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Abstract Background Palliative Care (PC) is an approach that improves the Quality of Life (QoL). A number of QoL assessment tools have been developed and validated in PC. It is not clear how QoL should be measured in PC practice. A procedure of QoL assessment in clinical practice can be defined as a clinical intervention focused on QoL assessment. This is a typical complex intervention that should be appropriately developed and described in all its components and assessed for its effectiveness. The aim of this study is to define a framework to help researchers to develop and evaluate clinical interventions focused on QoL assessment in PC. Methods A study group of experts in PC and in research methodology was set up to define a framework that would describe the principles of clinical interventions focused on QoL assessment in PC. The study group discussed the WHO Population Screening Principles as a possible useful framework. The new principles had to be developed taking into account the following criteria: 1) specific to PC practice; 2) address a single underlying characteristic; 3) anchored to relevant literature; 4) consistent with the WHO PC definition. With regard to contents and the format of the principles, discussions occurred among the study group members through a cognitive process. Results We reviewed each of the WHO Population Screening Principles and adapted them to QoL assessment, taking into account the defined criteria. As a result, a new framework, the QoL Assessment Principles in Palliative Care was developed. It consisted of 4 sections, for a total of 11 principles. Conclusions The WHO Screening Principles framework was used to outline the eleven essential principles to be considered in developing and/or evaluating clinical interventions focused on QoL assessment in PC. The QoL Assessment Principles in Palliative Care identified could represent a methodological and ethical standard to be considered when developing and evaluating a clinical intervention focused on QoL assessment in PC.

Background: Patient safety is key for healthcare across the world and education is critical in improving practice. We drew on existing links to develop the Shared LearnIng from Practice to improve Patient Safety (SLIPPS) group. The group incorporates expertise in education, research, healthcare, healthcare organisation and computing from Norway, Spain, Italy, the UK and Finland. In 2016 we received co-funding from the Erasmus + programme of the European Union for a 3-year project. Aim: SLIPPS aims to develop a tool to gather learning events related to patient safety from students in each country, and to use these both for further research to understand practice, and to develop educational activities (virtual seminars, simulation scenarios and a game premise). Study outline: The SLIPPS project is well underway. It is underpinned by three main theoretical bodies of work: the notion of diverse knowledge contexts existing in academia, practice and at an organisational level; the theory of reflective practice; and experiential learning theory. The project is based on recognition of the unique position of students as they navigate between contexts, experience and reflect on important learning events related to patient safety. To date, we have undertaken the development of the SLIPPS Learning Event Recording Tool (SLERT) and have begun to gather event descriptions and reflections. Conclusions: Key to the ongoing success of SLIPPS are relationships and reciprocal openness to view things from diverse perspectives and cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The Nurse Forecasting Project in Europe (RN4CAST) [1] has already been conducted in 12 European countries, and it has shown that each additional surgical patient per nurse results in a 7% increase in the likelihood of dying within 30 days of admission, a 23% increase in burnout, and a 15% increase of job dissatisfaction [2]. Since Italy has 6.6 nurses per 1000 inhabitants in Italy, which is lower than the European average (11 nurses per 1000 inhabitants), we conducted the RN4CAST project also in Italy [3]. The main purpose of this study was to measure the impact of nurse staffing on patient outcomes, healthcare outcomes, and job satisfaction. Materials and methods RN4CAST survey including nurses, patients, and hospitals across Italy. Results The results will be officially presented at the RN4CAST@IT Dissemination Conference, which will be held on the 10th June 2016 at the University of Genoa in Italy. Conclusions The RN4CAST project will bring about a significant change in Italy in terms of producing data that measure the impact of nurse staffing on patient outcomes, healthcare outcomes, and job satisfaction. In this way, health policy decision makers will have the information necessary to make informed decisions on nurse staffing levels, by considering nurses not just in terms of numbers, but also in relation to what type of patient outcomes nurse staffing levels are able to ensure in terms of reduced adverse events, complications, readmissions, and mortality, achieving the best cost-benefit ratio. The RN4CAST project will enable to produce a database that can be used to measure the impact of nurse staffing and on patient outcomes, healthcare outcomes, and nurses' job satisfaction. These results can be used to improve the accuracy of health workforce forecasting models and generate new approaches to ensure a more effective management of the nursing workforce across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A large proportion of all pregnancies worldwide occur in young adolescent women, and almost all these pregnancies are unintentional. To address effective educational interventions, it is necessary to assess adolescents' literacy on this topic. The aim of this study was to translate and validate the Italian version of the SexContraKnow instrument., Methods: This was a methodological study. The validation of the instrument was performed following the EORTC Quality of Life Group translation procedure. The process consisted of four phases: translation, content validation, face validation, and pilot test. Data were collected between May and September 2021. The STROBE guidelines were followed for this study., Results: After performing forward and backward translations, we evaluated content validity (Scale-Content Validity Index = 0.91) and face validity. We then conducted a pilot test, test re-test, with 10 students (Cronbach α = 0.928; Pearson's R = 0.991)., Conclusion: The Italian Version of the SexContraKnow instrument has a good level of validation and reliability and can be effectively used by nurses to assess adolescents' literacy about the use of contraceptives and to develop targeted educational interventions. This instrument will help to evaluate the effectiveness of education programmes about health literacy about safe sex and contraception. The attention of nurses should be actively directed towards the process of health literacy among adolescents, in the perspective of a society focused on the empowerment of the population., (©2022 Pacini Editore SRL, Pisa, Italy.)

