The workload of nursing: A concept analysis using walker and avant approach

Background and aims: To predict the nursing workforce needed to care for patients in hospital wards, the workload of nursing care should be specified. In this regards, clarifying the concept of "nurse workload" can expand professional contributions of nurses in the health care system. The aim of this study was to assess the multiple dimensions of nursing workload, define its characteristics and functions in nursing, and ultimately provide a conceptual definition of nursing workload. Methods: Walker and Avant (2011) eight-step method of concept analyze was used for clarifying the concept of "nurse workload". Using “nursing” and “workload” keywords, electronic databases including Pubmed, SCOPUS, CINAHL, OVID, Persian Scientific Information Database (SID), Iranian Research Institute for Science and Technology (IranDOC) and MAGIRAN publication database were searched without time limit based on the inclusion criteria, and 8 studies included into review. Results: The nursing workload was defined and the five dimensions of this concept were determined. Workload dimensions were the amount of time, knowledge, skills and behavior (nursing competence); nursing intensity (direct patient care); physical activity; mental and emotional processes; and the ability of nurses to change the treatment plan during their shift. Nursing workload includes direct and indirect activities that nurses do on behalf of the patient. Workload was defined as the need for nursing care or nursing skilled to meet the caring needs of patients. Conclusion: Nursing workload is amount of time and care that a nurse performs (directly or indirectly) to patients, work setting, and professional development. Therefore, the whole time of nursing that nurses need to perform in both of nursing and non-nursing activities should be considered in the nursing workload measurement. By understanding the nursing workload, nurse managers can take appropriate action to improve nurses working conditions. In addition, the fair distribution of the nurse's workload will maximize their productivity

On game value for a pursuit‑evasion differential game with state and integral constraints

A pursuit-evasion differential game of countably many pursuers and one evader is investigated. Integral constraints are imposed on the control functions of the players. Duration of the game is fixed, and the payoff functional is the greater lower bound of distances between the pursuers and evader when the game is completed. The pursuers want to minimize, and the evader to maximize the payoff. In this paper, we find the value of the game and construct optimal strategies for the players

Challenges and Barriers to Providing Care to Older Adult Patients in the Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Research

BACKGROUND: Enhancing the quality of care for elderly patients needs an understanding of the challenges and obstacles experienced by the intensive care unit (ICU) staff in providing care. AIM: To explore the most challenging issues experienced by ICU staff, in particular, nurses, in the care of elderly patients in the general adult ICU. DESIGN: A qualitative research design was employed. The Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) were followed. METHODS: Based on theoretical sampling, we carried out 34 in-depth semi-structured interviews from two medical adult ICUs. Data analysis was carried out using qualitative conventional content analysis. RESULTS: Data analysis led to the identification of three interrelated categories and 12 subcategories. Three main categories were factors related to nurses’ attitude in elderly care, factors related to the system of care, and factors related to the models of patient care delivery. These categories came under the main theme of "Inappropriate and unfair system for elderly care". CONCLUSION: The findings of this study increase scholarly understanding of challenges and barriers to providing care to elderly patients in the general adult ICU. We found that the provision of care to elderly patients is inappropriate and unfair. Various obstacles must be overcome to improve the care of these patients. For example, negative attitudes toward elder care, inappropriate environments, lack of resources, lack of knowledge and skills, a specialized model of care delivery, respect for humanity, care without considering patient age, and separating professional conflicts from patient care. These findings may be used by ICU’s caregivers and managers to improve the quality of care. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Various obstacles were documented that need to be overcome by hospital administrators, nursing managers, clinical nurses, nursing educators, nursing researchers to improve the care of elderly patients admitted to ICU

GENERATION OF DIVALENT DNA VACCINE BASED ON p39 AND shiga-like toxin 2 (stx2) GENES

The virulence factors such as shiga-like toxin (Stx) and immunogenic P39 protein in Escherichia coli and Brucella melitensis are related to disease of digestive system in human worldwide. In the present study the stx2 and p39 genes were cloned into expression plasmid pEEF1D-FLAG (pcDNA 3.1(+)) as a divalent DNA vaccine candidate. The Enterohemorrhagic E. coli ATCC 3081 and smooth virulent B. melitensis strain M5 were obtained and cultured on specific media. Bacterial DNA was extracted from colonies and was used for p39 and stx2 genes amplification by PCR. The amplified products on 2% agarose gel electrophoresis were revealed 285 and 1220 bp fragments for stx2 and p39 genes, respectively. Each amplified genes were T/A cloned into pGEMT easy vector and pGEM-T-stx2 and pGEM-T-p39 were produced. The stx2 and p39 genes were sub-cloned in linearized expression vector (pcDNA 3.1(+)) using HindIII, XhoI and XbaI restriction enzymes and pCDNA3-stx2-p39 was generated. This final construct was confirmed by PCR and enzymes digestion. The results were showed stx2 and p39 genes were sub-cloned, successfully into pcDNA 3.1(+) to generate pcDNA 3.1(+)-stx2-p39 recombinant vector. According to these findings novel recombinant pcDNA 3.1(+)-stx2-p39 construct that was produced in this study could be useful as DNA vaccine candidate in animal models against shiga-like toxin producing E. coli and virulence B. melitensis strains in future studies

