Association between health literacy and nursing care in hospital: A retrospective study.

AIMS: To describe the health literacy (HL) levels of hospitalised patients and their relationship with nursing diagnoses (NDs), nursing interventions and nursing measures for clinical risks. DESIGN: Retrospective study. METHODS: The study was conducted from December 2020 to December 2021 in an Italian university hospital. From 146 wards, 1067 electronic nursing records were randomly selected. The Single-Item Literacy Screener was used to measure HL. Measures for clinical risks were systematically assessed by nurses using Conley Index score, the Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score, Braden score, and the Barthel Index. A univariable linear regression model was used to assess the associations of HL with NDs. RESULTS: Patients with low HL reported a higher number of NDs, interventions and higher clinical risks. HL can be considered a predictor of complexity of care. CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion of standardised terms in nursing records can describe the complexity of care and facilitate the predictive ability on hospital outcomes. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE: HL evaluation during the first 24 h. From hospital admission could help to intercept patients at risk of higher complexity of care. These results can guide the development of interventions to minimise needs after discharge. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution was required to design or undertake this research. Patients contributed only to the data collection.

Effectiveness and Consequences of Direct Access in Physiotherapy: A Systematic Review.

Background. Direct access in physiotherapy (DAPT) occurs when a patient has the ability to self-refer to physical therapy without physician referral. This model of care in musculoskeletal diseases (MSDs) has shown better outcomes than the traditional-based medical model of care that requires physician referral to access physiotherapist services. This traditional physician referral often results in a delay in care. Unfortunately, DAPT is still not permitted in many countries. Objectives. The primary objective of this systematic review was to compare the effectiveness, safety, and the accuracy of DAPT compared to the physician-led model of care for the management of patients with musculoskeletal disorders. The secondary objective of the present study is to define the physiotherapists' characteristics or qualifications involved in DAPT. Materials and methods. Databases searched included: Medline, Scopus and Web of Science. Databases were searched from their inception to July 2022. Research strings were developed according to the PICO model of clinical questions (patient, intervention, comparison, and outcome). Free terms or synonyms (e.g., physical therapy; primary health care; direct access; musculoskeletal disease; cost-effectiveness) and when possible MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms were used and combined with Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT). Risk of bias assessment was carried out through Version 2 of the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (ROB-2) for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and the Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) for observational studies. Authors conducted a qualitative analysis of the results through narrative analysis and narrative synthesis. The narrative analysis was provided for an extraction of the key concepts and common meanings of the different studies, while the summary narrative provided a textual combination of data. In addition, a quantitative analysis was conducted comparing the analysis of the mean and differences between the means. Results. Twenty-eight articles met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Results show that DAPT had a high referral accuracy and a reduction in the rate of return visits. The medical model had a higher use of imaging, drugs, and referral to another specialist. DAPT was found to be more cost-effective than the medical model. DAPT resulted in better work-related outcomes and was superior when considering patient satisfaction. There were no adverse events noted in any of the studies. In regard to health outcomes, there was no difference between models. ROB-2 shows an intermediate risk of bias risk for the RCTs with an average of 6/9 points for the NOS scale for observational studies. Conclusion. DAPT is a safe, less expensive, reliable triage and management model of care that results in higher levels of satisfaction for patients compared to the traditional medical model. Prospero Registration Number: CRD42022349261.

Standardized Nursing Diagnoses in a Surgical Hospital Setting: A Retrospective Study Based on Electronic Health Data.

Introduction: In electronic health records (EHRs), standardized nursing terminologies (SNTs), such as nursing diagnoses (NDs), are needed to demonstrate the impact of nursing care on patient outcomes. Unfortunately, the use of NDs is not common in clinical practice, especially in surgical settings, and is rarely included in EHRs. Objectives: The aim of the study was to describe the prevalence and trend of NDs in a hospital surgical setting by also analyzing the relationship between NDs and hospital outcomes. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted. All adult inpatients consecutively admitted to one of the 15 surgical inpatient units of an Italian university hospital across 1 year were included. Data, including the Professional Assessment Instrument and the Hospital Discharge Register, were collected retrospectively from the hospital's EHRs. Results: The sample included 5,027 surgical inpatients. There was a mean of 6.3 ± 4.3 NDs per patient. The average distribution of NDs showed a stable trend throughout the year. The most representative NANDA-I ND domain was safety/protection. The total number of NDs on admission was significantly higher for patient whose length of stay was longer. A statistically significant correlation was observed between the number of NDs on admission and the number of intra-hospital patient transfers. Additionally, the mean number of NDs on admission was higher for patients who were later transferred to an intensive care unit compared to those who were not transferred. Conclusion: NDs represent the key to understanding the contribution of nurses in the surgical setting. NDs collected upon admission can represent a prognostic factor related to the hospital's key outcomes.

