Knowledge and use of e-cigarettes among nursing students: results from a cross-sectional survey in north-eastern Italy

Data on electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use among health professional students, who can play a central role in promoting healthy habits and smoking cessation, are sparse. Moreover, the association between e-cigarettes and smoking habits is still debated. The present study aimed to investigate the diffusion of e-cigarette use among nursing students in north-eastern Italy and explore its association with tobacco smoking

Nursing students' interprofessional educational experiences in the clinical context: findings from an Italian cross-sectional study

To explore nursing students' interprofessional educational (IPE) experiences during their most recent clinical rotation and to explore the factors supporting IPE experiences

Nursing students' involvement in shift-to-shift handovers: Findings from a national study

Background Effective performance of clinical handovers should be one of the priorities of nursing education to promote efficient communication skills and ensure patient safety. However, to date, no studies have explored to what extent nursing students are involved in handovers. Objective To explore nursing students' handover involvement during their clinical rotations and associated factors. Method This was a secondary analysis of a large national cross-sectional study that involved 9607 undergraduate nursing students in 27 universities across 95 three-year Italian baccalaureate nursing programs. The involvement in the clinical handovers was the end point (from 0, never, to 3, always). A path analysis was performed to identify variables directly and indirectly affecting students' handover involvement. Results Handover involvement was reported as \u2018only a little\u2019, \u2018to some extent\u2019, and \u2018always\u2019 by 1739 (18.1%), 2939 (30.6%), and 4180 (43.5%) students, respectively; only 749 (7.8%) of students reported never being involved. At the path analysis explaining the 19.1% of variance of nursing students' involvement, some variables emerged that directly increased the likelihood of being involved in handovers. These were being female (\u3b2\u202f=\u202f0.115, p\u202f<\u202f0.001); having children (\u3b2\u202f=\u202f0.107, p\u202f=\u202f0.011); being a 3rd-year student (\u3b2\u202f=\u202f0.142, p\u202f<\u202f0.001) and being a 2nd-year student as compared to a 1st-year student (\u3b2\u202f=\u202f0.050, p\u202f=\u202f0.036); and having a longer clinical rotation (\u3b2\u202f=\u202f0.015, p\u202f<\u202f0.001) in units with high \u2018quality of the learning environment\u2019 (\u3b2\u202f=\u202f0.279, p\u202f<\u202f0.001). Moreover, students who were supervised by the nurse teacher (\u3b2\u202f=\u202f 120.279, p\u202f<\u202f0.001), or by a nurse on a daily basis (\u3b2\u202f=\u202f 120.253, p\u202f=\u202f0.004), or by the staff (\u3b2\u202f=\u202f 120.190, p\u202f<\u202f0.001) reported being less involved in handovers as compared to those students supervised by a clinical nurse. Variables with indirect effects also emerged (model of student's supervision adopted at the unit level, and number of previous clinical rotations attended by students). Moreover, handover involvement explained 11.5% of students self-reported degree of competences learned during the clinical experience. Conclusions Limiting students' opportunity to be involved in handover can prevent the development of communication skills and the professional socialization processes. Strategies at different levels are needed to promote handover among undergraduate nursing students

Nursing students' interprofessional educational experiences in the clinical context: findings from an Italian cross-sectional study

To explore nursing students' interprofessional educational (IPE) experiences during their most recent clinical rotation and to explore the factors supporting IPE experiences

Developing empathy in nursing students: a cohort longitudinal study

Aims. To determine whether a specific training course will enhance empathic skills in student nurses during a three year degree course. The study considers levels of empathy in student nurses and assesses whether these can be increased.Background. Empathy is widely accepted as a critical component of supportive relationships. Many scholars have argued that empathy provides health professionals with the capacity to improve the health of their patients. So it should be taught in order to make health professionals more responsive to patients needs.Design. Cohort longitudinal study.Method. The data were collected using the Italian version of the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES). The study was designed to guarantee repeated measurements of levels of emotional empathy in the pre- and post-intervention phases. This allowed us to evaluate the development and improvement of empathy and to measure the effects of extra training on the students\u2019 empathy skills. Two groups took part in the study: the Intervention Group and the Control Group. Students in the Intervention Group attended additional seminars and laboratories in small groups with tutors to learn and develop communicative and empathic abilities.Results. 103 participants (76% female) completed the study. Data showed that the training course was effective, especially for females: BEES scores 31.60 (SD 18.30) at pre-intervention phase and 42.91(SD 15.90) at the end of the academic course. Results regarding males were less clear and the paper discusses these unexpected, anomalous findings.Conclusion. According to literature, men and women have different empathic traits and we found that they show disparate empathic tendencies. More females than males took advantage of the training course. In any case, our data show that specific training courses are effective. Relevance to Clinical Practice. As our study shows, empathy is a skill that may be taught. So it would be advisable to introduce these into the traditional nursing curriculum

