Predicting needlestick and sharps injuries in nursing students: Development of the SNNIP scale

© 2020 The Authors. Nursing Open published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Aim: To develop an instrument to investigate knowledge and predictive factors of needlestick and sharps injuries (NSIs) in nursing students during clinical placements. Design: Instrument development and cross-sectional study for psychometric testing. Methods: A self-administered instrument including demographic data, injury epidemiology and predictive factors of NSIs was developed between October 2018–January 2019. Content validity was assessed by a panel of experts. The instrument's factor structure and discriminant validity were explored using principal components analysis. The STROBE guidelines were followed. Results: Evidence of content validity was found (S-CVI 0.75; I-CVI 0.50–1.00). A three-factor structure was shown by exploratory factor analysis. Of the 238 participants, 39% had been injured at least once, of which 67.3% in the second year. Higher perceptions of “personal exposure” (4.06, SD 3.78) were reported by third-year students. Higher scores for “perceived benefits” of preventive behaviours (13.6, SD 1.46) were reported by second-year students

Effects of Feeding a Hypoallergenic Diet with a Nutraceutical on Fecal Dysbiosis Index and Clinical Manifestations of Canine Atopic Dermatitis

an imbalance of the intestinal microbiota can cause health problems in the gastrointestinal tract and in other organs. Canine Atopic Dermatitis (CAD) is a genetically predisposed, inflammatory and pruritic allergic skin disease with multifactorial etiology and multimodal treatment. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a nutraceutical product on Dysbiotic Index (DI) and the skin lesions of atopic dogs

Head-Of-Bed Elevation (HOBE) for Improving Positional Obstructive Sleep Apnea (POSA): An Experimental Study

Purpose: Evaluate the effectiveness of the head-of-bed elevation position (HOBE) with a 30° elevation of the head and trunk, in improving obstruction of the upper airways in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. A prospective trial simultaneously performing drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) and polysomnography (PSG) tests was performed. Methods: Forty-five patients were included in the prospective study protocol. All patients enrolled in the study and underwent the following evaluations: (1) a drug-induced sleep endoscopy, with an evaluation of obstructions and collapse of the upper airways at 0° and in a HOBE position, with head and trunk elevation of 30°; (2) an overnight PSG assessment in the hospital with head and trunk elevation from 0° to 30° during the night; (3) a questionnaire to evaluate the feedback of patients to sleeping with head-of-bed elevation. Results: Velum (V) and oropharynx lateral wall (O) collapses were reduced in the 30° up position. There were no statistical differences that emerged in the obstruction of the tongue base and epiglottis between the 0° position and the 30° up position (p > 0.05). The average AHI score changed from 23.8 ± 13.3 (0° supine position) to 17.7 ± 12.4 (HOBE position), with a statistical difference (p = 0.03); the same statistical difference emerged in the percentage of apneas that decreased from 55 ± 28.1 to 44 ± 25.8 (p = 0.05). Conclusions: By adopting the HOBE position with 30° elevation of the head and trunk, it is possible to obtain a reduction of upper airways collapses and an improvement of apnea/hypopnea events and nightly respiratory outcomes

Diagnosis of alcohol use disorder from a psychological point of view

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is one of the most common psychiatric disease in the general population, characterized by having a pattern of excessive drinking despite the negative effects of alcohol on the individual's work, medical, legal, educational, and/or social life. Currently, the bio-psycho-social model describes properly AUD as a multidimensional phenomenon including biological, psychological, and socio-cultural variables affecting the nature, maintenance, and expression of the disorder. The AUD diagnostic process is crucial since the treatment success depends heavily on the accuracy and the adequacy of the diagnosis. The diagnosis is based on a comprehensive assessment of the patient's characteristics and uses interviews and psychometric instruments for collecting information. This paper will provide insights into the most important psychological dimensions of AUD and on the best psychometric instruments for proposing AUD diagnosis