Introduction: Despite the growing importance of nursing fundamentals of care, nurses often overlook these aspects of care. In this study, we explored why this happens precisely where nursing education is initially provided. In fact, little is known about how undergraduate nursing students perceive the teaching of fundamentals of care and how they value them., Methods: This pilot cross-sectional study used a questionnaire adapted and validated in Italian to assess the perceptions of first, second, and third-year undergraduate nursing students (n=150) in an Italian university about the teaching of fundamentals of care during theoretical lessons and clinical practice., Results: In the first section of the tool, on general fundamentals of care (nutrition, hygiene, mobility, rest and sleep, the expression of sexuality, safety, etc), students reported high levels of agreement for all items: range between 61.2% (95% CI: 57.1-65.3) and 100%.In the section on nutrition, divided into nutrition, oral intake of fluids, and malnutrition high percentages of agreement from 53.1% (95% CI: 46.0-60.2) to 91.8% (95% CI: 87.9-95.7%) were obtained, but for questions regarding 'learning how to document food and fluid intake', first-year students reported low levels of agreement.With regard to the 'Communication Section', the item about 'learning how to inform minor patients' presented low percentages of agreement throughout the three-year programOf the first-year students, between 71.4% (95% CI: 64.9-77.9) and 77.6% (95% CI: 71.6-83.6) declared they had not received instructions about this., Conclusions: Understanding how nursing students perceive the importance of learning of fundamentals of care during their curriculum and how their multidimensional nature is highlighted by teachers and clinical supervisors, will enable educators to address the gaps in the way they taught and prioritized within the curriculum., (©2022 Pacini Editore SRL, Pisa, Italy.)

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is heavily hitting healthcare systems around the world, and nurses are battling in the front line. Previous studies have reported nurses' responses to catastrophic situations, but also interviews released by Italian nurses to the main mass media channels could bear important messages for policy makers and stakeholders. This study describes Italian front-line nurses' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic through television interviews., Methods: This is a descriptive qualitative study. Data were collected through purposive sampling from Italian front-line nurses' interviews during the COVID-19 pandemic. Publicly available interviews between 7th and 29th March 2020 were collected from the websites of national and regional television stations. Thematic content analysis was used to describe, summarize, and classify data into macro themes. The study is compliant with Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research., Results: A total of 21 television interviews were collected from front-line clinical nurses, nursing managers, nursing trade union representatives and representatives of the Nursing Regulator. Thematic analysis yielded four macro-themes: psycho-social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on health professionals; altered patient relationships; personal safety; recognition and promotion of the profession., Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated some problems already present, such as the shortage of nurses, but has also turned the spotlight on the nursing profession. Highly involved and affected by the pandemic, nurses have become better known by the public and often also protagonists of public discussions. It is important that nurses' value as allies of the public emerges stronger from this dramatic situation., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement The authors declare no conflict of interest., (©2021 Pacini Editore SRL, Pisa, Italy.)