Effectiveness of the Primary Nursing Model on nursing documentation accuracy: A quasi-experimental study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To analyse the Primary Nursing Model's effect on nursing documentation accuracy. BACKGROUND: The Primary Nursing is widely implemented since it has been considered as the ideal model of care delivery based on the relationship between the nurse and patient. However, previous research has not examined the relationship between Primary Nursing and nursing documentation accuracy. DESIGN: A pretest-posttest-follow-up design was used. METHODS: The study was conducted from August 2018 to February 2020 in eight surgical and medical wards in an Italian university hospital. The Primary Nursing was implemented in four wards (study group), while in the other four, the Team Nursing was practised (control group). Nursing documentation accuracy was evaluated through the D-Catch instrument. From the eight wards, 120 nursing documentations were selected randomly for each time point (pre-test, post-test and follow-up) and in each group. Altogether, 720 nursing documents were assessed. The study adhered to the TREND checklist. RESULTS: The Primary Nursing and Team Nursing Models exhibited significant differences in mean scores for documentation accuracy: assessment on admission, nursing diagnosis, nursing intervention and patient outcome accuracy. No differences between the two groups were found for record structure accuracy and legibility between the posttest and follow-up. CONCLUSION: Primary Nursing exerts an overall positive effect on nursing documentation accuracy and persists over time. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The benefits from Primary Nursing implementation included better-documented patient outcomes. The use of Primary Nursing linked with the use of the nursing process allowed for a more individualised and problem-solving approach. Nurse managers should consider the implementation of Primary Nursing to improve care quality.

Health Literacy in Patients' Clinical Records of Hospital Settings: A Systematic Review.

Introduction: Health literacy (HL) can be defined as the individual's ability to understand and process health information. A low level of HL can be viewed as a stronger predictor of a person's health status than age, education level, and race. Although HL is an important determinant of health, it is often underestimated. This systematic review investigates the evidence on HL assessment in hospital settings. Methods: PubMed Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science and Educational Resources Information Centre databases were searched, with the date last searched being 16 March 2020. The PRISMA guidelines were applied, and the protocol of the study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021236029). The quality of the included studies was appraised using the STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines for cross-sectional studies. Results: Five studies reported HL assessments in hospital patients' clinical records. Four main strategies were used to implement HL routine assessment in hospitals: multidisciplinary teams, stakeholders, training, and monitoring. Different performance measures were used to monitor the feasibility of incorporating HL assessment into electronic health records (EHRs). Conclusion: This review examined how inpatients' HL is recorded in hospital settings. HL is poorly measured in a hospital setting. These results guide hospital leadership in involving nurses in HL assessment implementation in hospitals and support nurses in creating a specific performance measure dashboard to monitor effective HL assessments in hospitals.

Exploring hospital compliance with the primary nursing care model: validating an inventory using the Delphi method.

