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Background Laughter Yoga (LY) is a group-based intervention involving simulated laughter, gentle stretching, rhythmic breathing and meditation. There is some limited evidence that LY reduces depressive symptoms over the short term. However, the quality of previous LY studies is poor and none involved working-aged people with a clinical diagnosis of depression. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the feasibility and potential efficacy of LY for improving residual mood, anxiety and stress symptoms in adults diagnosed with depression. Methods Fifty participants were randomised to the group LY intervention (n = 23) consisting of eight sessions over four weeks, or treatment-as-usual (n = 27). Participants completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and the Short Form 12 item Health Survey at baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1) and at 3 months follow-up (T2). LY participants also completed a Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ8) at T1 and eleven participated in individual qualitative interviews at T2. Results The LY group had statistically greater decreases in depression and improvements in mental health related quality of life compared to the control group from T0 to T1. The CSQ8 scores indicated a favourable level of satisfaction with the LY intervention. The qualitative interviews highlighted aspects of the intervention that were effective and those requiring modification. Limitations Limitations include the small sample size and treatment-as-usual control group. Conclusions A full scale RCT of LY could be feasible if some modifications were made to the protocol/intervention. The intervention may be effective to improve depression and mental health related quality of life immediately post intervention.

Background The adequate fit of an N95 respirator is important for health care workers to reduce the transmission of airborne infectious diseases in the clinical setting. This study aimed to evaluate whether adequately sealed N95 respirators may provide consistent protection for the wearer while performing nursing procedures. Methods Participants were a group of nursing students (N = 120). The best fitting respirator for these participants was identified from the 3 common models, 1860, 1860S, and 1870+ (3M), using the quantitative fit test (QNFT) method. Participants performed nursing procedures for 10-minute periods while wearing a backpack containing the portable aerosol spectrometers throughout the assessment to detect air particles inside the respirator. Results The average fit factor of the best fitting respirator worn by the participants dropped significantly after nursing procedures (184.85 vs 134.71) as detected by the QNFT. In addition, significant differences in particle concentration of different sizes (>0.3, >0.4, >1.0, and >4.0 µm) inside the respirator were detected by the portable aerosol spectrometers before, during, and after nursing procedures. Conclusions Body movements during nursing procedures may increase the risk of face seal leakage. Further research, including the development of prototype devices for better respirator fit, is necessary to improve respiratory protection of users.

An integrated adolescent curriculum on health and development (ADH) was implemented in a pre-service nursing programme in a university.This study examined the efficacy of an ADH curricular framework in improving the competency variables of student nurses in delivering ADH services.The design of the study was quasi-experimental with the systematically designed ADH training curriculum as an intervention. Pre- and post-tests incorporating an experimental group and a control group for a sample of 101 student nurses were used.Reports from 50 student nurses in the experimental group indicated that there was a significant increase from the pre-test to the post-test phase in the total score for the variables in the ADH Competency Checklist (Z=-5.71, p0.001) and its four subscales: the professional development subscale (Z=-5.37, p0.001), the psychosocial and physical well-being subscale (Z=-5.66, p0.001), the health behaviours and lifestyles subscale (Z=-5.07, p0.001), and the identity and reproductive health subscale (Z=-4.86, p0.001). Significant changes were detected in the ADH competency variables for the control group in the post-test phase.The findings reveal that the systematic integration of ADH in the nursing curriculum had the positive impact of increasing the competency of student nurses for the examined variables.