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Background: A successful public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic pivots on the ability of health care workers (HCWs) to work through immense workplace-related physical and psychological pressures., Objective: The aim of current study was to explore support needs of HCWs during the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore and to identify implications for practice and workplace policies., Methods: A descriptive qualitative approach was adopted in this study. HCWs from a major public health care cluster in Singapore (n = 612) responded to an open-ended question in an online survey. Results were analyzed using content analysis via an inductive approach., Results: Five main themes that borrows from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs emerged from content analysis, with 17 categories under the themes. The 5 main themes are: physical needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs., Conclusions: Findings from this study indicate that there were many unmet needs among HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. An overview of various need areas identified in this study may guide future research and development of interventions to mitigate the negative impact of disease outbreaks on HCWs., (Copyright © 2022 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that greatly impacts one's physical and psychosocial well-being. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and support needs of adult patients living with RA. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted, and 16 adults with RA were interviewed from October 2013 to January 2014. The transcribed data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Five themes were identified: altered physical capacity and well-being, psychological and emotional challenges, changes in social life, coping strategies, and support received and further support needs. This study provided insights into the experiences and support needs of patients with RA in Singapore. Physical and psychosocial challenges experienced by patients affected their daily and social activities. Patients' needs for variety of support should be addressed.

Aim: To provide an overview of evidence on the experiences and needs of adults living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)., Background: Many research have studied the impact of RA on one's quality of life, but no reviews have examined the overall experiences of patients living with RA., Methods: An integrative review was performed to synthesize the experiences and/or needs of adult patients with RA based on articles retrieved from databases of CINAHL, Scopus, PubMed, PsycINFO and Web of Science, and published between January 2003 and March 2014 in English., Results: A total of 38 studies were reviewed. RA has adverse effects on patients' quality of life due to its negative impacts in their physical and psychosocial aspects of health. Patients with RA cope with these impacts using various methods and are frequent users of healthcare services. However, few studies have evaluated patients' further needs in coping or the effectiveness of their coping mechanisms, and patients' experiences with health care., Conclusion: This review provides evidence for healthcare professionals to gain a better understanding of RA patients' experiences and needs. Future studies can explore interventions that will enhance the quality of current healthcare practices and ultimately improve patients' quality of life., Implications for Nursing and Health Policy: Establishing a positive healthcare professional-patient relationship is crucial and healthcare professionals are in a position to provide greater informational and emotional support to patients. Policy makers and healthcare organizations need to look into ways to enhance the healthcare services to better suit RA patients' needs., (© 2015 International Council of Nurses.)

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) in human infections mostly belong to the high-risk, epidemic, clonal complex-17 (CC17) group. Treatment limitation and high conjugation frequency makes it dominant in hospitals worldwide. We investigated positive cultures by Pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multi locus sequence typing (MLST). DNA of two strains (A2 and C) appeared to be clonally related by PFGE. Three strains were of ST 18 type (A1, B and C) and strain A2 is of a new ST 596. This ST 18 type strain found in our study is crucial and is believed to be the first in Malaysia.