BACKGROUND: The primary nursing care model is considered a personalized model of care delivery based on care continuity and on the relationship between the nurse and patient. Primary nursing checklists are not often mentioned in the literature; however, they represent a valid instrument to develop, implement, and evaluate primary nursing. The aim of this study was to create a structured checklist to explore hospital compliance in primary nursing. METHODS: The Delphi method was used to develop and validate a checklist. The preliminary version was created and sent to three experts for their opinions. Their comments were ultimately used in the first version, which included four components with 19 items regarding primary nursing characteristics. A two-round Delphi process was used to generate consensus items. The Delphi panel consisted of six experts working in primary nursing contexts and/or teaching or studying primary nursing. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from July 2020 to January 2021. These experts were asked to rate each element for relevance using a 4-point Likert-type scale. Furthermore, the consensus among the panel of experts was set at ≥78%, with selected items being voted "quite relevant" and "highly relevant". Content validity index (I-CVI) and modified kappa statistic were also calculated. Following expert evaluation, the first version of the checklist was modified, and the new version, constituting 17 items, was sent to the same experts. RESULTS: The first version of the checklist demonstrated a main relevance score of 3.34 (SD = 0.83; range = 1.3-4; mean I-CVI = 0.84; range: 0.83-1), but three items did not receive an adequate I-CVI score, that is, lower than 0.78. After the second round, the I-CVIs improved. The main score of relevance was 3.61 (SD: 0.35; range = 2.83-4; mean = I-CVI: 0.93). The S-CVI/UA was 0.58, and the S-CVI/Ave was 0.93. CONCLUSION: Measuring primary nursing compliance should be implemented to provide continuous feedback to nurses. Moreover, utilizing valid checklists could permit comparing different results from others' research. Future research should be conducted to compare the results from the checklist with nursing outcomes.

Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Clinical Care Classification system.

INTRODUCTION: The Clinical Care Classification (CCC) system is one of the standard nursing terminologies recognized by the American Nurses Association, developed to describe nursing care through electronic documentation in different healthcare settings. The translation of the CCC system into languages other than English is useful to promote its widespread use in different countries and to provide the standard nursing data necessary for interoperable health information exchange. The aim of this study was to translate the CCC system from English to Italian and to test its clinical validity. METHODS: A translation with cross-cultural adaptation was performed in four phases: forward-translation, back-translation, review, and dissemination. Subsequently a pilot cross-mapping study between nursing activities in free-text nursing documentation and the CCC interventions was conducted. RESULTS: All elements of the CCC system were translated into Italian. Semantic and conceptual equivalences were achieved. Altogether 77.8% of the nursing activities were mapped into CCC interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The CCC system, and its integration into electronic health records, has the potential to support Italian nurses in describing and providing outcomes and costs of their care in different healthcare settings. Future studies are needed to strengthen the impact of the CCC system on clinical practice.

Diabetic education in nursing: A Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis.

AIM: This concept analysis aims to clarify the concept of diabetic education in nursing to provide guidance for the further conceptualization and clarification of diabetic education in nursing. BACKGROUND: Patient education is a fundamental component of diabetes care. Nurses have taken up a major role in educating people with diabetes to manage their conditions. However, the exact meaning of diabetic education in nursing remains challenging. DESIGN: Rodgers' evolutionary method of concept analysis was performed to explore the concept of diabetic education in nursing. DATA SOURCE: We conducted a literature search on Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), MedLine, and PsycInfo for works published until October 2020 using "patient education," "diabetes," and "nursing" as key terms. RESULTS: The concept analysis revealed that key attributes of diabetic education in nursing include patient-centered and interactive approaches, planning, and problem solving. Antecedents related to individuals with diabetes are their backgrounds, needs, and motivations, while the antecedents related to nurses are experience and attitude. Finally, three different consequences of the concept emerged: an increase in knowledge and skills, a behavioral change, and the improvement of clinical outcomes.

Knowledge of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Aspects of IBD Among Nurses Working in Digestive Endoscopy: A Nationwide Italian Survey.

The importance of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) dedicated nurses in endoscopy services is poorly explored. Non-IBD healthcare professionals who work in endoscopy units may underestimate the discomfort and the secondary psychological distress that endoscopic procedures cause in IBD patients. We performed a nationwide survey to evaluate the level of knowledge of nurses working in endoscopy facilities throughout Italy related to IBD patients' needs undergoing endoscopic procedures. A non-validate 45 items questionnaire divided into six sections was assembled by a group of experts and supervised by nurses and IBD-physicians as part of the board of IGIBD, ANOTE-ANIGEA and AGGEI. The questionnaire was sent to 397 nurses of which 335 (84.4%) responded to the questionnaire. The median level of knowledge registered was 29 ± 12, corresponding to a medium level of knowledge based on the scores described in the method section. One hundred eighty-three nurses (54.6%) reported a high score, 113 (33.7%) a medium score, and 39 (11.6%) a low score. The majority of nurses worked in high volume endoscopy centers, where the 48% were educated in IBD management. A Low level of knowledge was recorded regarding disease severity definition, bowel preparation strategies in severe colitis and evaluation of perianal fistula. This nationwide survey clearly shows that there is a need for endoscopic nurses to acquire specific knowledge in the IBD field. Dedicated pathways for IBD management in endoscopy, continuous educational programs for nurses and further studies to improve nurse education are needed.

