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Whilst the link between young people's well‐being and the creative arts is strengthening, there is a lack of research which focuses on the roles that artists play to help teachers and parents engage young people in the creative arts. This paper explores the benefits of and barriers to artists working in education in six European countries (England, Iceland, Germany, Greece, Italy and Austria). Using the '5A's model of creativity' and a view of professional development taking place within 'landscapes of practice', the data were analysed in order to explain how creativity is operationalised in the different contexts. Our study highlights the need for policy at a national and transnational level to value the creative arts in order to help teachers cross boundaries and utilise the full potential of the creative arts in schools. Our study also highlights that further research is needed into how artists shape teaching and curriculum and how schools engage parents in the creative arts in order to build an evidence‐base relating to young people's positive mental health that can affect policy at these levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Splenectomy/asplenia is a condition associated with immune‐compromission and specific vaccines are recommended for these patients, including the anti‐COVID‐19 vaccine. Among the high‐risk group for which vaccination was prioritized in Italy, the immunocompromised patients after therapies or treatments were included. The Apulian regional archive of hospital discharge forms was used to define the list of splenectomized Apulian inhabitants, considering data from 2015 through 2020. The overall vaccination status of asplenic patients was assessed via data collected from the Regional Immunization Database. The history of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and the infectious disease outcomes were extracted from the Italian Institute of Health platform "Integrated surveillance of COVID‐19 cases in Italy". 1219 Apulian splenectomized inhabitants were included; the incidence rate of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection was 15.0 per 100 persons‐year with a proportion of re‐infection equal to 6.4%; the proportion of hospitalization was 2.9%, with a case‐fatality rate of 2.6%. The vaccine coverage (VC) for the anti‐COVID‐19 vaccine basal routine was 64.2%, for the first booster dose was 15.4%, and for the second booster dose was 0.6%. A multifactorial approach is needed to increase the vaccination uptake in this sub‐group population and to increase the awareness of the asplenia‐related risks to patients and health personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Fulfilling educational needs in pain management should be a lifelong process, even involving physicians board certified in pain medicine such as the anesthesiologists/pain therapists. The aim of the study was to investigate Italian anesthesiologists' self‐perceived competency, confidence, and interest to attend educational programs in relation to their seniority in pain management. Methods: SIAARTI members were sent an online questionnaire addressing the following items: education, skills (both soft and hard skills), technical expertise and engaged to participate between December 2020 and January 2021. Participants rated their competence based on the following range (no knowledge, knowledge, competence) while their agreement to attend educational courses was assessed using a 5‐point Likert‐type scale. Results: Less than one in four participants declare to be dedicated to pain medicine activity with greater proportion among older (over 61 years) compared to younger ones (31–40 years). Regarding cancer and chronic noncancer pain a positive gradient of self‐perceived competence has been observed in relation to seniority. In contrast, no gradient of self‐perceived competence was reported about musculoskeletal and low back pain. Participants self‐perceived competent in both opioid use and prevention of opioid‐related adverse event while feeling less competent when managing drugs with abuse potential. The lowest competence has been observed in pediatric pain along with the lowest interest to attend educational courses. Participants were much and very much interested to education regarding cancer, noncancer, musculoskeletal, and low back pain, invasive analgesic procedures but less regarding items for which they declared less competence, such as use of pain scales, pain management in children, and use of drugs with abuse potential. Conclusion: This work provides first evidence of a summative assessment of competency and related educational needs' profile of anesthesiologists/pain therapists thus paving the way for developing a nationwide educational program to improve chronic pain care in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The authors discuss the role of peer networks in shaping the decision to enroll at university. Using panel data from Italy, they apply innovative statistical methods to study a sample of students as they complete high school and decide whether or not to attend university. Methods: The authors use simultaneous autoregressive (SAR) models to analyze a four‐wave panel database of Italian students. They explore the role of endogenous, exogenous, and correlated peer effects in relation to the decision about whether or not to enroll at university. Results: The findings suggest that endogenous peer effects exert a significant influence on the probability of enrolling after controlling for homophilous preferences and a range of variables. Exogenous peer effects do not appear to influence this outcome. Sensitivity tests suggest that the results of the estimation are robust to selection. Conclusions: This article contributes to an emerging body of