A Pilot Study Exploring Nursing Knowledge of Depression and Suicidal Ideation in Kenya

Nurses play key roles in recognizing, diagnosing, managing, and referring persons with mental disorders. This cross-sectional study assessed mental health literacy (depression and suicidal ideation) among nurses in a private urban referral hospital in Kenya. Nurses read a vignette and answered questions regarding diagnosis, treatment/interventions, and related attitudes and beliefs. Thirty-seven nurses (12 males) completed the questionnaire. Three correctly identified the diagnosis and 23 identified depression only. Although 75% noted the symptoms were extremely distressing, fear, and stigma were common reactions. This highlights challenges in mental health promotion/prevention in Kenya, and suggests continuous nursing education and curriculum enhancement is needed

Contemplating philosophy of education: A Canadian west coast perspective

Starting with an assertion that philosophy’s prerogative is to propose alternative worldviews and values, in addition to the basic interpretation of philosophy as an inquiry into the myriad dimensions of human experience, this paper proffers a view of education that centers the cultivation of a more balanced and integrated humanity in resistance to the increasing instrumental forces in modern societies that fragment, alienate, and therefore dehumanize. Distinguishing between education (primarily concerned with the human being) and instruction (primarily concerned with the human having), this paper is primarily concerned with education, and it proposes a contemplative mode of intersubjective relationality between the self and self-other. A variety of critical observational and interpretive notes are offered on major concepts that animate contemporary discourses in education, such as dualisms, imbalance and fragmentation, dislocation and alienation, progress, and existential crisis, all refracted through the prism of the most recent contemplative turn in education. The chapter ends with a curated dialogue among the four authors of this chapter, all of whom share how they have come to situate themselves in the intersection of philosophy of education and contemplative inquiry and how they see the nature of contribution that the latter makes to the former

Is It Prime Time for Alpha2-Adrenocepter Agonists in the Treatment of Withdrawal Syndromes?

The need to treat withdrawal syndromes is a common occurrence in outpatient, inpatient ward, and intensive care unit (ICU) settings. A PubMed and Google Scholar search using alpha2-adrenoreceptor agonist (A2AA), specific A2AA agents, withdrawal syndrome and nicotine, and alcohol and opioid withdrawal terms was performed. A2AA agents appear to be able to modulate many of the signs and symptoms of significant withdrawal syndromes but are also capable of significant side effects, which can limit clinical use. Non-opioid oral A2AA agent use for opioid withdrawal has been well established. Pharmacologic combination therapy that utilizes A2AA agents for withdrawal syndromes appears promising but requires further formal testing to better define which other agents, under what condition(s), and at what A2AA doses are needed. The A2AA dexmedetomidine may be useful as an adjunctive agent in treating severe alcohol withdrawal syndromes in the ICU. In general, the current data does not support the routine use of A2AA as the primary or sole agent to treat ethanol/alcohol or nicotine withdrawal syndromes. Specific A2AA agents such as lofexidine has been shown to have a primary role in non-opioid-based treatment of opioid withdrawal syndrome and dexmedetomidine in combination with benzodiazepines has been shown to have potential in the treatment of severe ICU-based alcohol withdrawal syndrome