Diagnostic features of SARS-COVID-2-positive patients: A rapid review and meta-analysis.

AIMS: To identify the main diagnostic features of SARS-CoV-2-positive patients at the time of hospitalisation and their prevalence. BACKGROUND: Since the COVID-19 outbreak in China in December of 2019, several studies attempted to identify the epidemiological, viral and clinical characteristics of SARS-CoV-2. Given the rapid widespread transmission of the COVID-19 disease worldwide, a more comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of its features is needed to better inform nurses, clinicians and public health policy makers. METHODS: A rapid review and meta-analysis were carried out to identify the main diagnostic features of SARS-CoV-2-positive patients at the time of hospitalisation. All case series, cross-sectional, case-control and cohort studies published from 01/01/2020 till 30/06/2020 in English and Chinese that stated all or at least two of the outcomes of interest (clinical features, laboratory and radiological findings) were included. We performed a random-effects model meta-analysis to calculate pooled prevalence and 95% confidence intervals. Conduction of the review adheres to the PRISMA checklist. RESULTS: 21 studies involving 8837 patients were included in the quantitative synthesis. Fever, cough and fatigue were the most common clinical features, while the most relevant laboratory abnormalities at the time of hospitalisation were lymphopenia, elevated C-reactive protein and lactate dehydrogenase. CT images showed a bilateral lung involvement, with ground glass infiltrates and patchy shadows on most patients. CONCLUSION: This review provides an up-to-date synthesis of main diagnostic features of SARS-CoV-2-positive patients at the time of hospitalisation. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Our findings could provide guidance for nurses and clinicians to early identification of positive patients at the time of the hospitalisation through a complete definition of main clinical features, laboratory and CT findings.

Meta-Synthesis of the Needs of Women Cared for by Midwives During Childbirth in Hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and meta-synthesize results of qualitative studies on the needs of women cared for by midwives during childbirth in hospitals. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Embase, and the Cochrane Library. STUDY SELECTION: We restricted the bibliographic search to articles published in English to July 31, 2020. The initial search yielded 6,407 articles, and after 2,504 duplicates were removed, we screened the titles and abstracts of 3,903 articles. We conducted a full-text review of 89 articles and included 13 qualitative studies about the needs of women who were hospitalized during childbirth and had midwives as their primary maternity care providers. DATA EXTRACTION: We extracted data (e.g., authors, publication date, type of study, sample size, results, and quotes) from the full text of each article into a standardized table. Two authors reviewed all articles using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool to assess study quality and to independently score each study. DATA SYNTHESIS: We analyzed the findings of each study and synthesized them to develop themes. We found 14 major themes that reflected the needs of women during hospitalization for childbirth: Nutrition, Hygiene, Privacy, Information, Bodily Respect, Respect for Social Role, Family Intimacy, Shelter, Pain Management, Partnership, Movement, Reassurance, Support, and Empowerment. We categorized these themes in Maslow's hierarchy of needs to better understand the phenomenon. CONCLUSION: We identified 14 needs that midwives and nurses can meet when they care for women in hospitals during childbirth. Standardized methods to assess these needs and to link them to specific interventions can be used by midwives and nurses, which will likely affect women's satisfaction with their experience and overall quality of care.

The awareness of the IBD nurse position among patients from an Italian tertiary IBD centre.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic condition characterized by acute relapses which have an important impact on the quality of life of patients, both physically and psychologically. In the personalized care of IBD patients, a key role is covered by the IBD nurse, who provides psychological and educational support, as well as a source of contact for all patients. AIM: Aim of the present study was to assess the perception of IBD patients about roles, competences and abilities of the IBD nurses in a specialized center. This is the base for further programs aiming to improve quality of care. METHODS: A questionnaire composed of 15 statements regarding the role of the IBD nurse in their treatment was offered to all patients attending this IBD center over a 3-month period. Results were showed comparing those of patients currently receiving treatment with a biologic therapy to those receiving non-biologic therapy. RESULTS: Patients in this center have a poor awareness of the IBD nurse role, particularly those not receiving biologic treatment. Although most patients are aware that they can use the IBD nurse as a point of contact, the majority are not aware of the qualifications of the IBD nurse to discuss their treatment options and provide psychological support. CONCLUSION: Our survey shows that the figure of the IBD nurse is still poorly recognised by patients, with a likely resultant underutilisation of the services of a highly skilled and educated professional. Several key issues for improvement for the IBD nurse service have been raised by this study and warrant similar investigation in other centres.

