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BackgroundPatient engagement with diabetes self-care is critical to reducing morbidity and mortality. Social media is one form of digital health that is available for diabetes self-care, although its use for peer-to-peer communication has not been systematically described, and its potential to support patient self-care is unclear.ObjectiveThe primary aim of this systematic review was to describe the use of social media among patients (peer-to-peer) to manage diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The secondary aim was to assess patients' clinical outcomes, behavioral outcomes, quality of life, and self-efficacy resulting from peer-to-peer social media use.MethodsWe conducted a literature search in the following databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PsycINFO (January 2008 through April 2019). The inclusion criteria were quantitative studies that included peer-to-peer use of social media for self-care of diabetes mellitus (with all subtypes) and CVD, including stroke.ResultsAfter an initial yield of 3066 citations, we selected 91 articles for a full-text review and identified 7 papers that met our inclusion criteria. Of these, 4 studies focused on type 1 diabetes, 1 study included both type 1 and 2 diabetes, and 2 studies included multiple chronic conditions (eg, CVD, diabetes, depression, etc). Our search did not yield any individual studies on CVD alone. Among the selected papers, 2 studies used commercial platforms (Facebook and I Seek You), 3 studies used discussion forums developed specifically for each study, and 2 surveyed patients through different platforms or blogs. There was significant heterogeneity in the study designs, methodologies, and outcomes applied, but all studies showed favorable results on either primary or secondary outcomes. The quality of studies was highly variable.ConclusionsThe future landscape of social media use for patient self-care is promising. However, current use is nascent. Our extensive search yielded only 7 studies, all of which included diabetes, indicating the most interest and demand for peer-to-peer interaction on diabetes self-care. Future research is needed to establish efficacy and safety in recommending social media use among peers for diabetes self-care and other conditions.

Safely anesthetizing patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) can be intimidating, particularly for novice anesthesia providers. Given the variety of complex issues anesthesia providers may encounter with patients, it would be impractical to expect expertise in every population. To combat the inevitable loss of knowledge, education experts recommend active learning techniques, including test-enhanced learning, active recall, and spaced repetition. To that end, this research team created an LVAD Assessment for Anesthesia, or LAmA tool, to be evaluated for content validity by eight experts. The LAmA tool and content validity assessment were distributed to two anesthesiologists and four nurse anesthetists in the cardiothoracic anesthesia department at a hospital in Northeast Ohio, as well as to two outside nursing research experts. Results were analyzed by the research team and the content validity index (CVI) was determined. A CVI of at least 0.875 was required for the tool to be valid, and final scores in the categories of relevance, clarity, and importance were all ≥ 0.9. The data from the validated tool were used to create a pocket reference on LVAD anesthetic management. Both educational assessments and pocket references have the potential to positively im [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs mediate the physical and emotional impact of cardiac events. Women are less likely to be referred to and complete CR programs than men resulting in poorer cardiac outcomes. Methods: This qualitative descriptive study examined women's reasons and barriers for attending and completing a CR program. Findings suggest women choose to complete CR programs based on their experiences while attending the program. Discussions of strategies for enrolling women and maximizing their experiences are identified as well as areas of future research for improving women's experiences of cardiac rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incidental findings are commonly found during routine, diagnostic imaging. Prevalence varies widely; but research shows that follow-up of incidental findings is poor. Further, incidental findings that are likely to change clinical outcomes are not necessarily more likely to receive follow-up care. It has also been shown that both lack of management and over-management can lead to poor patient outcomes. Innovative solutions are needed to ensure timely follow-up care and appropriate management of incidental findings. One possible solution to address low clinical follow-up care of incidental findings is to employ advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) as incidental findings coordinators. The coordinator would have the potential to improve communication and defragment care. The aims of this article are to discuss the problem of low follow-up care of clinically relevant incidental findings and to present a recommendation for a new role for APRNs to address the problem. In this article the authors will review the literature, describe the search for answers, present a new role for the APRN as an incidental findings coordinator, and conclude that the APRN incidental findings coordinator role has the potential to solve many problems encountered in current practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inefficiencies in transitions in care impact the flow of patients from the emergency department to other units. Nurses' perceptions of patient transitions may provide valuable information to identify gaps in patient flow. This article reports findings from a cross-sectional study using the Hospital Survey on Culture of Transitions in Patient Care (H-CulT). The study aim was to describe nurse perceptions of patient transitions, and compare throughput metrics and nurse demographic characteristics. Linear regression models were used to evaluate nurses' perceptions related to demographics and throughput metrics. Alpha was 0.05. Of 148 surveys, 53.4% of respondents were white, 68.2% were non-Hispanic, and 82.4% were female. H-CulT subscale scores for Busy Workload , Unit Leadership , and Priority of Patient Care were higher for nurse managers compared to clinical nurses, revealing the importance of nurses' perceptions in these areas and an opportunity to engage clinical nurses in patient transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The adherence to cardiac rehabilitation is low. Social media has been used to improve motivation and cardiac rehabilitation completion, but the authors did not find Facebook interventions for these purposes in the literature., Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Facebook Intervention (Chat) for affecting changes in exercise motivation and need satisfaction and adherence to cardiac rehabilitation., Methods: The Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-3 and Psychological Need Satisfaction for Exercise were used to measure motivation and need satisfaction (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) before and after the Chat intervention. To support need satisfaction, the intervention included educational posts, supportive posts, and interaction with peers. The feasibility measures included recruitment, engagement, and acceptability. Groups were compared using analysis of variance and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Paired t tests were used to assess motivation and need satisfaction change, and Pearson or Spearman correlations were used for continuous variables., Results: A total of 32 participants were lost to follow-up and 22 were included in the analysis. Higher motivation at intake (relative autonomy index 0.53, 95% CI 0.14-0.78; P=.01) and change in need satisfaction-autonomy (relative autonomy index 0.61, 95% CI 0.09-0.87; P=.02) were associated with more completed sessions. No between-group differences were found. Engagement included "likes" (n=210) and "hits" (n=157). For acceptability, mean scores on a 1 (not at all) to 5 (quite a bit) Likert scale for feeling supported and in touch with providers were 4.6 and 4.4, respectively., Conclusions: Acceptability of the Chat group was high; however, intervention feasibility could not be determined due to the small sample size. Those with greater motivation at intake completed more sessions, indicating its importance in cardiac rehabilitation completion. Despite challenges with recruitment and engagement, important lessons were learned., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02971813; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02971813., International Registered Report Identifier (irrid): RR2-10.2196/resprot.7554., (©Lee Anne Siegmund, James F Bena, Shannon L Morrison. Originally published in JMIR Cardio (https://cardio.jmir.org), 15.06.2023.)