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Objective The elderly population has proliferated worldwide. The empty-nest family pattern has become predominant among the aging people, and they are more vulnerable to the development of cognitive disorders. However, there is no standardized service in the community nursing care that includes procedures on how to improve the cognitive function of the elderly. Meanwhile, the booming number of empty-nest elderly stimulates the community nurses to assume the responsibility for their care. All of these bring more difficulties and opportunities for community nurses who are dedicated to the prevention of geriatric cognitive disorders. Methods The authors reviewed the literature related to “empty-nest elderly”, “cognitive function”, “mahjong”, and “Chinese square dance” in the Elsevier, Web of Science (WOS), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Springer and PubMed databases. The study illustrates the utility possibility of an efficient and straightforward method for improving the cognitive function among the elderly in the context of community nursing care in China and even in the rest of the world. Results Mental and physical activity contributes to cognitive fitness and may be beneficial in delaying cognitive decline. Mental activities, such as playing mahjong, and physical activities, such as the Chinese square dance, are common Chinese activities. Both of them can affect cognitive function in some way. Conclusions China is experiencing one of its most severe aging problems. Community health personnel and related professionals may consider using mahjong and Chinese square dance to promote psychological health in empty-nest elderly individuals in the community.

Objective Clinical reasoning is an essential feature of health care practice; it is also a crucial ability for providing patient care of high quality. It has been identified that graduate nurses may lack the clinical reasoning skills to deliver safe and effective patient care. It is therefore of paramount importance to enhance nursing students' clinical reasoning ability. High-fidelity simulation (HFS) is proved to be an effective teaching and learning method, which may also have some advantages over other teaching methods. Methods The authors retrospectively reviewed the related literature, illustrated the application of high-fidelity simulation teaching method in nursing education, putting the focus on the use of it in teaching with clinical reasoning. Results The application of high-fidelity simulation to nursing education can simulate the clinical situation, thus to create a safe, continuous and efficient learning environment for students, and it can effectively improve students' clinical reasoning ability. Conclusions high-fidelity simulation is effective for clinical reasoning teaching in nursing education. The extension of its application in China should be of great value. The relevant further study is suggested focusing on how to overcome its own limitations and have it better applied in nursing education in China.