The association between personality trait and the development of postoperative complications in enterostomized patients. Systematic review of literature.

AIM: To investigate the presence of association between the personality trait and the onset of postoperative complications in patients undergoing enterostomy packaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Systematic review of the literature. RESULTS: Type D personality traits and those with a low tendency to optimism and temperament (ex. anxiety-depressive syndrome) would seem to be associated with an increased risk of developing postoperative psychiatric morbidity and reduced levels of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in enterostomized patients for colorectal cancer (CRC). Also, type-D personality, has been associated with greater risk of multiple comorbidities including an increased risk of heart failure unrelated to other sociodemographic causes 32-34-35. Personality with little tendency to optimism may represent a predictive factor on the development of psychological suffering one year after the diagnosis of CRC 3. Patients with personality traits associated with reduced levels of life satisfaction and / or reduced coping capacity require longer hospitalization time 26. DISCUSSION: Several studies highlight the presence of association between personality traits oriented to performance, persistence and extroversion and outcomes in various areas of surgery 14,2,-27,30. However, in almost all cases, the outcomes measured do not correspond to the early post-operative complications defined in the inclusion criteria but to mediumlong term psychological and rehabilitative outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: From the review study, no sources were found concerning the association between the personality trait and the onset of early postoperative complications in enterostomised patients, highlighting, furthermore, a lack of data on the subject involving the entire field of abdominal surgery. KEY WORDS: Personality trait, Enterostomy, Post-operative complications.

Enhancing the performance of predictive models for Hospital mortality by adding nursing data.

BACKGROUND: Mortality is the most considered outcome for assessing the quality of hospital care. However, hospital mortality depends on diverse patient characteristics; thus, complete risk stratification is crucial to correctly estimate a patient's prognosis. Electronic health records include standard medical data; however, standard nursing data, such as nursing diagnoses (which were considered essential for a complete picture of the patient condition) are seldom included. OBJECTIVE: To explore the independent predictive power of nursing diagnoses on patient hospital mortality and to investigate whether the inclusion of this variable in addition to medical diagnostic data can enhance the performance of risk adjustment tools. METHODS: Prospective observational study in one Italian university hospital. Data were collected for six months from a clinical nursing information system and the hospital discharge register. The number of nursing diagnoses identified by nurses within 24 h after admission was used to express the nursing dependency index (NDI). Eight logistic regression models were tested to predict patient mortality, by adding to a first basic model considering patient's age, sex, and modality of hospital admission, the level of comorbidity (CCI), and the nursing and medical condition as expressed by the NDI and the All Patient Refined-Diagnosis Related Group weight (APR-DRGw), respectively. RESULTS: Overall, 2301 patients were included. The addition of the NDI to the model increased the explained variance by 20%. The explained variance increased by 56% when the APR-DRGw, CCI, and NDI were included. Thus, the latter model was nearly highly accurate (c = 0.89, 95% confidence interval: 0.87-0.92). CONCLUSION: Nursing diagnoses have an independent power in predicting hospital mortality. The explained variance in the predictive models improved when nursing data were included in addition to medical data. These findings strengthen the need to include standardized nursing data in electronic health records.

Nursing Diagnoses, Interventions, and Activities as Described by a Nursing Minimum Data Set: A Prospective Study in an Oncology Hospital Setting.

