Perceived quality of nursing care and patient education: a cross-sectional study of hospitalised surgical patients in Finland

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to analyse the relationship between patient education and the quality of surgical nursing care as perceived by patients. The background of the study lies in the importance of a patient-centred approach for both patient education and quality evaluation.DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional descriptive correlational study with surgical patients.SETTING: Data were collected in 2013 in one hospital district in Finland.PARTICIPANTS: 480 hospitalised surgical patients.METHODS: The data were collected using two structured instruments: one measuring the perceived quality of nursing care experienced by patients (Good Nursing Care Scale) and one measuring the received knowledge of hospital patients (RKhp). Data were analysed statistically using descriptive and inferential statistics to describe the sample and study variables. Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to analyse the association between the scales.RESULTS: Surgical hospital patients evaluated the level of the quality of nursing care as high; this was especially true with reference to the environment and staff characteristics, but not to collaboration with family members. Most (85%) of the patients had received sufficient knowledge preoperatively and they were familiar with the proceeding of their care and treatment after discharge; in particular, they had received bio-physiological knowledge, consisting of knowledge of the disease, symptoms and the physiological elements of care. The positive correlation between the perceived quality of surgical nursing care and received knowledge was strong, suggesting a positive relationship between patient education and improvement of the quality of nursing care.CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results, the quality of nursing care and patient education are interconnected. Thus, by improving patient education, the quality of nursing care can also be improved. It is particularly important to improve collaboration with family members and patients' own management strategies as well as the multidimensionality of educational knowledge.</p

Population Maintenance of the Scyphozoan Cyanea sp. Settled Planulae and the Distribution of Medusae in the Niantic River, Connecticut, USA

Scyphozoan jellyfish are seasonally conspicuous in coastal waters, but relatively little is known about the factors that control their distribution and population dynamics.Cyanea sp is a seasonally abundant medusa in the Niantic River, Connecticut, U.S. and appears to maintain a population entirely within the estuary. To better understand the factors controlling their occurrence, we examined the temporal and spatial distribution of settled scyphistomae in relation to that of the medusae. Planula settlement patterns mirrored the presence of mature female medusae. The planulae settled primarily near the bottom. After settlement, planulacysts and polyps on the settlement plates were out competed by large barnacle and ascidian larvae, resulting in a sharp decline in cyst and polyp abundance. This stage-specific mortality may represent a population bottleneck in the life cycle of scyphozoans

Assessing the potential for sea-based macroalgae cultivation and its application for nutrient removal in the Baltic Sea

Marine eutrophication is a pervasive and growing threat to global sustainability. Macroalgal cultivation is a promising circular economy solution to achieve nutrient reduction and food security. However, the location of production hotspots is not well known. In this paper the production potential of macroalgae of high commercial value was predicted across the Baltic Sea region. In addition, the nutrient limitation within and adjacent to macroalgal farms was investigated to suggest optimal site-specific configuration of farms. The production potential of Saccharina latissima was largely driven by salinity and the highest production yields are expected in the westernmost Baltic Sea areas where salinity is >23. The direct and interactive effects of light availability, temperature, salinity and nutrient concentrations regulated the predicted changes in the production of Ulva intestinalis and Fucus vesiculosus. The western and southern Baltic Sea exhibited the highest farming potential for these species, with promising areas also in the eastern Baltic Sea. Macroalgal farming did not induce significant nutrient limitation. The expected spatial propagation of nutrient limitation caused by macroalgal farming was less than 100–250 m. Higher propagation distances were found in areas of low nutrient and low water exchange (e.g. offshore areas in the Baltic Proper) and smaller distances in areas of high nutrient and high water exchange (e.g. western Baltic Sea and Gulf of Riga). The generated maps provide the most sought-after input to support blue growth initiatives that foster the sustainable development of macroalgal cultivation and reduction of in situ nutrient loads in the Baltic Sea.</p

A GIS-based numerical model for simulating the kinematics of mud and debris flows over complex terrain

13 pag., 6 Fig. © Author(s) 2009. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.This article presents MassMov2D, a two-dimensional model of mud and debris flow dynamics over complex topography, based on a numerical integration of the depth-averaged motion equations using a shallow water approximation. The core part of the model was implemented using the GIS scripting language PCRaster. This environment provides visualization of the results through map animations and time series, and a user-friendly interface. The constitutive equations and the numerical solution adopted in MassMov2D are presented in this article. The model was applied to two field case studies of mud flows on torrential alluvial fans, one in the Austrian Tyrol (Wartschenbach torrent) and the other in the French Alps (Faucon torrent). Existing data on the debris flow volume, input discharge and deposits were used to back-analyze those events and estimate the values of the leading parameters. The results were compared with modeling codes used by other authors for the same case studies. The results obtained with MassMov2D matched well with the observed debris flow deposits, and are in agreement with those obtained using alternative codes.Peer reviewe

A GIS-based numerical model for simulating the kinematics of mud and debris flows over complex terrain

This article presents MassMov2D, a two-dimensional model of mud and debris flow dynamics over complex topography, based on a numerical integration of the depth-averaged motion equations using a shallow water approximation. The core part of the model was implemented using the GIS scripting language PCRaster. This environment provides visualization of the results through map animations and time series, and a user-friendly interface. The constitutive equations and the numerical solution adopted in MassMov2D are presented in this article. The model was applied to two field case studies of mud flows on torrential alluvial fans, one in the Austrian Tyrol (Wartschenbach torrent) and the other in the French Alps (Faucon torrent). Existing data on the debris flow volume, input discharge and deposits were used to back-analyze those events and estimate the values of the leading parameters. The results were compared with modeling codes used by other authors for the same case studies. The results obtained with MassMov2D matched well with the observed debris flow deposits, and are in agreement with those obtained using alternative codes