Impact of a physical activity program on the anxiety, depression, occupational stress and burnout syndrome of nursing professionals

OBJECTIVE: to assess the effects of a workplace physical activity (WPA) program on levels of anxiety, depression, burnout, occupational stress and self-perception of health and work-related quality of life of a nursing team in a palliative care unit.METHODS: the WPA was conducted five days per week, lasting ten minutes, during three consecutive months. Twenty-one nursing professionals were evaluated before and after the intervention, with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Maslch Burnout Inventory, and the Job Stress Scale. The changes in self-perceived health and work-related quality of life were measured using a semi-structured questionnaire.RESULTS: the WPA did not yield significant results on the levels of anxiety, depression, burnout or occupational stress. However, after the intervention, participants reported improved perceptions of bodily pain and feeling of fatigue at work.CONCLUSION: the WPA did not lead to beneficial effects on occupational stress and psychological variables, but it was well accepted by the nursing professionals, who reported improvement in perceptions of health and work-related quality of life

Perspectives on care and communication involving incurably ill Turkish and Moroccan patients, relatives and professionals: a systematic literature review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Our aim was to obtain a clearer picture of the relevant care experiences and care perceptions of incurably ill Turkish and Moroccan patients, their relatives and professional care providers, as well as of communication and decision-making patterns at the end of life. The ultimate objective is to improve palliative care for Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands, by taking account of socio-cultural factors in the guidelines for palliative care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic literature review was undertaken. The data sources were seventeen national and international literature databases, four Dutch journals dedicated to palliative care and 37 websites of relevant national and international organizations. All the references found were checked to see whether they met the structured inclusion criteria. Inclusion was limited to publications dealing with primary empirical research on the relationship between socio-cultural factors and the health or care situation of Turkish or Moroccan patients with an oncological or incurable disease. The selection was made by first reading the titles and abstracts and subsequently the full texts. The process of deciding which studies to include was carried out by two reviewers independently. A generic appraisal instrument was applied to assess the methodological quality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fifty-seven studies were found that reported findings for the countries of origin (mainly Turkey) and the immigrant host countries (mainly the Netherlands). The central themes were experiences and perceptions of family care, professional care, end-of-life care and communication. Family care is considered a duty, even when such care becomes a severe burden for the main female family caregiver in particular. Professional hospital care is preferred by many of the patients and relatives because they are looking for a cure and security. End-of-life care is strongly influenced by the continuing hope for recovery. Relatives are often quite influential in end-of-life decisions, such as the decision to withdraw or withhold treatments. The diagnosis, prognosis and end-of-life decisions are seldom discussed with the patient, and communication about pain and mental problems is often limited. Language barriers and the dominance of the family may exacerbate communication problems.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This review confirms the view that family members of patients with a Turkish or Moroccan background have a central role in care, communication and decision making at the end of life. This, in combination with their continuing hope for the patient’s recovery may inhibit open communication between patients, relatives and professionals as partners in palliative care. This implies that organizations and professionals involved in palliative care should take patients’ socio-cultural characteristics into account and incorporate cultural sensitivity into care standards and care practices<it>.</it></p

Does illness perception predict posttraumatic stress disorder in patients with myocardial infarction? | Hastali{dotless}k algi{dotless}si{dotless} myokard İnfarktüsü geçiren hastalarda travma sonrasi{dotless} stres bozukluǧunu öngörebilir mi?

INTRODUCTION: Myocardial infarction (MI) as a life-threatening event, carrying high risk of recurrence and chronic disabling complications, increases the risk of developing acute stress disorder (ASD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or both. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between illness perceptions and having ASD, PTSD, or both in patients after MI. METHOD: Seventy-six patients diagnosed with acute MI were enrolled into our prospective study. We evaluated patients during the first week and six months after MI. Patients were assessed by using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), and a semi-structured interview for socio-demographic characteristics during both the first and second evaluations. RESULTS: Acute stress disorder (ASD) developed in 9.2% of patients and PTSD developed in 11.9% of patients with MI. Illness perception factors of ‘consequences, identity and concern’ predicted the occurrence of both ASD and PTSD, whereas ‘emotion’ predicted only PTSD. CONCLUSION: The factors of illness perceptions predicted the induction of ASD and PTSD in patients who had acute MI

Pilot-scale outdoor photofermentative hydrogen production from molasses using pH control

© 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLCThe duration of photofermentative hydrogen production from sugar-based nutrients is limited by gradual acidification caused by the production of organic acids, leading to suboptimal pH. To address this issue, a custom pH control system was built and installed on a 20 L tubular photobioreactor, and operated under outdoor conditions. Long-term, single-stage hydrogen production from molasses was achieved using the purple non-sulfur bacterium, Rhodobacter capsulatus. The run lasted for 48 days, the longest duration achieved in a tubular photobioreactor on molasses as the only feed. pH was maintained close to its optimum value. High-purity hydrogen (above 90% by mole, on average) and near-complete conversion of sucrose was observed. The highest hydrogen productivity was 0.69 molH2/(m3.h). On the other hand, hydrogen production was observed to cease after periods of activity. Production resumed after dilution followed by artificial illumination, indicating that the production activity could be recovered during prolonged runs

H alpha line measurements from ten diffuse galactic sources using the DEFPOS facility

The hydrogen Balmer-alpha emission line spectrum of ten diffuse ionization sources in the Milk Way - NGC 40 (WC8), NGC 2022, NGC 6210, NGC 6618 (M17, Sh2-45), NGC 6720 (M57), NGC 6781, NGC 6888 (Sh2-105), NGC 6992 (Sh2-103), NGC 7635 (Sh2-162,) and IC 1848 (Sh2-199) - has been investigated using a dual etalon Fabry-Perot optical spectrometer (DEFPOS) aatached to the 150 cm RTT150 telescope at TUBITAK National Observatory (TUG, Antalya, Turkey: 36 degrees 51' N; 30 degrees 20' E; elevation: 2547 m). All of our galactic Ha observations discussed in this paper were carried out during the nights of 2013 June 21-24 with exposure time of 3600 s. As main results the intensity, the full width at half maximum, and the radial velocity with respect to the LSR have been determined for each data set. The intensities, the radial velocities, and the line widths of the Ha emission line vary from 59.15 to 8923.44 R, -46.72 to + 54.07 km s(-1), and 31.4 to 48.01 km s(-1), respectively. The radial velocities and the half-widths of the HII regions and planetary nebulae determined from our measurements are found to be consistent with values given in literature, especially with those in Schneider et al. (1983) and Fich et al. (1990). (C) 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinhei