Interpersonal Communication among Critical Care Nurses: an Ethnographic Study

The Nursing Inter Shift Handover: A Moment of Care for Patients and Their Family Caregivers

Precedents: The transfer between nursing shifts must guarantee the quality of care for patients and their families in the hospital. This study aimed to transform the handover between nursing shifts to strengthen the care capacity of patients and their family caregivers, and improve the care capacity of nursing staff, in a Latin American university hospital. Methods: This is a Nursing Methodology Research developed in the following phases: (a) identification of the best handover practices between nursing shifts to apply them within the institutional culture; (2) diagnosis of the transfer between shifts in the hospital; (3) design and validation of the transformation proposal; (4) measurement of transfer indicators; and (5) definition of a path to improve this transfer. Results: The proposal developed focuses on the patient and their family caregiver. The proposed protocol considered the perspective of the care recipients, the nursing staff, and the best available evidence. The overall transfer rating over 10 months went from 65% to 84%. Conclusions: The adjustment to the transfer process made it possible to strengthen the care capacity of patients and their family caregivers and improve the care capacity of the nursing staff.

Confounding factors affecting the clinical decision-making of nursing and midwifery students post-pandemic COVID-19: cross-sectional study in Jordan

BACKGROUND

The ability of a nurse to make effective clinical decisions is the most important factor that can affect the treatment quality. However, several factors can affect the ability of nursing and midwifery students to make effective clinical decisions.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to identify the confounding factors that may affect the clinical decision making of nurses and thus patient outcomes after the COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan.

METHODS

A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed in this study. An online self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 269 nursing and midwifery students selected through purposive sampling, 224 of whom completed the questionnaire. The valid and reliable nursing decision-making instrument, which consisted of 24 items, was employed to gather the data, and descriptive statistics and simple linear regression were employed for the data analysis. Data was collected from November to the end of December 2022.

RESULTS

Among the respondents, 72.8% were female, and the average age was 20.79 years (SD = 1.44). The vast majority of the respondents (94.6%) was unmarried, and 74.1% were pursuing a nursing degree. The simple linear regression analysis showed that clinical decision making had a negative and significant relationship with social media usage of an average of 6 h a day (β=-0.085). Moreover, the male nursing students obtained lower clinical decision-making scores (β= -0.408) compared with the female nursing students.

CONCLUSION

Social media usage and gender have a considerable effect on the clinical decision making of the nursing and midwifery students. Therefore, the confounding factors that can affect the clinical decision making of nurses should be discussed further, and strategies to address such factors should be implemented.

The Relationship Between Nurses' Psychological Well-Being and Their Work Productivity Loss: A Descriptive Correlational Study

Introduction

Nurses play a vital role in ensuring effective patient care delivery and organizational productivity. Hence, it becomes imperative to prioritize their psychological well-being and explore how its impairment may be associated with their productivity loss.

Aims

The study aims to investigate the relationship between nurses' psychological well-being and their work productivity loss by examining how nurses self-reported their own psychological well-being and work productivity loss.

Methods

A descriptive correlational design was conducted at an Egyptian university hospital. A convenience sample of 400 nurses completed two tools: (a) Outcome Questionnaire-45 was used to assess the psychological well-being of nurses and (b) the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment - General Health Questionnaire was used to measure nurses' work productivity.

Results

Among the 400 surveyed nurses, 66.7% reported overall poor psychological well-being. Regarding work productivity loss, 22.8% of nurses missed an average of 974.81 work hours due to absenteeism, and 62.0% lost an average of 10,630 work hours due to presenteeism. Additionally, 75.5% experienced impaired daily living activities. Approximately 13.4% of total working hours were missed due to health problems or psychological distress. Regression analysis revealed that poor psychological well-being significantly predicts work productivity loss, accounting for 2.0% of absenteeism, 11.0% of presenteeism, 17.0% of daily activity impairment, and 9.0% of overall productivity loss, with the model being significant (p < 0.01).

Conclusion

Nurses often experience poor psychological well-being and distress that hinder their daily activities and cause work productivity loss. Therefore, hospital management should prioritize improving nurses' physical and mental health and bolstering their self-efficacy and resilience to minimize the effects of symptom distress on productivity. Investing in nurses' well-being through managerial caring, organizational support, and fostering a supportive work environment are vital strategies for promoting quality patient care and enhancing their work productivity.

