The Effects of Mental Health First Aid Preparation on Nursing Student Self-Efficacy in their Response to Mental Health Issues

Background: Past studies show a high prevalence of nursing students experience depressive symptoms at varying levels of severity. Teaching nursing students early in their studies how to recognize these symptoms in themselves, their peers, or clients, and how to take appropriate action, may promote better outcomes. Studies in Australia and England have found that Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) increases nursing students’ self-confidence when supporting those experiencing mental health crises. Limited Canadian studies regarding MHFA training exist. Purpose: To examine the effect of MHFA training on the self-efficacy of nursing students to deliver mental health first aid in a clinical setting and among peers. Methods: Participants for this study included 22 volunteer first- or second-year students from a three-year accelerated Canadian Baccalaureate nursing program. Each volunteer answered three demographic questions and ranked their confidence level on a 100-point scale to perform five situation-specific MHFA actions for each of two scenarios (peer and clinical). Questionnaires were completed by participants before and after attending a two-day, 14-hour training course on MHFA. Results: Paired t-tests performed on each questionnaire item revealed significant increases in confidence levels to perform situation-specific mental health first aid actions for each scenario from pre- to post-training. Cronbach’s alpha results show acceptable internal reliability for the five-item questionnaires (pre- and post-test for each scenario). Conclusion: Mental Health First Aid training appears to improve the self-efficacy of nursing students to deliver MHFA actions to clients and peers experiencing mental health crises. Résumé Contexte : Des études antérieures ont révélé qu’un nombre élevé d’étudiantes et étudiants en sciences infirmières éprouvent des symptômes de dépression avec différents niveaux de sévérité. Enseigner dès le début de leurs études à reconnaître ces symptômes chez eux-mêmes, leurs pairs et leurs patients, et comment agir dans ces situations, pourrait favoriser de meilleurs résultats. Des études menées en Australie et en Angleterre auprès d’étudiantes et étudiants en sciences infirmières ont montré qu’une formation en premiers soins en santé mentale (PSSM) renforce leur confiance en eux lorsqu’ils sont confrontés à une personne aux prises avec un problème de santé mentale. Les études canadiennes sur la formation en PSSM sont limitées. But : Le but de cette étude était d’évaluer l’impact d’une formation en PSSM sur le sentiment d’auto-efficacité d’étudiantes et étudiants en sciences infirmières dans la prestation de premiers soins en santé mentale en milieu clinique et auprès de leurs pairs. Méthodes : L’échantillon de cette étude était composé de 22 étudiantes et étudiants bénévoles, inscrits en première ou deuxième année du baccalauréat accéléré de trois ans en sciences infirmières au Canada. Tous les participants ont répondu à trois questions démographiques et ont évalué leur niveau de confiance sur une échelle de 100 points, pour effectuer cinq actions de PSSM spécifiques à une situation pour chacun des deux scénarios (entre pairs et clinique). Les questionnaires ont été remplis avant et après la participation à une formation de deux jours (14 heures) en PSSM. Résultats : Des tests t appariés réalisés pour chaque élément du questionnaire ont révélé une augmentation significative des niveaux de confiance de démontrer des actions spécifiques de premiers soins en santé mentale pour chacun des scénarios, entre le test pré- et post-formation. Les résultats de l’indice alpha de Cronbach révèlent une fiabilité interne acceptable pour les questionnaires à cinq éléments (pré- et post-test, pour chaque scénario). Conclusion : Il semble que la formation en PSSM ait un impact positif sur le sentiment d’auto-efficacité des étudiantes et étudiants en sciences infirmières, les rendant plus aptes à intervenir efficacement auprès des patients et des pairs qui vivent une crise de santé mentale

Analysis of eight genes modulating interferon gamma and human genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis: a case-control association study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Interferon gamma is a major macrophage-activating cytokine during infection with <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</it>, the causative pathogen of tuberculosis, and its role has been well established in animal models and in humans. This cytokine is produced by activated T helper 1 cells, which can best deal with intracellular pathogens such as <it>M. tuberculosis</it>. Based on the hypothesis that genes which regulate interferon gamma may influence tuberculosis susceptibility, we investigated polymorphisms in eight candidate genes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifty-four polymorphisms in eight candidate genes were genotyped in over 800 tuberculosis cases and healthy controls in a population-based case-control association study in a South African population. Genotyping methods used included the SNPlex Genotyping System™, capillary electrophoresis of fluorescently labelled PCR products, TaqMan^®SNP genotyping assays or the amplification mutation refraction system. Single polymorphisms as well as haplotypes of the variants were tested for association with TB using statistical analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A haplotype in interleukin 12B was nominally associated with tuberculosis (p = 0.02), but after permutation testing, done to assess the significance for the entire analysis, this was not globally significant. In addition a novel allele was found for the interleukin 12B D5S2941 microsatellite.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study highlights the importance of using larger sample sizes when attempting validation of previously reported genetic associations. Initial studies may be false positives or may propose a stronger genetic effect than subsequently found to be the case.</p

Disturbing virtue: representations of the submissive woman

Bibliography: p. 115-12

Bridging Music and Military Mental Health: A Pilot Study Examining Music Interventions in the Military Outpatient Mental Health Waiting Room Environment

Music is shown to assist in reducing patient anxiety and distress in civilian medical environments. There is a dearth of research, however, examining how music therapeutics impacts patients in a military context. As such, researchers at Naval Medical Center San Diego performed a pilot study examining the effect of music on patients at a military out-patient mental health clinic. Using a quasi-experimental design, with quantitative and qualitative measures, the researchers assessed patient perceived \u27pleasantness\u27 apropos of an alternating waiting room environment, with the control group being exposed to daytime television and the experimental group being exposed to relaxing music with nature scenes. In total, 149 participants completed the pilot study; 76 participants formed the control group, while 73 formed the experimental group. The results indicate that military out-patient mental health patients are positively impacted by music interventions in their waiting room experience, as revealed by an increase in reported \u27pleasantness\u27 in the experimental group as compared to the control group. The researchers recommend that further work be performed in comprehending the salubrious effects of music interventions in the military clinical setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved

The concise guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2013/14:G protein-coupled receptors

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2013/14 provides concise overviews of the key properties of over 2000 human drug targets with their pharmacology, plus links to an open access knowledgebase of drug targets and their ligands (www.guidetopharmacology.org), which provides more detailed views of target and ligand properties. The full contents can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.12444/full. G protein-coupled receptors are one of the seven major pharmacological targets into which the Guide is divided, with the others being G protein-coupled receptors, ligand-gated ion channels, ion channels, catalytic receptors, nuclear hormone receptors, transporters and enzymes. These are presented with nomenclature guidance and summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading. A new landscape format has easy to use tables comparing related targets. It is a condensed version of material contemporary to late 2013, which is presented in greater detail and constantly updated on the website www.guidetopharmacology.org, superseding data presented in previous Guides to Receptors and Channels. It is produced in conjunction with NC-IUPHAR and provides the official IUPHAR classification and nomenclature for human drug targets, where appropriate. It consolidates information previously curated and displayed separately in IUPHAR-DB and the Guide to Receptors and Channels, providing a permanent, citable, point-in-time record that will survive database updates