Prevention and early management of in-hospital cardiac arrest: a challenge for nursing educators

Cardiac arrest can be defined as the heart’s inability to effectively eject blood out due to either an electrical or mechanical failure. This condition poses an immediate threat to life and is always considered to be a medical emergency. In Western countries, cardiac arrest is continuously highlighted as one of the leading causes of in-hospital death and the latest research suggests that survival rates after suffering one of these episodes still remain below 20%. Consequently, prevention and effective early management of in-hospital cardiac arrest constitute the basis of international algorithms for saving lives

Effects of two teaching strategies on the relationship between nursing students’ self-efficacy and performance in BLS/AED

Purpose: Nurses and nursing students are often first responders to in-hospital cardiac arrest events; thus they are expected to perform Basic Life Support (BLS) and use an automated external defibrillator (AED) without delay. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between nursing students’ self-efficacy and performance before and after receiving a particular training intervention in BLS/AED. Materials and methods: Explanatory correlational study. 177 nursing students received a 4-h training session in BLS/AED after being randomized to either a self-directed (SDG) or an instructor-directed teaching group (IDG).1 A validated self-efficacy scale, the Cardiff Test and Laerdal SkillReporter® software were used to assess students’ self-efficacy and performance in BLS/AED at pre-test, post-test and 3-month retention-test. Independent t-test analysis was performed to compare the differences between groups at pre-test. Pearson coefficient (r) was used to calculate the strength of the relationship between self-efficacy and performance in both groups at pre-test, post-test and retention-test. Results: Independent t-tests analysis showed that there were non-significant differences (p-values > 0.05) between groups for any of the variables measured. At pre-test, results showed that correlation between self-efficacy and performance was moderate for the IDG (r = 0.53; p < 0.05) and the SDG (r = 0.49; p < 0.05). At post-test, correlation between self-efficacy and performance was much higher for the SDG (r = 0.81; p < 0.05) than for the IDG (r = 0.32; p < 0.05), which in fact was weaker than at pre-test. Finally, it was found that whereas the correlation between self-efficacy and performance increased from the post-test to the retention-test to almost reach baseline levels for the ILG (r = 0.52; p < 0.05), it slightly decreased in this phase for the SDG (r = 0.77; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Student-directed strategies may be more effective than instructor-directed strategies at promoting self-assessment and, therefore, may help to improve and maintain the relationship between nursing student self-efficacy and actual ability to perform BLS/AED

Transferencia de pacientes de cuidados paliativos desde el hospital hasta atención primaria: un estudio cualitativo = Transferring palliative-care patients from hospital to community care: a qualitative study

Aim: To know the experience of case-manager nurses with regard to transferring palliative-care patients from the hospital to their homes. Design: Qualitative phenomenological study carried out in 2014 2015. Setting: Poniente and Almería health districts, which referral hospitals are Poniente Hospital and Torrecárdenas Hospital, respectively. Participants: A purposive sample comprised of 12 case-manager nurses was recruited from the aforementioned setting. Method: Theoretical data saturation was achieved after performing 7 in-depth individual interviews and 1 focus group. Data analysis was performed following Colaizzi’s method. Results: Three themes emerged: (1) ‘Case-management nursing as a quality, patient-centred service’ (2) ‘Failures of the information systems’, with the subthemes ‘‘patients’’ insufficient and inadequate previous information’’ and ‘‘ineffective between levels communication channels for advanced nursing’’; (3) ‘Deficiencies in discharge planning’, with the subthemes ‘‘deficient management of resources on admission’’, ‘‘uncertainty about discharge’’ and ‘‘insufficient human resources to coordinate the transfer’’. Conclusions: Case-manager nurses consider themselves a good-quality service. However, they think there are issues with coordination, information and discharge planning of palliative patients from hospital. It would be useful to review the communication pathways of both care and discharge reports, so that resources needed by palliative patients are effectively managed at the point of being transferred home

Factor de impacto de revistas: ¿amenaza u oportunidad?

Este artículo contiene un resumen de las críticas a la utilización del factor de impacto (FI) como indicador de calidad de las publicaciones y de producción de investigadores. Tales críticas alcanzan a los autores que intentan publicar en revistas con FI, argumentando que así renuncian a la propia identidad, primando su currículum sobre la utilidad de su investigación. En oposición a esas críticas se afirma que unos criterios de evaluación exigentes sirven de estímulo para la internacionalización del sistema científico. Existe consenso en la comunidad académica sobre las imperfecciones del FI y su aceptación como recurso válido y necesario para la evaluación científica, como también en que el debate identitario contribuye poco a resolver la invisibilidad internacional de la investigación de enfermería en español. Se esbozan propuestas que apuestan por aprovechar las fortalezas para incrementar y visibilizar dicha investigación, desarrollar estrategias para incluir y mantener a las revistas en español en el Journal Citation Reports (JCR), fomentar la formación y cooperación interdisciplinar, promover la publicación de investigaciones desarrolladas en los programas de posgrado, y reclamar la apuesta editorial por la indexación de sus revistas en el JCR. Se concluye que, aunque difícil, es posible aumentar la visibilidad de la producción científica de enfermería en español

