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Background: Psychological distress impacts 35–40% of cancer patients, significantly affecting their quality of life, treatment adherence, and relationships with healthcare professionals. Given this, there is a critical need to enhance nursing competencies to effectively monitor and address psychological distress. Previous studies have highlighted discrepancies in capabilities based on nurses' training status, emphasizing trained nurses' critical role in providing appropriate psycho–social referrals. Objective: To evaluate the impact that trained nurses have on the detection of distress and the timely referral of patients for a psycho–oncology consultation. Methods: A blinded, random, descriptive, monocentric pilot study was conducted. The participants were adult patients in Day Hospital 1 of the National Cancer Institute Regina Elena, Rome, irrespective of illness stage. Tools used included a socio-demographic and clinical data form, distress thermometer (DT), and visual analogic scale (VAS). Patients were randomly divided into two groups: Group A, where questionnaires were administered by trained nurses, and Group B, where non-trained nurses administered questionnaires. Nurses indicated whether patients needed a psycho–oncology consultation. All patients were then seen by a psycho–oncology specialist to determine whether the nurse's referral was appropriate. Patients and psycho–oncologists were all unaware of the nurses' training status. The effectiveness of the training was measured by the degree of agreement between evaluators. Results: This study involved 20 patients and four nurses. The average DT score was 5, mainly related to physical and emotional problems. Agreement between evaluators was higher in the trained nurses' group. Conclusions: Specific training on DT enabled nurses to acquire advanced skills to accurately refer patients for psychological consultations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nursing care dependency is a key, yet under‐studied, nursing phenomenon. Patients in intensive care units are highly dependent on nursing care. Patients find dependency challenging, experiencing feelings of powerlessness and shame. The nurse–patient care relationship can influence patients' perception of dependency. Understanding how nurses experience their care for dependent patients is crucial, as nurses might not always grasp the impact of their actions on patients' dependency experiences. Aim: To explore and interpret ICU nurses' perceptions of patients' nursing care dependency and their experiences in caring for nursing care‐dependent patients. Study Design: A qualitative interpretative phenomenological study inspired by Merleau‐Ponty's philosophical stance was conducted using focus groups with nurses who had been caring for adult patients for at least 6 months in ICUs of two hospitals. Data analysis followed Smith et al.'s guidance. Researchers immersed themselves in the transcripts, noted individual's experiences before transitioning to shared insights, coded significant phrases and generated themes and superordinate themes. Results: Four focus groups were conducted with 18 nurses with widely ranging ages and work experience. Four superordinate themes emerged: 'Time and context define dependency', 'Empathetic relationships help nurses understand patients' experience of dependency', 'Trusting nurse‐patient relationships change the dependency experience' and 'Nurses' skills help patients to recover independence'. Conclusion: This study increases critical care nurses' awareness of the overlooked phenomenon of caring for nursing care dependent patients and offers them an opportunity to reflect on their care for dependent patients and adapt it to patients' experiences. Further studies are needed with nurses and patients in different ICUs, cultures and countries, to gain a broader picture of experiences of nursing care dependency. Relevance to Clinical Practice: ICU nurses need strong relational skills to offer high‐quality care for dependent patients, facilitating meaningful nurse–patient relationships based on empathy and trust. These relationships can significantly impact the patient's experience of dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aims to investigate hospital nurses' perceptions of illness due to environmental exposures. Design: A qualitative exploratory study, designed in accordance with the specified reporting guidelines for qualitative research. Sample: Nurses working in Italian hospitals. Methods: Semi‐structured interviews were used to collect data, then evaluated using the framework analysis methodology. Data collection was from January to June 2022 and analysed from July to September 2022. Results: Forty‐two nurses were interviewed. Data analysis revealed three themes: 1) the concept of disease in relation to environmental exposure; 2) the dangers of chemical and physical substances; 3) environmental changes cause concern and a sense of helplessness for the future. Conclusions: The results suggest the need for specific training on topics related to environmental disease types, environmental exposure, preventive measures, health promotion, and environmental impact to support professional development and support