Social media and nurse education: an integrative reviewof the literature

Introduction. The exponential advance of social media has touched all areas of society, no exception for the professional and personal lives of healthcare people. The issue to be considered is not whether or not social media are being used, but how they are used. The line between proper and improper use, and even abuse, of social media is a subtle one. Thus, the key issue is to be aware of the tool that is being used and this should be supported with suitable training for healthcare professionals and, at an even earlier stage, for students at healthcare training institutions during their studies. Objective. To describe, through an integrative review of the literature, the use of social media by teachers and students during teaching activity and practical training courses. Materials and methods. An integrative review of the literature was conducted in October 2014. The literature search was performed by consulting the main biomedical databases: PubMed, CINAHL and Embase. Results. The literature search brought up a total of 854 citations. 804 abstracts were excluded as they were not relevant. Of the remaining 50, 31 were excluded for not meeting the general criteria and, hence, only 19 articles were included. Two aspects emerged from the works selected: the use and potential of social media in nursing education and the ethical and professional implications of their use. Conclusions. The analysis of the literature reveals two areas for further investigation: evaluating the level of moral awareness in nursing education with regards to the use of Web 2.0 communication tools and implementing teaching methods to promote the construction and development of moral reasoning in professionals

Caratterizzazione di antenna a 22 GHz presso il laboratorio microonde dell’ISCTI

Il Laboratorio Microonde dell’Istituto Superiore delle Comunicazioni e delle Tecnologie dell’Informazione esegue misurazioni su apparati e componenti operanti fino alle frequenze delle onde millimetriche. Il campo delle applicazioni comprende anche la caratterizzazione di alcuni parametri delle antenne ed in questo articolo vengono esposti i risultati ottenuti su di un’antenna paraboloidica offset destinata ad uno spettrometro per il monitoraggio del vapor d’acqua nella media atmosfera in sviluppo presso i laboratori dell’Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia di Roma

Quality improvement interventions to prevent the use of hospital services among nursing home residents: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction: Quality improvement interventions are a promising strategy for reducing hospital services use among nursing home residents. However, evidence for their effectiveness is limited. It is unclear which characteristics of the quality improvement intervention and activities planned to facilitate implementation may promote fidelity to organisational and system changes. This systematic review and meta-analysis will assess the effectiveness of quality improvement interventions and implementation strategies aimed at reducing hospital services use among nursing home residents. Methods and analysis: The MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase and Web of Science databases will be comprehensively searched in September 2023. The eligible studies should focus on the implementation of a quality improvement intervention defined as the systematic, continuous approach that designs, tests and implements changes using real-time measurement to reduce hospitalisations or emergency department visits among long-stay nursing home residents. Quality improvement details and implementation strategies will be deductively categorised into effective practice and organisation of care taxonomy domains for delivery arrangements and implementation strategies. Quality and bias assessments will be completed using the Quality Improvement Minimum Quality Criteria Set and the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tools.The results will be pooled in a meta-analysis, by combining the natural logarithms of the rate ratios across the studies or by calculating the rate ratio using the generic inverse-variance method. Heterogeneity will be assessed using the I2 or H2 statistics if the number of included studies will be less than 10. Raw data will be requested from the authors, as required. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required. The results will be published in a peer-review journal and presented at (inter)national conferences. Prospero registration number: CRD42022364195

Communication with the public in the health-care system: a descriptive study of the use of social media in Local Health Authorities and public hospitals in Italy

Introduction. In 2010 the Italian Ministry of Health set out recommendations for the use of social technology and Web 2.0, inviting organisations within the Italian national health service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, SSN) to equip themselves with instruments. Objectives. 1. to ascertain how many local health authorities (Aziende Sanitarie Locali, ASL) and public hospitals have a presence on the most widely used social media websites in Italy: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube; 2. to find out how well the Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages of ASLs and public hospitals are known among the general population; 3. to find out how ASLs and public hospitals engage with the general public on social media sites. Materials and methods. The websites of all ASLs and public hospitals across the country were visited to look for the icons of the social media sites under examination. The data considered were publicly available upon access. Results. A total of 245 websites were analysed. 7.34% ASLs and hospitals had social media accounts. 8 organisations had an account on all three of the social media sites considered in the study. Conclusions. The results show a low presence of ASLs and hospitals on social media. Other studies are needed in this field

Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of nurse’s role in primary care settings: an integrative review

