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Introduction: The aging of the population requires an appropriate knowledge of the type of care that needs to be provided to inform healthcare policies. In Italy, neither home care nursing, nor the patient experiences have ever been described. Objectives: To describe the characteristics of nurses and care recipients involved in home care. Methods: A descriptive cross‐sectional study conducted in 18 Italian Regions. Between April and October 2023, data from nurses and patients involved in home care were collected through two surveys. Psychosocial conditions in workplaces, missed care, and care experiences were assessed using validated tools. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlations were performed. Results: A total of 46 local healthcare units were included in this study, with a total of 2549 nurses and 4709 care recipients. Nurses (mean age 46.60; 79.48% female; 44.68% regional nursing diploma as the highest qualification) reported good working conditions (42.37; SD = 12.25; range = 0–100) and a high mean number of missed care activities (5.11; SD = 3.19; range 0–9). Most nurses (83.41%) reported high levels of job satisfaction, while 20.28% intended to leave their job. Patients (mean age 75.18; 57.57% female; 36.95% primary school), on the other hand, rated positively the care they had received (8.23; range = 0–10). Conclusions: Despite the perception of critical issues at work and some missed care, satisfaction in nurses and patients was high. These data constitute a preliminary snapshot of the studied phenomena, which will be investigated through more in‐depth analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To discuss the possible contribution of nurses to the Silver Economy. Background: Older people constitute a growing sector of the population of developed countries and there is increasing interest in the concept of the Silver Economy which is the contribution older people can and do make to the general economies of their communities and countries. Sources of evidence: We obtained a range of relevant documents from international organisations and related academic literature. Discussion: There is a range of interrelated health promotion aspects of ageing related to physical health, mental health and cognitive health. Promoting activities related to these could have both direct and indirect impact on the economy in addition to improving the health and well‐being of older people. Conclusions: Nurses have a responsibility to understand the health promotion related aspects of ageing and the contribution they can make to improving the health and well‐being of older people. Nurses could, specifically, promote activities amongst older people that will have an impact on health and on the economy. Implications for nursing: Nurses need to integrate more health promotion related aspects of ageing into their practice and to be able to evaluate the health‐related improvements they make and also to evaluate and indicate the contribution this makes to the health of older people and to the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This article profiles the establishment and initial phase (2010-2014) of a Center of Excellence (CoE) as an instrument to strengthen nursing scholarship and improve health care in Italy. Approach This CoE is unique as a non-university-based center. The National Regulatory Board of Registered Nurses, Health Visitors, and Pediatric Nurses (IPASVI) designated substantial administrative and funding support to the CoE for advancing nursing education, clinical practice, research development, and research training. Boyer's Model of Scholarship underpinned the CoE's conceptual framework, and its operational infrastructure was adapted from the U.S. National Institutes of Health P20 program award mechanism. Diverse methods included sponsoring research studies by nurse-led teams, research training courses, nursing education longitudinal studies, evidence-based practice training, and related pilot studies. Findings Multiple collaborative projects were conducted via the CoE in conjunction with the successful launch of an expansive digital library and communication system accessible to nurses. The introduction of English proficiency courses was also a unique contribution. Conclusions The CoE concept is a potential instrument to strengthen nursing scholarship in Italy with potential scalability considerations to other global settings. Clinical Relevance An overlapping focus on research, education, and practice under the umbrella of nursing scholarship within a CoE while engaging all levels of nursing is important to impact healthcare changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To validate the Staff Attitudes to Nutritional Nursing Care Geriatric scale in Italian, a tool created in Sweden to measure nurses' attitudes towards nutritional care in older people. Background Malnutrition in institutionalized older people is a serious problem having negative impact on patient outcomes. It is reported in the literature that nurses have negative attitudes towards nutritional care. Methods Forward and back-translation were carried out to build the Italian version of the tool. Content and face validity were then examined by pilot study. Test-retest reliability with Spearman's rho (rs) correlation, intraclass correlation ( ICC) and internal consistency reliability with Cronbach's α were assessed. Differences between test-rest were assessed by t-test. Results Linguistic and semantic adaptation of the tool into Italian was successful. Thirty-three nurses skilled in caring for older patients did pilot testing and 46 test-retesting. SANN- G GITA-scale achieved good content and face validity, good internal consistency