BACKGROUND: Oncological diseases affect the biopsychosocial aspects of a person's health, resulting in the need for complex multidisciplinary care. The quality and outcomes of healthcare cannot be adequately assessed without considering the contribution of nursing care, whose essential elements such as the nursing diagnoses (NDs), nursing interventions (NIs), and nursing activities (NAs) can be recorded in the Nursing Minimum Data Set (NMDS). There has been little research using the NMDS in oncology setting. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and distribution of NDs, NIs, and NAs and their relationship across patient age and medical diagnoses. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study. Data were collected between July and December 2014 through an NMDS and the hospital discharge register in an Italian hospital oncology unit. RESULTS: On average, for each of 435 enrolled patients, 5.7 NDs were identified on admission; the most frequent ND was risk for infection. During the hospital stay, 16.2 NIs per patient were planned, from which 25.2 NAs per day per patient were delivered. Only a third of NAs were based on a medical order, being the highest percentage delivered on nursing prescriptions. The number of NDs, NIs, and NAs was not related to patient age, but differed significantly among medical diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: An NMDS can depict patient needs and nursing care delivered in oncology patients. Such data can effectively describe nursing contribution to patient care. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The use of an NMDS raises the visibility of nursing care in the clinical records. Such data enable comparison and benchmarking with other healthcare professions and international data.

Nursing Diagnoses as Predictors of Hospital Length of Stay: A Prospective Observational Study.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether the number of nursing diagnoses on hospital admission is an independent predictor of the hospital length of stay. DESIGN: A prospective observational study was carried out. A sample of 2,190 patients consecutively admitted (from July to December 2014) in four inpatient units (two medical, two surgical) of a 1,547-bed university hospital were enrolled for the study. METHODS: Data were collected from a clinical nursing information system and the hospital discharge register. Two regression analyses were performed to investigate if the number of nursing diagnoses on hospital admission was an independent predictor of length of stay and length of stay deviation after controlling for patients' sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender), clinical variables (disease groupers, disease severity morbidity indexes), and organizational hospital variables (admitting inpatient unit, modality of admission). FINDINGS: The number of nursing diagnoses was shown to be an independent predictor of both the length of stay (ß = .15; p < .001) and the length of stay deviation (ß = .19; p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The number of nursing diagnoses is a strong independent predictor of an effective hospital length of stay and of a length of stay longer than expected. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The systematic inclusion of standard nursing care data in electronic health records can improve the predictive ability on hospital outcomes and describe the patient complexity more comprehensively, improving hospital management efficiency.

Neonatal intensive care parent satisfaction: a multicenter study translating and validating the Italian EMPATHIC-N questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: In Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), parent satisfaction and their experiences are fundamental to assess clinical practice and improve the quality of care delivered to infants and parents. Recently, a specific instrument, the EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care-Neonatology (EMPATHIC-N), has been developed in the Netherlands. This instrument investigated different domains of care in NICUs from a family-centered care perspective. In Italy, no rigorous instruments are available to evaluate parent satisfaction and experiences in NICU with family-centered care. The aim of this study was to translate and validate the EMPATHIC-N instrument into Italian language measuring parent satisfaction. METHODS: A psychometric study was conducted in nine Italian NICUs. The hospitals were allocated across Italy: four in the North, four in Central region, one in the South. Parents whose infants were discharged from the Units were enrolled. Parents whose infants died were excluded. RESULTS: Back-forward translation was conducted. Twelve parents reviewed the instrument to assess the cultural adaptation; none of the items fell below the cut-off of 80% agreement. A total of 186 parents of infants who were discharged from nine NICUs were invited to participate and 162 parents responded and returned the questionnaire (87%). The mean scores of the individual items varied between 4.3 and 5.9. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed and all factor loadings were statistically significant with the exception of item 'Our cultural background was taken into account'. The items related to overall satisfaction showed a higher trend with mean values of 5.8 and 5.9. The Cronbach's alpha's (at domain level 0.73-0.92) and corrected item-total scale correlations revealed high reliability estimates. CONCLUSIONS: The Italian EMPATHIC-N showed to be a valid and reliable instrument measuring parent satisfaction in NICUs from a family-centered care perspective. Indeed, it had good psychometric properties, validity, and reliability. Furthermore, this instrument is fundamental for further research and internationally benchmarking.

