: methodology and application in progressive multiple sclerosis

In progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) irreversible disability often takes many years to accumulate as a result prolonged trials are required to assess the benefits of therapies. There is a need to understand the relationship between short-term outcome measures such as MRI endpoints and long-term clinical outcomes in progression to determine the evolution of the disease early on. Thus, the common phase I-II-III paradigm for clinical trial design with separate trials for each phase may not be appropriate

Standardization as situation-specific achievement: regulatory diversity and the production of value in intercontinental collaborations in stem cell medicine

The article examines the role and challenges of scientific self-governance and standardization in inter-continental clinical research partnerships in stem cell medicine. The paper shows that – due to a high level of regulatory diversity – the enactment of internationally recognized standards in multi-country stem cell trials is a complex and highly situation-specific achievement. Standardization is imposed on a background of regulatory, institutional and epistemic-cultural heterogeneity, and implemented exclusively in the context of select clinical projects. Based on ethnographic data from the first trans-continental clinical trial infrastructure in stem cell medicine between China and the USA, the article demonstrates that locally evolved and international forms of experimental clinical research practices often co-exist in the same medical institutions. Researchers switch back and forth between these schemas, depending on the purposes of their research, the partners they work with, the geographic scale of research projects, and the contrasting demands for regulatory review, that result from these differences. Drawing on Birch’s analysis of the role of standardization in international forms of capital production in the biosciences, the article argues that the integration of local knowledge institutions into the global bioeconomy does not necessarily result in the shutting down of localized forms of value production. In emerging fields of medical research, that are regulated in highly divergent ways across geographical regions, the coexistence of distinct modes of clinical translation allows also for the production of multiple forms of economic value, at varying spatial scales. This is especially so in countries with lenient regulations. As this paper shows, the long-standing absence of a regulatory framework for clinical stem cell applications in China, permits the situation-specific adoption of internationally recognized standards in some contexts, while enabling the continuation of localized forms of value production in others

Vision-related symptoms as a clinical feature of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis? Evidence from the DePaul Symptom Questionnaire

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is a debilitating disorder, affecting at least 250,000 people in the UK. Marked by debilitating fatigue, its aetiology is poorly understood and diagnosis controversial. A number of symptoms overlap with other illnesses with the result that CFS/ME is commonly misdiagnosed. It is important therefore that significant clinical features are investigated. People diagnosed with CFS/ME consistently report that they experience vision-related symptoms associated with their illness1-3 with some of these reports being verified experimentally. Although vision-related symptoms may represent a significant clinical feature of CFS/ME that could be useful in its diagnosis, they have yet to be included in clinical guidelines