reliability ( Cronbach's α = 0.85) and acceptable stability [rs = 0.75, P = 0.001; ICC = 0.76, 95% confidence interval ( CI) 0.63-0.86; P = 0.001]. The t-test showed no significant difference between test and retest results, confirming stability of the tool ( t(64) = −0.98; P = 0.33). Discussion The process of adaptation of the scale from Swedish to Italian language was successful. Thus, the SANN-GITA scale can be useful to assess attitudes of nursing staff to nutritional care in the Italian context. Conclusions This tool will allow the identification of areas where Italian nurses have negative attitudes and where to implement strategies to improve overall nutritional care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scand J Caring Sci; 2013; 27; 440-448 'The transit of the food trolley'- malnutrition in older people and nurses' perception of the problem Aims: To investigate how the issue of malnutrition in institutionalised older people is perceived by nurses in a Teaching Hospital in Italy and how some aspects that can prevent malnutrition are dealt with. Background: Malnutrition in institutionalised older people is still a significant and unresolved problem. Many studies have been published on the inadequacy of nutritional care. Nurses play a strategic and key role in the prevention of malnutrition. Knowing how nurses perceive the problem of malnutrition and how they deal with aspects that can prevent malnutrition can be an important starting point for implementing strategies that will improve overall nutritional care. Methods: A Focus Group (FGs) study was conducted in a Teaching Hospital in the north-west of Italy with 33 nurses, who were still working or had worked with older people. The FGs were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Data collection was stopped when we achieved saturation. Two researchers independently analysed the transcription for content analysis and negotiated the emerging categories. Results: Although nurses perceived malnutrition as a significant issue, it was often considered of secondary importance compared with other aspects of care. Food choice, although available, is often limited to very few options, diets are standardised and monotonous and patients must choose 'sight unseen'. Time constraints and understaffing were the obstacles for the identification of the need for nutritional care. Organisational and managerial decision-making did not ensure the provision of high-quality nutritional care. Patients' nutritional status was often not assessed, and tools such as the Mini Nutritional Assessment were not mentioned by the participants. Conclusion: Our study substantially confirmed what is reported in the literature. However, it is necessary to raise nurses' awareness around poor nutritional care to prevent malnutrition in institutionalised older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Ensuring safe healthcare services is one of today's most challenging issues, especially in light of the increasing mobility of health professionals and patients. In the last few years, nursing research has contributed to the creation of a culture of safety that is an integral part of clinical care and a cornerstone of healthcare systems. Organizing Constructs: European institutions continue to discuss methods and tools that would best contribute to ensuring safe and high-quality care, as well as ensuring access to healthcare services. According to the European Commission between 8% and 12% of patients admitted to hospitals in the European Union member states suffer from adverse events while receiving care, although some of these events are part of the intrinsic risk linked to receiving care. However, most of these adverse events are caused by such avoidable healthcare errors as, for instance, diagnosis mistakes, inability to act on the results of tests, medication errors, failures of healthcare equipment and hospital infections. Nosocomial infections alone are estimated to affect 4.1 million inpatients, that is, about 1 of every 20 inpatients, causing avoidable suffering and mortality, as well as an enormous loss of financial resources (at least €5.48 billion a year). Conclusions: The Internal Market Information (IMI) System, developed by the European Commission, aims at contributing to patient safety by means of a timely and updated exchange of information among nursing regulatory bodies on the good standing and scope of practice of their registrants. Through the IMI System, the European Federation of Nursing Regulators will improve its electronic database on nurses to allow national nursing regulatory bodies to exchange the information needed to recognize the nurses' educational and professional qualifications and competencies. This process both facilitates the mobility of professionals and ensures high-quality nursing practice in an even and consistent way across the European Union. Clinical Relevance: On a national basis, nursing regulatory bodies play an important role in ensuring patient safety through high standards of nursing education and competence, whereas on an international basis, patient safety can assured by a better exchange of information between national regulatory bodies on the good professional standing of nurses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the importance of communication in emergency departments (EDs) for patient safety and quality of care delivery. Topics discussed include the lack of substantial evidence related to education, communication proficiency and transferability of communication skills, specific challenges to effective communication within the ED settings related to patients with complex health needs and the importance of effective record keeping and documentation to good communication in the ED.