literature on the use of SAR models to study peer effects, illustrating its considerable potential in the study of educational outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite rhetorical agreement amongst all major political‐economic actors around the importance of education policy in the knowledge economy, the reform of education systems remains a complex political endeavour. The article explores the politics of education policy by focussing on its multi‐dimensionality. It argues that education systems simultaneously perform three functions: they distribute educational opportunities; they provide skills to the labour market; and they are a source of public sector employment. It is argued that policy change in one dimension is likely to trigger spill‐over effects onto the others, giving rise to complex political dynamics at the intersection of the parliamentary and corporatist arenas. It is in this context that centre‐left and centre‐right parties (try to) pursue distributional goals whilst being pressured by different interest groups. The theoretical argument is explored empirically through a detailed reconstruction of over a decade of intense reform activity in the Italian upper‐secondary education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Undue concerns about the consequences of fever and its inappropriate management have been documented worldwide among physicians. However, no data exist on medical students. We investigated the perception, knowledge and attitude towards childhood fever among final‐year medical students. Methods: Between June and September 2021, final‐year medical students of six Italian universities were invited to complete an online survey on their conceptions and attitude towards pharmacological and non‐pharmacological management of childhood fever. History of relevant personal or second‐hand experience with childhood fever was also addressed. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. Results: Of 1095 (69%) final‐year medical students, 756 completed the survey. Many students believe that high fever might cause brain damage, would recommend physical methods and alternate two drugs for fever. Most students do not think that fever has mainly beneficial effects. In Northern Italy, students are less likely to believe that fever might lead to brain damage (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.33–0.94), and in Southern Italy students are more likely to advise physical methods (OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.22–2.57) and less likely to believe that fever has mainly beneficial effects (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.39–0.77). History of a relevant personal episode of fever during childhood was not associated with these outcomes. Conclusions: Misconceptions about fever are common among final‐year medical students in Italy. Cultural factors rather than individually learned traits might underlie these beliefs. Medical students are a promising target for educational interventions to improve childhood fever management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A'Hearn, Delfino, and Nuvolari recently argued in this journal that the indicator function of age heaping for education, and numeracy in particular, is quite limited. In contrast, we show empirically that by applying the methodological elements that were developed over the past decade, age‐heaping‐based numeracy research can be an important tool for economic history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children who develop Acute Kidney Injury may start renal replacement therapy (RRT) in Paediatric or Neonatal Intensive Care Units (hereafter PICU or NICU); RRT can be delivered either by paediatric dialysis nurses or by critical care nurses. In both case, nurses devoted to this task must have a high level of competence in providing care to children receiving haemodialytic treatment in a specific technological environment. Aim: The objective of this research was to investigate which models have been adopted to organize nursing care in RRT management in different Italian PICU and NICU, and to explore the training of ICU nurses on the management of RRT. Methods: A multi‐centre survey was conducted through an online questionnaire directed to the Italian PICU and NICU nurse coordinators. Results: A total of 15 Intensive Care Units (12 PICU and 3 NICU) in 12 hospitals were involved. The mean nurse/patient ratio in these units is 1:3. In 72.7% of critical care units, dialysis treatment is delivered by critical care nurses belonging to the unit itself, while in 27.3% of units paediatric dialysis nurses are in charge of dialysis treatment in collaboration with critical care nurses. In 25% of surveyed units there is some structured form of collaboration between Paediatric Dialysis nurses and critical care nurses. However, 75% of units did not respond to this specific question. The different units adopt various forms of RRT training for nursing staff. Conclusion: The scenario resulting from this analysis showed how in our sample of Italian hospitals there is no standard practice for RRT nursing management. In addition, although various forms of training for nursing staff exist, a proper educational programme and/or a standardized specific training about RRT management for nursing staff is not in place in the surveyed hospitals. Relevance to clinical practice: The lack of standardized protocols or guidelines for RRT delivery to critically ill children can compromise their safety. The structuring of these protocols and the production of best clinical practice guidelines would allow standardization of the nursing management of the RRT and of the corresponding training. This may help to provide the proper care and to guarantee the patients' safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]