Background: The rapid evolution of the epidemiological picture and the recent SARS-COV-2 pandemic has expressed the vulnerabilities of health systems and focuses attention on the population’s needs. The nurse’s figure in the care teams is universally identified; however, the implementation of the role within some care settings turns out to be complex and challenging. This integrative review aims to identify the barriers and facilitators in implementing the role of the nurse in primary care settings. Methods: An integrative review was conducted on the Medline and Cinahl databases until 9 June 2020. Qualitative, quantitative, and Mixed-method research studies were selected to identify studies related to the barriers and facilitators of the nurse’s role in nursing facilities’ primary care. For the extraction of the results, the Consolidating Framework for Research Implementation (CFIR) was used to identify the factors that influence implementation in health care. Results: Following the duplicates’ removal, the search identified 18,257 articles, of which 56 were relevant to the inclusion criteria; therefore, they were included in the summary. The selected studies were conducted in thirteen countries, most from Oceania, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The barriers reported most frequently concern the nursing profession’s regulatory and regulatory aspects within the contexts of care, cultural and organizational aspects, training, and the transfer of specific skills, which were previously designated to doctors. The facilitators are mainly linked to the nurse’s adaptability to the various contexts of care, recognizing the patient’s role, and the desire to develop multidisciplinary and effective working groups to respond to the health needs of the population in primary care contexts. Conclusion: This review highlighted the main barriers and facilitators in implementing the nurse’s role in primary care settings. These results offer useful elements for stakeholders to identify effective strategies in preparing programs and activities for implementing the nurse’s role, acting on the elements identified as barriers and favouring the aspects that emerge as facilitators

Hospital Discharge: Results From an Italian Multicenter Prospective Study Using Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score

PURPOSE:To analyze the predictive validity and reliability of the Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score (BRASS) Index in a large group of patients. METHODS: Prospective multicenter observational study was conducted in six Italian hospitals. Data were collected in three phases. FINDINGS: Seven hundred eleven patients were recruited. The mean length of hospitalization for low-risk patients was significantly shorter than those in the medium and high-risk groups. Patients with a BRASS Index lower than 10, unlike those with a higher BRASS Index, were mainly discharged home. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the BRASS Index is useful to identify patients at risk for prolonged hospitalization. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The use of a validated BRASS instrument can be useful to screen the patients, improving individual discharge planning

CONTROLE SOCIAL E PENAL DE ADOLESCENTES NO BRASIL E NOS EUA

O objetivo deste artigo é refletir sobre o controle social e penal de adolescentes em conflito com a lei no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos da América – EUA. A pesquisa é de natureza bibliográfica e documental, pautada em autores das ciências sociais e criminológicas que estudam o tema e em dados quantitativos oficiais sobre as respectivas populações de adolescentes em conflito com a lei, em ambos os países. Os resultados apontam para um entrelaçamento das ações de controle social e penal tanto nos EUA como no Brasil, dando-se ênfase ao caráter punitivo, em detrimento da educação e proteção. Verificou-se que há um padrão seletivo no exercício do controle social e penal, que leva em consideração a questão étnico-racial e social

Tuberculous meningitis in HIV-infected patients in Brazil: clinical and laboratory characteristics and factors associated with mortality

Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is a growing problem in HIV-infected patients in developing countries, where there is scarce data about this co-infection. Our objectives were to analyze the main features and outcomes of HIV-infected patients with TBM. Methods This was a retrospective study of HIV-infected Brazilian patients admitted consecutively for TBM. All patients had Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Presenting clinical and laboratory features were studied. Multivariate analysis was used to identify variables associated with death during hospitalization and at 9 months after diagnosis. Survival was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Results We included 108 cases (median age 36 years, 72% male). Only 15% had fever, headache, and meningeal signs simultaneously. Forty-eight percent had extrameningeal tuberculosis. The median CD4+ cell count was 65 cells/μl. Among 90 cases, 7% had primary resistance to isoniazid and 9% presented multidrug-resistant strains. The overall mortality during hospitalization was 29% and at 9 months was 41%. Tachycardia and prior highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) were associated with 9-month mortality. The 9-month survival rate was 22% (95% confidence interval 12–43%). Conclusions Clinical and laboratory manifestations were unspecific. Disseminated tuberculosis and severe immunosuppression were common. Mortality was high and the 9-month survival rate was low. Tachycardia and prior HAART were associated with death within 9 months of diagnosis147e586e59

The family and community nurses cultural model in the times of the COVID outbreak: A focused ethnographic study

This is the final version. Available from MDPI via the DOI in this record. Data Availability Statement: The data are not publicly available due to restrictions (e.g., privacy and limitations in consent about sharing data with others).The ageing population, increasingly frail and chronically ill, and COVID-19 pandemic challenges have highlighted national health systems’ vulnerability and, more strongly/to a greater extent, the pivotal role of the family and community nurse (FCN). However, the recent introduction of FCNs in primary care settings has yet to be explored in Italy. This study aimed to identify the FCNs’ cultural model and its implementation during the COVID-19 outbreak. A focused ethnographic study was performed in a primary care community service in northern Italy. Participants were FCNs (N = 5), patients and caregivers (N = 12). Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, field notes, observation of FCNs’ activities and access to documents. Qualitative analysis identified themes concerned with crucial aspects of FCNs’ activities, role implementation, and their relationship with patients and families. This study illuminated how the FCN strategically takes care of and identifies patients’ and community needs. Although the COVID-19 outbreak hindered effective FCN project implementation, this study highlighted that the pandemic provided a chance to better identify cultural, organisational and educational weaknesses that need to be addressed to support the full accomplishment of FCNs’ scope of practice