ABSTRACT
With the abrupt nationwide lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities suspended face-to-face activities. Some of them decided to continue their academic courses, adapting traditional approaches to online learning. An important challenge was to deliver programming labs over the Internet without important methodological changes, which might imply modifications of the learning outcomes. Most of the existing approaches to remote programming labs are based on asynchronous learning, where students work autonomously and contact the lecturers if they have any issues. The existing systems to provide synchronous programming labs are restricted to a single programming language or application type, and show significant interaction limitations. Therefore, we defined an infrastructure that allowed us to deliver synchronous programming labs over the Internet during the COVID-19 lockdown, as we used to do face-to face. After using it for both programming labs and exams, students showed a high level of satisfaction. Compared to previous years, the use of our system produced no statistically significant difference in student's grades, pass and fail rates, or the number of students taking the lab exam. The network bandwidth, CPU, and memory resources consumed are sufficiently low to have allowed all the students to use it without any issues. Regardless of the pedagogical and methodological approach selected, our infrastructure provides the synchronous and remote delivery of programming labs, similar to the original face-to-face approach. Its features make it appropriate to deliver synchronous remote classes where strong lecturer-student interaction is required, and all the student work can be done with their computers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
AIMS: Nursing is a stressful and emotionally demanding profession. To date, few mental health treatment interventions have been developed for them worldwide. This study aims to explore referral trends in nurses with mental disorders admitted to a pioneer specialized mental health programme in Europe from 2000 to 2019. DESIGN: A retrospective observational study of 1297 medical e-records of nurses with mental health disorders admitted to the Galatea Care Programme in Barcelona was conducted. METHODS: Three periods were analysed: 2000-2006, 2007-2012 and 2013-2019. Socio-demographic and clinical variables were compared. Diagnoses followed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) criteria. RESULTS: Gender and age at referral did not change over time. Self-referrals grew from 85.1% in the first period to 95.3% in the last period; inpatient admissions decreased from 24.1% to 18.2%, although this was not significant; nurses were less frequently on sick leave on admission over time (59.1% vs. 45.7%); they were more likely to have a temporary contract in the second period (9.5% vs. 4.8% and 4%) and prevalence of main diagnosis changed with a considerable decrease in affective and substance use disorders after 2006 and a progressive increase in adjustment disorders during the whole period. CONCLUSION: Free, voluntary, highly confidential programmes for nurses with mental disorders may enhance voluntary and earlier help seeking. These findings can be considered when implementing specialized interventions for them in other settings. WHAT PROBLEM DID THE STUDY ADDRESS?: Nursing is a stressful and emotionally demanding profession. To date, few specialized mental health services have been developed for them worldwide. This study aims to explore referral trends in nurses with mental disorders admitted to a pioneer programme in Europe, the Galatea Care Programme in Barcelona, from 2000 to 2019. WHAT WERE THE MAIN FINDINGS?: The number of referrals to the programme grew especially after the first 7-year period. Admissions were more likely to be voluntary during the last period. Prevalence of substance use disorders at admission dropped steadily while prevalence of adjustment disorders progressively increased over the two decades. Nurses were also less likely to be on sick leave at admission. WHERE AND ON WHOM WILL THE RESEARCH HAVE IMPACT?: Free, voluntary, highly confidential programmes for nurses with mental disorders may enhance voluntary and earlier help seeking. These findings can be considered when implementing specialized interventions for them in other settings.