Tlalocohyla loquax

Number of Pages: 8Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Reflective Journaling Intervention to Impact Self-awareness, Professional Health, and Overall Well-being in Nurses

Background. Burnout among nurses has been on the rise and was exacerbated with the pandemic. Reflective journaling after work may be a strategy to decrease feelings of burnout. Reflective journaling, as an intervention, has been shown to improve self-awareness, compassion fatigue, and burnout among nurses. The purpose of this study was to pilot a 4-week reflective journaling intervention in hospital-based nurses and describe participant professional quality of life, self-awareness, and overall well-being. Theoretical Framework. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was chosen as the theoretical framework because it identifies the belief that performing a particular behavior will lead to a specific outcome. The model focuses on how intentions and behaviors are affected by attitudes over time. Methods. A single group pre/post quasi-experimental design was used with measures collected at baseline and immediately following the 4-week reflective journaling intervention. Nebraska hospital-based registered nurses who worked at least two shifts per week were asked to participate. The intervention included viewing a 15-minute training video on reflective journaling. Journaling prompts and reminders were sent via email twice a week. Participants were asked to journal at least five minutes after a shift using a journal prompt link that was sent via email using REDCap, a secure electronic database. Demographic data was collected only at baseline and measures of professional quality of life (ProQOL), self-awareness (SAOQ), and overall well-being (SF-36) were collected at baseline and at the completion of the study. Results. Twelve nurses were enrolled in total and completed baseline measures. The sample was comprised of all Caucasian females with an age range of 23-58 years and average of 7.1 years in nursing. The nurses worked in a variety of settings including emergency, intensive care, transport, oncology, organ transplant, pediatrics, and step-down critical care. Both night shift and 3 day shift nurses participated in the study. Five participants completed 50% (4/8) of the requested journal entries. Journal entries were between 1 and 306 words in length. Participants were separated between completers and non-completers. One component of the SF-36 was statistically significant, completers were more emotionally stressed than the non-completers. Topics written about included feelings of being overwhelmed, frustration, and gratitude for journaling as an outlet. Conclusions. Recruitment and intervention engagement of nurses on the front lines during a pandemic was a challenge and has implications for future interventions. Only one participant completed both pre and post measures and only half of the participants completed at least one journal. At baseline, participants who completed journaling reported a higher level of emotional problems that affected their ability to work effectively. Participant comments suggest reflective journaling has value, which should be investigated further. Strategies to recruit and retain participants in a reflective journaling intervention study will be needed

Screening for health risks: A social science perspective

Health screening promises to reduce risks to individuals via probabilistic sifting of populations for medical conditions. The categorisation and selection of 'conditions' such as cardiovascular events, dementia and depression for screening itself requires prior interpretive labour which usually remains unexamined. Screening systems can take diverse organisational forms and varying relationships to health status, as when purported disease precursors, for example 'pre-cancerous' polyps, or supposed risk factors, such as high cholesterol themselves, become targets for screening. Screening at best yields small, although not necessarily unworthwhile, net population health gains. It also creates new risks, leaving some individuals worse-off than if they had been left alone. The difficulties associated with attempting to measure small net gains through randomised controlled trials are sometimes underestimated. Despite endemic doubts about its clinical utility, bibliometric analysis of published papers shows that responses to health risks are coming to be increasingly thought about in terms of screening. This shift is superimposed on a strengthening tendency to view health through the lens of risk. It merits further scrutiny as a societal phenomenon

Modification of the simple mass balance equation for calculation of critical loads of acidity.

Over the last few years, the simple mass balance equation for the calculation of critical loads of acidity has been gradually modified as the underlying critical load concepts have developed and as problems with particular forms of the equation have been identified, through application in particular countries. The first major update of the equation took place following a workshop held in Vienna, Austria (Hojesky et al. 1993). The workshop was held to discuss problems which had been identified when the then current form of the equation was applied in countries with high rainfall. The problems had largely arisen because of simplifications and assumptions incorporated into the early formulation of the equation. The equation was reformulated to overcome the problems identified at the workshop. However, further problems were identified when the reformulated equation was applied in the UK in situations with a combination of high rainfall, large marine inputs and widespread occurrence of organic soils. A small workshop was, therefore held in Grange-over-Sands, UK in late 1993 to dicuss the problems and to further re-evaluate the equation. The problems had arisen in the UK because of simplifications and assumptions made in the formulation concerning, in particular, cation leaching and uptake. As a result, a more rigorous treatment of these variables was incorporated into the equation. The reformulation of the equation, as derived at the September 1993 workshop is described below

‘It's like the bad guy in a movie who just doesn't die’ : a qualitative exploration of young people's adaptation to eczema and implications for self‐care

Background Eczema is a common childhood inflammatory skin condition, affecting more than one in five children. A popular perception is that children ‘outgrow eczema’, although epidemiological studies have shown that, for many, eczema follows a lifelong episodic course. Objectives To explore the perceptions of young people about the nature of their eczema and how these perceptions relate to their self‐care and adapting to living with eczema. Methods This is a secondary inductive thematic analysis of interviews conducted for Healthtalk.org. In total 23 interviews with young people with eczema were included. Of the 23 participants, 17 were female and six male, ranging from 17 to 25 years old. Results Participants generally experienced eczema as an episodic long‐term condition and reported a mismatch between information received about eczema and their experiences. The experience of eczema as long term and episodic had implications for self‐care, challenging the process of identifying triggers of eczema flare‐ups and evaluating the success of treatment regimens. Participants’ experiences of eczema over time also had implications for adaptation and finding a balance between accepting eczema as long term and hoping it would go away. This linked to a gradual shift in treatment expectations from ‘cure’ to ‘control’ of eczema. Conclusions For young people who continue to experience eczema beyond childhood, a greater focus on self‐care for a long‐term condition may be helpful. Greater awareness of the impact of early messages around ‘growing out of’ eczema and provision of high‐quality information may help patients to manage expectations and support adaptation to treatment regimens

The incidence of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (sudep) in south dublin and wicklow

Patients with epilepsy have a mortality rate higher than that of the general population. Some of this excess mortality is attributable to sudden unexpected death (SUDEP). We examined the incidence of this phenomenon both retrospectively and prospectively in the population of South Dublin and Wicklow over the period May 1992–1995. Cases were ascertained by examination of post-mortem registers of hospitals serving the area studied. Information on cases was sought from hospital records, general practitioners and families. Fifteen cases (10 male, five female) were identified resulting in an overall incidence rate of SUDEP of 1:680/year for the 3 years of the study. This is the only study of incidence of SUDEP conducted in Ireland and our results are in keeping with incidence rates elsewhere in Europe and the USA

Routine data linkage to identify and monitor diabetes in clozapine-treated patients with schizophrenia

No abstract available