Adolescents' involvement in cyber bullying and perceptions of school: the importance of perceived peer acceptance for female adolescents

Young people are spending increasing amounts of time using digital technology and, as such, are at great risk of being involved in cyber bullying as a victim, bully, or bully/victim. Despite cyber bullying typically occurring outside the school environment, the impact of being involved in cyber bullying is likely to spill over to school. Fully 285 11- to 15-year-olds (125 male and 160 female, M age = 12.19 years, SD = 1.03) completed measures of cyber bullying involvement, self-esteem, trust, perceived peer acceptance, and perceptions of the value of learning and the importance of school. For young women, involvement in cyber bullying as a victim, bully, or bully/victim negatively predicted perceptions of learning and school, and perceived peer acceptance mediated this relationship. The results indicated that involvement in cyber bullying negatively predicted perceived peer acceptance which, in turn, positively predicted perceptions of learning and school. For young men, fulfilling the bully/victim role negatively predicted perceptions of learning and school. Consequently, for young women in particular, involvement in cyber bullying spills over to impact perceptions of learning. The findings of the current study highlight how stressors external to the school environment can adversely impact young women's perceptions of school and also have implications for the development of interventions designed to ameliorate the effects of cyber bullying

An exploration of pre-operative fasting practices in adult patients having elective surgery

Background: Patients fast routinely before elective surgery in order to reduce gastric volume and acidity. The standard fasting time is ‘nil by mouth’ from midnight before surgery. In recent years, new guidelines have recommended that patients remain nil by mouth from clear fluids for 2 hours and from solids for 6 hours. This literature review explored preoperative fasting practices in adult patients from an international perspective. Methods: A literature search was undertaken of databases, including CINAHL Plus, PubMed, Medline, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Science Direct, Sage Journals and Embase. Results: Anaesthetists were found to possess greater knowledge of reduced preoperative fasting than other health professionals including nurses. Conclusion: Actual fasting time was found to be relatively longer than prescribed fasting times