Patterns of self-care and clinical events in a cohort of adults with heart failure: 1 year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) self-care is important in reducing clinical events (all-cause mortality, emergency room visits and hospitalizations). HF self-care behaviors are multidimensional and include maintenance (i.e. daily adherence behaviors), management (i.e. symptom response behaviors) and consulting behaviors (i.e. contacting a provider when appropriate). Across these dimensions, patterns of successful patient engagement in self-care have been observed (e.g. successful in one dimension but not in others), but no previous studies have linked patterns of HF self-care to clinical events. OBJECTIVES: To identify patterns of self-care behaviors in HF patients and their association with clinical events. METHODS: This was a prospective, non-experimental, cohort study. Community-dwelling HF patients (n = 459) were enrolled across Italy, and clinical events were collected one year after enrollment. We measured dimensions of self-care behavior with the Self-Care of HF Index (maintenance, management, and confidence) and the European HF Self-care Behavior Scale (consulting behaviors). We used latent class mixture modeling to identify patterns of HF self-care across dimensions, and Cox proportional hazards modeling to quantify event-free survival over 12 months of follow-up. RESULTS: Patients (mean age 71.8 ± 12.1 years) were mostly males (54.9%). Three patterns of self-care behavior were identified; we labeled each by their most prominent dimensional characteristic: poor symptom response, good symptom response, and maintenance-focused behaviors. Patients with good symptom response behaviors had fewer clinical events compared with those who had poor symptom response behaviors (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.66 [0.46-0.96], p = 0.03). Patients with poor symptom response behaviors had the most frequent clinical events. Patients with poor symptom response and those with maintenance-focused behaviors had a similar frequency of clinical events. CONCLUSIONS: Self-care is significantly associated with clinical events. Routine assessment, mitigation of barriers, and interventions targeting self-care are needed to reduce clinical events in HF patients.

[Development and implementation of pediatric and neonatal nursing information system in an hospital setting: the pediatric PAI]. / Sviluppo e implementazione di un sistema informativo infermieristico pediatrico in ambito ospedaliero: il PAI pediatrico.

The Professional Assessment Instrument (PAI) is a clinical nursing information system used in the adult inpatient units of the A. Gemelli university hospital in Rome (Italy). The PAI allows for the systematic collection of nursing care data in order to improve the quality of care. So far, few clinical nursing information systems have been developed in the neonatal and pediatric care setting. The aim of this study is to describe the development and implementation of a clinical nursing information system (PAIped) for the neonatal and pediatric care setting. METHODS: The Patient-and Family-Centered Care model was used to develop the contents of the PAIped. A web platform application was developed for the PAIped. The standard nursing terminology Clinical Care Classification System was used. A decisionmaking support system was developed within the PAIped to support nurses in making diagnoses and in selecting the most appropriate nursing interventions. RESULTS: A clinical nursing information system using a standard nursing terminology was developed in the pediatric and neonatal care setting. After a test phase, the PAIped was implemented in all the pediatric and neonatal inpatient units of the A. Gemelli university hospital. CONCLUSION: The development and implementation of the PAIped in the A. Gemelli university hospital allowed the monitoring of nursing care processes and accurate nursing documentation.

[Standardization of data collection in midwifery care: a literature review]. / La standardizzazione della raccolta dati nella Midwifery Care: revisione della letteratura.

INTRODUCTION: midwifery records currently do not systematically collect data regarding midwifery care provided. Midwifery Minimum Data Sets (MMDS) have been developed to perform uniform and standardized data collection. AIM: to describe features, purposes and use of MMDSs in obstetrical care. METHOD: a literature review was conducted using Medline, CINAHL and Scopus databases. The following key words were used: "data set", "midwifery" and "maternity care. RESULTS: twelve of 752 potentially eligible articles were included. Six MMDS were identified: Nurse - Midwifery Clinical Data Set, Optimality Index-United States, ACNM Benchmarking Data Collection Form, Midwives Alliance of North America Data Set, American Association of Birth Centers Uniform Data Set, Women's Health Care Minimum Data Set. Overall, the purpose of the different MMDSs was to record systematically the midwifery care provided and patient outcomes. The various MMDS had differing features; different data were collected related to women (e.g. socio-demographic data, anamnesis), their newborns (e.g. Apgar score, weight) and the midwifery care provided in different phases (e.g. antepartum, intrapartum). Generally, MMDS were used in north-American countries and their use showed the efficacy of midwifery interventions and the importance of systematic data collection. DISCUSSION: an organized and standardized approach is needed to provide accurate data collection of maternal and neonatal health outcomes and midwifery care. The development and validation of MMDS in the Italian context is needed.