Validation of the Satisfaction Scale of Basic Psychological Needs in Physical Education with the Incorporation of the Novelty in the Spanish Context

The purpose of the study was to validate to the physical education context, the Spanish version of the Scale of the Satisfaction of Psychological Needs toward the Physical Education classes of Menéndez and Fernández-Rio, with the incorporation of the novelty, since they contemplated its inclusion. In this study, 1444 students participated (mean = 15.34, standard deviation = 1.12) from several schools in Almeria. To analyze the psychometric properties of the scale, several analyses were carried out. The results offered support for both the four-factor structure and the higher-order model called satisfaction. The analysis of invariance with respect to gender showed that the factor structure of the questionnaire was invariant. The Cronbach alpha values were higher than 0.70 in the subscales. The results of this study demonstrated the reliability and validity of the Scale of the Satisfaction of Psychological Needs, with the incorporation of novelty in the Spanish context of Physical Education

Effects of two teaching interventions on nursing students’ acquisition of competence in ECG interpretation

Purpose: Nurse ability to recognise patient arrhythmias could contribute to preventing in-hospital cardiac arrest. Research suggests that nurses and nursing students lack competence in electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two training strategies on nursing students’ acquisition of competence in ECG interpretation. Materials and methods: A controlled randomised trial with 98 nursing students. Divided in groups of 12–16, participants were randomly allocated to one of the following 3-h teaching intervention groups: 1) traditional instructor-led (TILG), and 2) flipped classroom (FCG). Participants’ competence in ECG interpretation was measured in terms of knowledge (%), skills (%) and self-efficacy (%) using a specifically designed and previously validated toolkit at pre-test and post-test. Two-way MANOVA explored the interaction effect between ‘teaching group’ and ‘time of assessment’ and its impact on participants’ competence. Within-group differences at pre-test and post-test were explored by carrying out paired t-tests. Between-group differences at pre- and post-test were examined by performing independent t-test analysis. Results: There was a statistically significant interaction effect between ‘teaching group’ and ‘time of assessment’ on participants’ competence in ECG interpretation (F(3,190) = 86.541, p = 0.001; Wilks’ Λ = 0.423). At pre-test, differences in knowledge (TILG = 35.12 ± 12.07; FCG = 35.66 ± 10.66), skills (TILG = 14.05 ± 10.37; FCG = 14.82 ± 14.14), self-efficacy (TILG = 46.22 ± 23.78; FCG = 40.01 ± 21.77) and all other variables were non-significant (p > 0.05). At post-test, knowledge (TILG = 55.12 ± 14.16; FCG = 94.2 ± 7.31), skills (TILG = 36.90 ± 16.45; FCG = 86.43 ± 14.32) and self-efficacy (TILG = 70.78 ± 14.55; FCG = 79.98 ± 10.35) had significantly improved, regardless of the training received (p < 0.05). Nonetheless, participants in the FCG scored significantly higher than participants in the TILG in knowledge, skills and self-efficacy (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Flipping the classroom for teaching ECG interpretation to nursing students may be more effective than using a traditional instructor-led approach in terms of immediate acquisition of competence in terms of knowledge, skills and self-efficacy. Further research on the effects of both teaching strategies on the retention of the competence will be undertaken

Development and psychometric evaluation of the basic electrocardiogram interpretation self-efficacy scale

Purpose: Research suggests that nurses and nursing students lack competence in basic electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation. Self-efficacy is considered to be paramount in the development of one's competence. The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a scale to assess self-efficacy of nursing students in basic ECG interpretation. Materials and methods: Observational cross-sectional study with a convenience sample of 293 nursing students. The basic ECG interpretation self-efficacy scale (ECG-SES) was developed and psychometrically tested in terms of reliability (internal consistency and temporal stability) and validity (content, criterion and construct). The ECG-SES’ internal consistency was explored by calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α); its temporal stability was investigated by calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between the participants’ results on a test–retest separated by a 4-week interval. The content validity index of the items (I-CVI) and the scale (S-CVI) was calculated based on the reviews of a panel of 16 experts. Criterion validity was explored by correlating the participants’ results on the ECG-SES with their results on the New General Self-Efficacy Scale (NGSE). 1 Construct validity was investigated by performing Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and known-group analysis. Results: The excellent reliability of the ECG-SES was evidenced by its internal consistency (α = 0.98) and its temporal stability at the 4-week re-test (r = 0.81; p < 0.01). The ECG-SES’ content validity was also excellent (all items’ I-CVI = 0.94–1; S-CVI = 0.99). A strong, significant correlation between the NGSE and the ECG-SES (r = 0.70; p < 0.01) showed its criterion validity. Corroborating the ECG-SES’ construct validity, PCA revealed that all its items loaded on a single factor that explained 74.6% of the total variance found. Furthermore, known-groups analysis showed the ECG-SES’ ability to detect expected differences in self-efficacy between groups with different training experiences (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The ECG-SES showed excellent psychometric properties for measuring the self-efficacy of nursing students in basic ECG interpretation