Nursing students' emotions evoked by the first contact with patient's body: A qualitative study

Providing personal care is one of the most significant activities of nursing care. Nursing students, who approach the patient's body for the first time, may experience a wide range of emotions, affecting their attitude toward the nursing profession and performance. Nevertheless, the emotional aspects related to providing personal care in nursing education have remained relatively neglected. A qualitative descriptive study was performed to describe the emotions felt by first-year nursing students when providing personal care and to analyze the situations which triggered their emotions. First-year students (N&nbsp;=&nbsp;145) were asked to narrate episodes of body care evoking both positive and negative emotions. Emotions were analyzed according to Damasio's theory while trigger situations were inductively found through a content analysis. Our results show that first-year nursing students experienced mostly social emotions, with a significant triggering role played by patients. In most of the narratives, patients were seen as a source of (un)recognition and personal (un)satisfaction. In this pattern, the patients play a fundamental role in supporting their confidence. Providing emotional education and peer discussion/sharing may facilitate the ability of nursing students to become aware of their own feelings and to be focused on patient's needs

[An overview of clinical practice education models for nursing students: a literature review students]

. An overview of education models for nursing students clinical practice: a literature review

Fluid Therapy Management in Hospitalized Patients: Results From a Cross-sectional Study

Purpose Intravenous (IV) fluid therapy is widely used in hospitalized patients. It has been internationally studied in surgical patients, but little attention to date has been dedicated to medical patients within the Italian context. The aims of the present study were to describe the prevalence of fluid therapy and associated factors among Italian patients admitted to medical and surgical units, describe the methods used to manage fluid therapy, and analyze the monitoring of patients by clinical staff. Methods In this cross-sectional study of 7 hospitals in northern Italy, data on individual and monitoring variables were collected, and their associations with in-hospital fluid therapy were analyzed by using logistic regression analysis. Patients aged 6518 years who were admitted to medical and surgical units were included. Patients who received at least 500 mL of continuous fluids were included in the fluid therapy group. Findings In total, 785 (median age, 72 years; women, 52%) patients were included in the study, and 293 (37.3%) received fluid therapy. Maintenance was the most frequent reason for prescribing IV fluid therapy (59%). The mean (SD) volume delivered was 1177 (624) mL/d, and the highest volume was infused for replacement therapy (1660 [931] mL/d). The mean volume infused was 19.55 (13) mL/kg/d. The most commonly used fluid solutions were 0.9% sodium chloride (65.7%) and balanced crystalloid without glucose (32.9%). The proportion of patients assessed for urine output (52.6% vs 36.8%; P < 0.001), serum electrolyte concentrations (74.4% vs 65.0%; P = 0.005), and renal function (70.0% vs 58.7%; P = 0.002) was significantly higher in patients who did receive fluid therapy versus those who did not. In contrast, the use of weight and fluid assessments was not significantly different between the 2 groups (P = 0.216 and 0.256, respectively). Patients admitted for gastrointestinal disorders (odds ratio [OR], 3.5 [95% CI, 1.8\u20137.05) and for fluid/electrolyte imbalances (OR, 3.35 [95% CI, 1.06\u201310.52) were more likely to receive fluids. However, the likelihood of receiving fluids was lower for patients admitted to a surgical unit (OR, 0.36 [95% CI, 0.22\u20130.59]) and with cardiovascular diseases (OR, 0.37 [95% CI, 0.17\u20130.79). Implications Only one third of the study patients received fluid therapy. Crystalloid fluids, are the fluids of choice for maintaining plasma volume. During fluid therapy, measurement of the serum electrolyte concentrations, renal function, and urine output was largely used while weight and fluid balance were rarely assessed