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Introduction: Nurses providing direct care for patients with COVID-19 may be at particular risk for developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, little is known about how these symptoms are related to workplace and non-workplace impairment. Objective: We examined if PTSD symptoms mediated the relationship between treating patients with COVID-19 and functional impairment. Methods: An online survey collected data regarding demographic and workplace variables, PTSD symptoms, functional impairment, distracted practice, and if the nurse treated patients with confirmed COVID-19. Data collected in November 2020 from 218 primarily White and female nurses were analyzed. We followed the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines in reporting the methods and results. Results: Analyses involved two steps: (a) calculating descriptive statistics, conducting univariate tests, and examining correlations among study variables; and (b) conducting a path analysis examining the mediating role of PTSD symptoms in the relationship between treating patients with COVID-19 and functional outcomes. Univariate tests found that nurses who had a diploma/associate's/bachelor's and nurses who treated patients with COVID-19 reported more PTSD symptoms, functional impairment, and distracted practice compared to nurses with graduate degrees and those who did not treat patients with COVID-19. Compared to nurses who reported having access to adequate PPE, nurses who reported not having access to adequate PPE reported more PTSD symptoms but lower functional impairment and distracted practice. Men reported lower distracted practice scores than women. In step two of the analyses, the path model suggested that treating patients with COVID-19 was indirectly related to both distracted practice and functional impairment through PTSD symptoms. Conclusion: The probable PTSD symptoms and work- and non-work-related functional impairment of nurses working with patients with COVID-19 highlight the importance of developing interventions that help these essential workers address vulnerabilities associated with working during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Staff and equipment shortages and an easily transmissible virus make working in the COVID-19 pandemic demanding physically and psychologically. Nurses on the frontlines are particularly vulnerable to the adversity of working under these conditions, particularly with regard to mental health. Thus, understanding risk and protective factors for this vulnerable and essential group is critical for identifying potential targets of interventions. We had two aims for the current study: (a) to examine work functioning and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress (PTSD) among nurses who did and did not care for patients with COVID-19; and (b) to determine if resilience and social support moderate these relationships. Methods: For three weeks in July 2020, nurses across the United States were invited to participate in an online survey collecting data on demographics, resilience, social support, and screening measures of depression, PTSD, anxiety, and distracted practice. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and hierarchical regression for each outcome measure. Conclusions: Our findings support a growing body of research reporting that nurses are experiencing mental health sequelae during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those providing direct care to patients with the virus. We found that compared to nurses who did not care for patients with COVID-19, those who did reported increased symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety. A novel contribution is our finding that nurses providing direct COVID-19 care also experienced increased levels of distracted practice, a behavioral measure of distraction linking to a potential impact on patient care. We also found that resilience and social support acted as moderators of some of these relationships. Fostering resilience and social support may help buffer the effects of providing care to patients with COVID-19 and could potentially decrease nurse vulnerability to developing psychological symptoms and impairment on the job. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active learning emphasizes student engagement and collaboration instead of more passive learning, which involves primarily listening to lectures in the classroom setting. The benefits of active learning are many with an emphasis on the expansion of higher-order processing and critical thinking skills. Active learning can be found in many best practice approaches in the Medicine, Science, Engineering, and Mathematics (MSTEM) fields. Hack-a-thon and hack events are examples of active learning. These are gaining popularity in research institutes, and specifically in engineering, computer science, business, and healthcare settings. Wikipedia defines hack-a-thon as the blending of the words "hack," referring to exploratory programming, and "marathon," referring to a timed event. This article describes a hack-a-thon approach for active learning in the classroom setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests the associations of self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, perceived barriers, self-regulatory behaviors and social support with physical activity. Data from 116 married community-dwelling middle-aged and young-old couples (M = 58.86 years, SD = 7.16, range = 50 to 75) were collected via mail-in survey. The model indicated that self-efficacy was directly and indirectly related to physical activity through outcome expectancies, perceived barriers and self-regulatory behaviors. The results clarify the associations among the social cognitive constructs and physical activity, and suggest that interventions targeting multiple social cognitive constructs could increase the activity levels of middle-aged and young-old adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]