Occupational Safety and Health Training for Undergraduates Nursing Students: A Spanish Pilot

Most of blood borne and airborne pathogens are highly contagious, harmful and have prevalence among healthcare workers. In this group, healthcare students, especially nursing undergraduates, have even higher risk to be exposed and suffered a contagious accident. One of the main pillars to prevent exposure to such pathogens and decrease accidents seems to be through education. A prospective observational educational research focused on quantifying the students’ knowledge, and prevention culture was carried out. The educational approach based on the development of a technological tool, its integration in the students’ education, and posterior assessment. The Chi-square, ANOVA, Kruskal–Wallis, Man–Whitney U, and Spearman correlations were used to determine the effect of such educational methodology. The results, previous to the integration of the educational approach, showed differences between the elementary and proficient knowledge and correct procedure in each academic year (p < 0.05), being the best year the third academic year. The mean of elementary knowledge among second year students after the inclusion of the educational methodology improved for 2017/2018 with a mean of 7.5 (1.11) and in 2018/2019 with 7.87 (1.34). This study argued that the educational approach proposed could improve the prevention culture and knowledge among students and future healthcare professionals

Is possible to train health professionals in prevention of high-risk pathogens like the Ebola by using the mobile phone?

Health professionals are a concerning risk population because of the high prevalence of exposure to biological, especially during training that involves procedures implying direct contact with bodily fluids. Notwithstanding, the considerable advance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) during the last decades has provided with the divergence of new paths of research applied to training in the health field, allowing it integration in the field of biological risk prevention. The objectives of this study are: firstly, to estimate the level of knowledge about risk situations and the immediate response capacity of future professionals, prepare health professionals before different scenarios that can be presented in health care, and contribute to the appropriate decision making in possible scenarios. Secondly, to design and develop a mobile web application that, in a fast and ever-present manner, allows the healthcare professional, to have a quick response system that is clear and concise; and to evaluate by health students’ and professionals’ opinions the effectiveness of the technology developed. This study has been structured in two phases: first, to determine the degree of knowledge and compliance of biosecurity measures; and second, to perform a dual evaluation of the application. The survey of graduating students concerning practices has shown that the knowledge of risk prevention is adequate; meanwhile, a dynamic and efficient platform has been obtained, and its double assessment is satisfactory. It has been shown that the incidence of biological accidents is in the mean of the results of previous studies. An upgradeable web platform, ubiquitous and capable of being used in any electronic device available in the market, was obtaine

Nurses as agents for achieving environmentally sustainable health systems: a bibliometric analysis

Aim:To analyse the current scientific knowledge and research lines focused on envi-ronmentally sustainable health systems, including the role of nurses.Background:There seem to be differences between creating interventions focusedon environmentally sustainable health systems, including nurses, and the scarcity ofresearch on this topic, framed on the Sustainable Development Goals.Methods:A bibliometric analysis was carried out, via three databases (Web of Sci-ence, Scopus and Pubmed), and the guideline recommendations were followed toselect bibliometric data.Results:The search resulted in 159 publications, significantly increasing the trendsfrom 2017 to 2021 (p=.028). The most relevant countries in this area were theUnited States, the United Kingdom and Sweden. Also, the top articles were from rel-evant journals, indexed in Journal Citation Report, and the first and the second quar-tiles linked to the nursing field and citations (p< .001).Conclusion:Education is key to achieving environmentally sustainable health sys-tems via institutions and policies.Implications for Nursing Management:There is a lack of experimental data and poli-cies on achieving or maintaining environmentally sustainable health care systems,indicating that nurses have an important role and should be consulted and includedin decision-making policies regarding sustainability in the health care systems

Propuestas didácticas para el trabajo de la empatía histórica en el aula

Este trabajo es un portfolio de propuestas didácticas para trabajar el meta-concepto de la empatía histórica en el aula, y cuya finalidad es motivar al alumnado y fomentar en él, el pensamiento crítico. En este caso son cuatro actividades seleccionadas para la asignatura de 1º de Bachillerato de Historia del Mundo Contemporáneo. Para ello, se ha dividido el trabajo en cuatro apartados clave, siendo el primero la introducción al meta-concepto de empatía histórica y la problemática que me ha llevado a realizar este trabajo; las diferentes propuestas didácticas; un análisis comparado de las actividades y una conclusión final. <br /

Bibliometric Study of Technology and Occupational Health in Healthcare Sector: A Worldwide Trend to the Future

Since the eighties, technological tools have modified how people interact in their environment. At the same time, occupational safety and health measures have been widely applied. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work considers that information and communication technologies are the main methods to achieve the goals proposed to improve working life and the dissemination of good practices. The principal objective was to determine the trends of publications focused on these technologies and occupational safety in the healthcare sector during the last 30 years. A bibliometric study was carried out. The 1021 documents showed an increased trend per country, especially for the United States (p < 0.001) and year (p < 0.001). The citations per year showed significant differences between citations of articles published before 2007 (p < 0.001). The year was also linked to the increase or decrease of articles (72.2%) and reviews (14.9%) (p < 0.001). The analysis of journal co-citations also showed that the main journals (such as Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology) were linked to other important journals and had a major part in the clusters formed. All these findings were discussed in the manuscript and conclusions were drawn