nurses in the management of this important aspect of health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Clinical reasoning for nurses is considered a valuable component of clinical nursing competencies, but there are few tools to ascertain this. This study tested the Italian Nurses Clinical Reasoning Scale (I-NCRS) psychometric properties based on Levett-Jones' theoretical clinical reasoning model. Methods: Content, face, and construct characteristics were ascertained for their validity. The study had a two-phase design: (a) content and face validity and (b) construct validity. Results: Three factors emerged from the factorial analysis of our reference sample: nursing problems of health, nursing information of health, and nursing assessment of health. Conclusions: The scale represents a valuable tool for the self-assessment of the clinical reasoning skills of nurses. I-NCRS showed evidence of validity and reliability, being also useful for assessing clinical reasoning for educational and research purposes among Italian nurses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease considered a leading cause of functional disability. Its treatment is based on a combination of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions, but the role of these latter is still debated. This overview of systematic reviews aimed at evaluating the short-term efficacy of different thermal modalities in patients with osteoarthritis. We searched PubMed, Scopus, CINHAL, Web of Science, ProQuest and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from inception until October 2020, with no language restrictions. We selected the following outcomes a priori: pain, stiffness and quality of life. Seventeen systematic reviews containing 27 unique relevant studies were included. The quality of the reviews ranged from low to critically low. Substantial variations in terms of interventions studied, comparison groups, population, outcomes and follow-up between the included SRs were found. From a re-analysis of primary data, emerged that balneotherapy was effective in reducing pain and improving stiffness and quality of life, mud therapy significantly reduced pain and stiffness, and spa therapy showed pain relief. However, the evidence supporting the efficacy of different thermal modalities could be seriously flawed due to methodological quality and sample size, to the presence of important treatment variations, and to the high level of heterogeneity and the absence of a double-blind design. There is some encouraging evidence that deserves clinicians' consideration, suggesting that thermal modalities are effective on a short-term basis for treating patients with AO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In oncology, adherence to oral antineoplastic medication is a key element of treatment, on which the success of any therapeutic intervention depends. Given their widespread use in clinical practice, it is important to identify tools that can facilitate the monitoring and self-management of the patient at home, to avoid the consequences of employing ineffective treatment. One of the tools available today to take action on this phenomenon is mobile health technology. The aim of this review is to describe published studies relating to the use of mobile health to promote adherence to oral antineoplastic medication. This scoping review was conducted using the framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley, adapted according to Levac et al. Of 1320 articles identified, only seven met the eligibility criteria and therefore were included in the review. All seven articles involved the use of digital means to measure adherence to treatment, patient satisfaction, acceptability and feasibility of the digital means used, and presence of symptoms, but not the effectiveness of the digital instrument used. In conclusion, the use of digital means to assist adherence of cancer patients to oral antineoplastic medication is widely recognized, but its effectiveness in clinical practice is poorly supported by the nature of the published studies., (Copyright © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The clinical reasoning is a process in which nurses collect ideas, process information, they come to understand the problem or the patient's situation by planning and implementing interventions, evaluating the results., Study Design: The aim of this study is to perform linguistic and cultural validation for the Italian context of the Nurse Clinical Reasoning Scale (NCRS)., Methods: Transcultural adaptation to develop the Italian version of the questionnaire was carried out following the guidelines proposed by Beaton and collaborators in 2000., Results: The results showed that the Italian version of the instrument is reliable both showing a good internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha = 0.90), and a good stability (ICC = 0.90; CI = 0.87-0.92) and can be proposed as an interesting means of evaluating nursing students in the course of clinical placements and nurses in their daily clinical practice., Conclusions: Having tools available in Italian promotes the implementation of new research projects in various areas, such as health, in order to ensure the centrality of the patient in the care process.