A confirmatory factor analysis of the Iranian version of the interpersonal communication skills scale among healthcare professionals

BACKGROUND

Identifying healthcare professionals' (HCPs) communication skills is crucial to improving patient outcomes. Iranian HCPs' interpersonal communication skills (ICS) were validated using a culturally appropriate and indigenous scale.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In November and December 2021, convenience sampling was used to collect data from 170 HCPs. Seven factors were covered by the questionnaire, which consisted of 30 items. In order to validate the scale, first- and second-order confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were performed. Various indices were used during the CFA, including Goodness of Fit Index (GFI), Adjusted Goodness of Fit (AGFI), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Normed Fit Index (NFI), Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR), and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA). The Fornell-Larcker Criterion was used to assess discriminant validity. We analyzed the data in Lisrel 8.8 and SmartPLS 3.2.8.

RESULTS

According to the Q2-index obtained from the blindfold test, the model had 44% predictive power. First-order CFA results showed acceptable indices (χ2 = 767.17; DF = 375; CFI = 0.98; GFI = 0.82; AGFI = 0.80; NFI = 0.97; SRMR = 0.22; RMSEA = 0.068). Furthermore, the second-order measurement model demonstrated adequate and desirable fit indices (χ2 = 797.24; DF = 381; CFI = 0.98; GFI = 0.82; AGFI = 0.78; NFI = 0.97; SRMR = 0.059; RMSEA = 0.068). General and listening skills were ranked highest in the importance-performance map analysis (IPMA).

CONCLUSION

HCPs could benefit from this scale as it can assist them in developing ICS. It is recommended that skills training programs be replicated among different populations to evaluate their effectiveness.

Nurses' professional competencies in urgency and emergency units: A mixed-methods study

to describe the professional competencies of nurses working in urgency and emergency services and to understand their perception of the essential competencies for professional performance and updating. a sequential, mixed-methods and explanatory study, conducted with emergency nurses. To obtain the quantitative data, a questionnaire with 78 items was used, answered by 39 nurses and analyzed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests. In turn, the qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with 17 nurses, whose interpretation was based on inductive content thematic analysis. The data were combined by connection. a high level of competence was obtained in the self-assessment of urgency and emergency nurses in Factor 2 - Relations at work and a lower level in Factor 6 - Professional excellence (p=0.036). The qualitative data corroborated positively with the "Relations at work" factor, identifying the association of knowledge and practical experience, with competencies beyond a scenario devoid of permanent education. despite the high levels of competence identified in emergency nurses, the strengthening of educational strategies favors professional development and recognition.

Viewpoint of operating room nurses about factors associated with the occupational burnout: A qualitative study

Background

Occupational burnout is a mental health problem that among nurses may lead not only to physical and psychological complications, but also to a decrease in the quality of patient care. Considering the stressful nature of surgery, operating room nurses may be at a greater risk. Therefore, the present study aimed to identifying factors associated with the occupational burnout from the perspective of operating room nurses.

Materials and methods

This qualitative study was conducted in Iran in 2021 using conventional content analysis. Sampling was performed using purposeful sampling method with maximum variation. In order to collect data, individual, semi-structured interviews were performed with 18 operating room nurses. Interviews continued until data saturation. Data were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using steps proposed by Graneheim and Lundman. Data management was performed using MAXQDA-2020 software. Four criteria provided by Guba and Lincoln were used to improve the study’s trustworthiness and rigor.

Results

A main theme, 4 categories and 15 subcategories were extracted from the data. The main theme is “gradual burnout due to job tension” and categories and subcategories include organizational factors (manager incompetence, organizational indifference, ambiguity in organizational role, organizational inconsistency), interpersonal factors (surgeon aggression, surgeon authoritarianism, surgeon failure to manage stress, unprofessional behavior of nurses), Occupational nature factors (psychological factors and occupational hazards) as well as individual factors (occupational attitude, unprofessional behavior, emotional involvement, demographic factors, physical factors).

Conclusion

Numerous factors associated with burnout in operating room nurses, which may put the personnel under more pressure. According to these factors, nursing managers and operating room nurses can consider effective strategies to prevent or coping with burnout.

Patterns of communicating care and caring in the intensive care unit

AIM

To explore the perceptions and experiences of nurses in communicating the care and caring in the intensive care unit (ICU).

DESIGN

A focused ethnography.

METHODS

This study was conducted in an Australian metropolitan hospital, in which data were gathered from multiple sources: participant observations, document reviews, interviews, and participant's additional written information - over six months (April-September, 2014). The data were analysed thematically.

FINDINGS

This study addressed inclusively communicating care and caring to patients, families, nurses and other health professionals in ICU. The findings identified main themes concerning the changing patterns of communicating the care and caring in ICU, various patterns of communication used, enablers and barriers of communicating care and caring, and significant issues in communicating care and caring in ICU. Documentation of patients' psychological and emotional needs, and nurses' caring behaviours are crucial. These findings need further consideration from all stakeholders.