The aim of this study was to adapt the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA‐TLX) to the home care setting and translate and validate it in Italian.An online questionnaire containing the Italian version of the NASA‐TLX adapted to the home care setting was administered to home care nurses to measure workload. Content Validity Index, Exploratory, and Confirmatory Factor Analyses were used to measure the psychometric characteristics of the modified NASA‐TLX.The modified Italian version of NASA‐TLX_HC‐IT showed good psychometric characteristics in measuring the workload of home care nurses, with excellent fit indices. The reliability, calculated with Cronbach's alpha, was 0.73, indicating adequate reliability. A negative correlation between workload and job satisfaction among home care nurses, as well as a positive association between high workload and intention to leave the workplace, was verified.The modified Italian version of the NASA‐TLX_HC‐IT was confirmed to be a valid and reliable instrument to measure workload in home care nursing. Furthermore, the correlation between workload and the intention to leave the workplace among home care nurses was an important result that community nursing managers should consider preventing the shortage of home care nurses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Introduction Methods Results Discussion Conclusions and implications for health policy To meet the population's needs, community care should be customized and continuous, adequately equipped, and monitored.Considering their fragmented and heterogeneous nature, a summary of community healthcare services described in European literature is needed. The aim of this study was to summarize their organizational models, outcomes, nursing contribution to care, and nursing‐related determinants of outcomes.A systematic review was performed by searching PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and Embase in October 2022 and October 2023 (for updated results). Quantitative studies investigating the effects of community care, including nursing contribution, on patient outcomes were included and summarized. Reporting followed the PRISMA checklist. The review protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022383856).Twenty‐three studies describing six types of community care services were included, which are heterogeneous in terms of target population, country, interventions, organizational characteristics, and investigated outcomes. Heterogeneous services’ effects were observed for access to emergency services, satisfaction, and compliance with treatment. Services revealed a potential to reduce rehospitalizations of people with long‐term conditions, frail or older persons, children, and heart failure patients. Models are mainly multidisciplinary and, although staffing and workload may also have an impact on provided care, this was not enough investigated.Community health services described in European literature in the last decade are in line with population needs and suggest different suitable models and settings according to different care needs. Community care should be strengthened in health systems, although the influence of staffing, workload, and work environment on nursing care should be investigated by developing new management models.Community care models are heterogeneous across Europe, and the optimum organizational structure is not clear yet. Future policies should consider the impact of community care on both health and economic outcomes and enhance nursing contributions to care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the use of mixed-method research (MMR) within health care is growing. It mentions MMR is an interesting approach for nurses because of the richness of using a combined approach that utilizes elements of both quantitative and qualitative methods; and also mentions a useful research method for those nurses who study complex health problems in different population types and groups.

The authors discuss the importance of family-centered care in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Topics covered include the challenges of overcoming the physical setting and technological equipment, the occasional prevention of participation by parents in decision-making, and variations in approaches to global PICU family-centered care due to cultural beliefs. Also noted is the need to develop a shared vision of family-cemtered care based on examples of best practice.

The article discusses nursing education in Italy as of 2016 and whether graduates make a match with healthcare needs in the future. Topics covered include the varying Level 7 education with a master's degree for nurses across Europe, and the current lack of subjects for advanced knowledge and clinical skills in master's nursing degrees in Italy. Also noted is the inadequate patient care activities like comfort and dialogue with patients and family in Italian nursing practice.