La Interfaz Radio en la Quinta Generación-5G de Telefonía Móvil

At present, there is a high demand for the implementation of the new 5G mobile telephony standard, standardization and performance of technological tests. 5G is going to count on a revolutionary advance in terms of data speeds, latency, massive connectivity, network reliability and energy efficiency. These capabilities are aimed at achieving high-speed connectivity, virtualized virtual reality, internet, etc. The 5G radio interface will use carriers in the millimetric band (mm) with higher bandwidths, using multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) systems, network densification and new waveforms that provide scalability and flexibility to meet the diverse demands of 5G services. In this research, a study was developed on the potentialities of the new mobile standard is developed, as well as the new technological challenges involved in the implementation. The focus is mainly on the user and the main technologies are identified, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, and outlining the main future challenges.En la actualidad existe una alta demanda para la implementación del nuevo estándar de telefonía móvil 5G, estandarización y realización de pruebas tecnológicas. 5Gva a contar con un avance revolucionario en términos de velocidades de datos, latencia, conectividad masiva, confiabilidad de la red y eficiencia energética. Estas capacidades están dirigidas a lograr una conectividad de alta velocidad, virtualización realidad aumentada, Internet, etc. La interfaz radio 5G empleará portadoras en la banda milimétricas (mm) con mayores anchos de banda, empleando sistemas de múltiples entradas y múltiples salidas (MIMO), densificación de red y nuevas formas de onda que proporcionan escalabilidad y flexibilidad para cumplir con las diversas demandas de los servicios 5G. En esta investigación, se desarrolló un estudio sobre las potencialidades del nuevo estándar móvil, así como los nuevos desafíos tecnológicos que supone la implementación de un sistema de última generación. El enfoque se centra principalmente en el usuario y se identifican las principales tecnologías, evaluando sus fortalezas y debilidades, y esbozando los principales desafíos futuros

Employability and its improvement as challenge for European universities. A comparative study.

La empleabilidad de los estudiantes y graduados universitarios se ha convertido en un objetivo clave de las instituciones, los gobiernos y el sector privado, favorecido por el proceso de Bolonia. Sin embargo, se ha investigado poco sobre el acceso al mercado laboral de los graduados no tradicionales (aquéllos procedentes de una etnia minoritaria, o con riesgo de exclusión social, migrantes, que compaginan trabajo y estudios, ser la primera generación de estudiantes universitarios de una familia, ser de un origen socioeconómico bajo, mujeres con cargas familiares…) y las necesidades específicas que estos pueden experimentar en su transición desde la universidad hacia el empleo. El objetivo de este artículo consiste en presentar la realidad europea actual sobre esta cuestión, a partir de un proyecto europeo con enfoque cualitativo, interdisciplinar y biográfico, en el que participan universidades de seis países (Reino Unido, Suecia, Polonia, Irlanda, Portugal y España). En él resumimos el estado de la cuestión en los seis países referidos y ofrecemos algunas dimensiones comparativas entre ellos. Estas dimensiones destacan tanto la transversalidad de los desafíos de la empleabilidad como la singularidad de los seis contextos nacionales mencionados, que se caracterizan por rasgos históricos, económicos, universitarios, curriculares y culturales muy diferentes. Finalmente, mostramos las ventajas de este tipo de proyectos para avanzar en la construcción de una educación comparada europea y mundial, como uno de los ejes importantes de la mejora de las políticas y prácticas en contextos educativos formales.The employability of university students and graduates has become a key objective of institutions, governments and the private sector, favoured by the Bologna process. However, little research has been carried out on the access to the labour market of non-traditional graduates (those from a minority ethnic group, or at risk of social exclusion, migrants, combining work and studies, being the first generation of university students in a family, being of low socio-economic origin, women with family burdens...) and the specific needs they may experience in their transition from university to employment. The aim of this article is to present the current European reality on this issue, based on a European project with a qualitative, interdisciplinary and biographical approach, involving 96 / pp 95-110 / relec / Año 11 Nº17 / junio 2020 – octubre 2020 / ISSN 1853-3744 / Estudios e investigaciones universities in six countries (United Kingdom, Sweden, Poland, Ireland, Portugal and Spain). In it we summarize the state of the art in the six countries referred to and offer some comparative dimensions between them. These dimensions highlight both the transversality of the challenges of employability and the uniqueness of the six national contexts mentioned, which are characterized by very different historical, economic, university, curricular and cultural features. Finally, we show the advantages of this type of projects to advance in the construction of a European and global comparative education, as one of the important axes for the improvement of policies and practices in formal educational contexts