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Evolution of Digital Education: A Comparative Study of OpenAI Text Generation Tools including ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard, and Ernie

In the digital era, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in education has ushered in transformative changes, redefining teaching methodologies, curriculum planning, and student engagement. This review paper delves deep into the rapidly evolving landscape of digital education by contrasting the capabilities and impact of OpenAI's pioneering text generation tools like Bing Chat, Bard, Ernie with a keen focus on the novel ChatGPT. Grounded in a typology that views education through the lenses of system, process, and result, the paper navigates the multifaceted applications of AI. From decentralizing global education and personalizing curriculums to digitally documenting competence-based outcomes, AI stands at the forefront of educational modernization. Highlighting ChatGPT's meteoric rise to one million users in just five days, the study underscores its role in democratizing education, fostering autodidacticism, and magnifying student engagement. However, with such transformative power comes the potential for misuse, as text-generation tools can inadvertently challenge academic integrity. By juxtaposing the promise and pitfalls of AI in education, this paper advocates for a harmonized synergy between AI tools and the educational community, emphasizing the urgent need for ethical guidelines, pedagogical adaptations, and strategic collaborations

A Comparative Re-Reading of the Quran Interpreters' Views of the 11th Verse of the Sura Faussilat

Received: 2021-02-23   |   Accepted: 2020-06-12  In the field of Quran scholarship, one of the controversial topics concerns the phenomenon of language as referred to in the Holy Quran, that is to say, whether it was real or symbolic. One of them concerns the 11th verse of the Sura Fussilat which some Quran interpreters regard it as a real language, while others, mostly the modern ones, have interpreted it as a symbolic language. The present paper seeks to discuss various aspects of language and language use and concludes that it has had two levels of signification. The first-rate level is concerned with what the common reader stands, and the second-rate level concerns what the knowledgeable reader may find out therein. In other words, the first-rate level is a symbolic language, while the second-rate level pertains to the real sense of the verse that pertains to percolation of knowledge and understanding in and to all the creation.   © Sharifi, A; Khoshniyyat, Gh.R. (2021) A Comparative Re-Reading of the Quran Interpreters' Views of the 11th Verse of the Sura Faussilat. Biannual Journal of Comparative Exegetical Researches, 6 (12) 161-183.  Doi: 10.22091/PTT.2020.4469.157

Effect of dietary crude protein level on the performance and apparent digestibility of Iranian Saanen kids

The effects of increasing dietary levels of crude protein (CP) on growth, feed intake, feed efficiency and nutrient apparent digestibility on Iranian Saanen kids were studied. 24 Iranian Saanen weaned kids who were 86 ± 3 days old with live weight of 9 ± 03 kg were used in a completely randomized design. There were three treatments (n = 8 kids per treatment). The dietary treatments contained 35% lucerne hay with 65% concentrate supplement that consisted of 14, 15 and 16% CP for T1, T2 and T3, respectively (based on dry matter). The kids were housed in individual metabolic cages. Daily intake and body weight gain were determined and feed efficiency was calculated. Rumen fluid was collected by stomach tube and pH was immediately measured. The results show that, with increasing CP level in the diet, feed intake and body weight gain increased numerically, which was not significant (P> 0.5). Feed efficiency improved with increasing CP level. The effects of treatments on apparent digestibility were not significant (P> 0.5); but, ammonia-N and pH significantly increased with increasing CP level (P<0.5). No significant differences were observed between treatments for body measurement. Therefore, the results of this study show that increasing CP level from 14 to 16% improved performance in the Saanen kids.Keywords: Saanen kids, crude protein level, treatment, performanceAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(26), pp. 4202-420

Design of integrated diplexer-power divider

A new configuration is introduced to integrate diplexers and power dividers. The proposed configuration is based on coupling matrix. The design of the lumped element network is based on addition of an extra term to the conventional error function of the coupling matrix to decouple the two ports of the power divider. An optimized lumped element network is implemented successfully on an EBG based guiding technology known as ridge gap waveguide. The optimization of the physical structure is done efficiently by dividing the diplexer-power divider into many sub-circuits and analyzing the corrected delay response of them

How to achieve a healthy city : a scoping review with ten city examples

This scoping review of the literature explores the following question: what systematic measures are needed to achieve a healthy city? The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests 11 characteristics of a healthy city. Measures contributing to these characteristics are extracted and classified into 29 themes. Implementation of some of these measures is illustrated by examples from Freiburg, Greater Vancouver, Singapore, Seattle, New York City, London, Nantes, Exeter, Copenhagen, and Washington, DC. The identified measures and examples indicate that a healthy city is a system of healthy sectors. A discussion section suggests healthy directions for nine sectors in a healthy city. These sectors include transportation, housing, schools, city planning, local government, environmental management, retail, heritage, and healthcare. Future work is advised to put more focus on characteristic 5 (i.e., the meeting of basic needs for all the city's people) and characteristic 10 (i.e., public health and sick care services accessible to all) of a healthy city