Tuberculosis and Other Airborne Microbes in Occupational Health and Safety

Airborne pathogens and non-malignant infectious diseases such as tuberculosis are highly contagious and can have severe effects on healthcare workers. The symptoms of these diseases take time to manifest, which can prevent workers from noticing that they have been exposed until symptoms appear. The current paper sought to assess the occupational safety and preventative measures taken in laboratories in Spain, and to compare these measures with those reported by other studies worldwide. A cross-sectional study of workers (35–50 years old) was conducted using a web survey (N = 30), and a bibliometric analysis was carried out in the Scopus database (92 documents were selected). The occupational safety and health measures were inadequate, according to the opinions of the workers. The training (p < 0.01), the amount of work (p < 0.05), and how the workers followed their protocols (p < 0.001) were linked to incidents and exposure to airborne pathogens. The most significant previous publication was a report (848 citations) stating that the previous variables linked to exposure are vital for prevention. Most works focused on countries like the U.S.A. (p = 0.009) were reviews, with a limited number of studies focused on occupational safety

Iron Status Biomarkers and Cardiovascular Risk

Both iron excess and deficiency may be related to oxidative stress. Serum ferritin, the main marker of iron status, and hepcidin, the key regulator of iron metabolism, are increased in inflammation states and their links with insulin resistance are emerging topics. We have reviewed the role of iron deficiency/overload in cardiovascular risk, including our own results. Most studies deal with the association between iron deposition in tissues and cardiovascular risk, while decreased iron status is predominantly related to protection against atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Less information is available on the role of iron status in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Serum ferritin is positively correlated with several indicators of cardiovascular risk in healthy adults and diabetics, thus excess body iron is related to cardiometabolic alterations including vascular and heart damage, central obesity, and metabolic syndrome. Our data in an ample sample of T2DM adults suggest that body iron stores, evaluated as ferritin, are clearly related with some key markers of the so-called lipidic triad (high triglyceride and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol) levels together with the presence of small and dense low-density lipoprotein particles which also is in the frame of the dysmetabolic iron overload syndrome

Validation of the Spanish Version of the Questionnaire on Environmental Awareness in Nursing (NEAT)

Environmental awareness of the ecological problems caused by this climate crisis and its impact on global health has been growing globally. Nurses are health care agents that usually hurt the environment and contribute to the unsustainability of the care system. Such behavior is perpetuated without the nurses’ awareness and is even magnified by the current pandemic, jeopardizing the health systems and the Sustainable Development Goals. However, there is no Spanish version of any survey that measures the awareness of these agents, only the Nurses Environmental Awareness Tool (NEAT) is available. The current research presents a unique investigation based on a mixed method, using the Spanish version of the NEAT, also called NEAT-es. The results of the mixed analysis (N = 376), a cognitive interview, and descriptive analysis indicated perfect consistency (Cronbach’s alpha > 0.80), better than the original. The survey validation achieved higher values and can be used to measure environmental awareness in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries

Social Media, Thin-Ideal, Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating Attitudes: An Exploratory Analysis

Disordered eating attitudes are rapidly increasing, especially among young women in their twenties. These disordered behaviours result from the interaction of several factors, including beauty ideals. A significant factor is social media, by which the unrealistic beauty ideals are popularized and may lead to these behaviours. The objectives of this study were, first, to determine the relationship between disordered eating behaviours among female university students and sociocultural factors, such as the use of social network sites, beauty ideals, body satisfaction, body image and the body image desired to achieve and, second, to determine whether there is a sensitive relationship between disordered eating attitudes, addiction to social networks, and testosterone levels as a biological factor. The data (N = 168) was obtained using validated surveys (EAT-26, BSQ, CIPE-a, SNSA) and indirect measures of prenatal testosterone. The data was analysed using chi-square, Student’s t-test, correlation tests and logistic regression tests. The results showed that disordered eating attitudes were linked to self-esteem (p < 0.001), body image (p < 0.001), body desired to achieve (p < 0.001), the use of social media (p < 0.001) and prenatal testosterone (p < 0.01). The findings presented in this study suggest a relationship between body image, body concerns, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating attitudes among college women

A Bibliometric Analysis of the Health Field Regarding Social Networks and Young People

Social networks have historically been used to share information and support regarding health-related topics, and this usage has increased with the rise of online social media. Young people are high users of social media, both as passive listeners and as active contributors. This study aimed to map the trends in publications focused on social networks, health, and young people over the last 40 years. Scopus and the program VOSviewer were used to map the frequency of the publications, keywords, and clusters of researchers active in the field internationally. A structured keyword search using the Scopus database yielded 11,966 publications. The results reveal a long history of research on social networks, health, and young people. Research articles were the most common type of publication (68%), most of which described quantitative studies (82%). The main discipline represented in this literature was medicine, with 6062 documents. North American researchers dominate the field, both as authors and partners in international research collaborations. The present article adds to the literature by elucidating the growing importance of social networks in health research as a topic of study. This may help to inform future investments in public health research and surveillance using these novel data sources