Development and psychometric evaluation of the hidden curriculum assessment scale in nursing education: A validity and reliability study.

AIMS: The study aimed to develop and psychometrically evaluate a measurement scale for identifying and assessing the hidden curriculum in undergraduate nursing education. BACKGROUND: The hidden curriculum is a general term for educational information that exists outside of the teaching program and mainly affects students' knowledge, emotions, behaviors, beliefs, values and professional ethics. However, a specific instrument to comprehensively define and assess the hidden curriculum in nursing education has not yet been developed in China. DESIGN: A descriptive and explorative study design was used. METHODS: We developed the initial scale through a literature review, focus group discussion, Delphi expert consultation and pre-survey. From February to April 2023, the data were collected from a convenient sample of 512 nursing students enrolled in five medical universities in China to conduct exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis for validity testing. In addition, reliability analysis was conducted by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficients, split-half reliability and test-retest reliability. The nursing students' responses were evaluated using a five-point Likert scale. RESULTS: The Hidden Curriculum Assessment Scale in Nursing Education (HCAS-NE) was formulated, consisting of 4 dimensions and 35 items. Exploratory factor analysis extracted four factors, with a cumulative variance contribution rate of 66.863 % and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the fit indices values of the scale structure model met the criteria for an ideal level. the Cronbach's α coefficient of the scale was 0.965, the Guttman split-half was 0.853 and the test-retest reliability was 0.967. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that the Hidden Curriculum Assessment Scale in Nursing Education (HCAS-NE) has ideal reliability and validity, which provides a valid and reliable tool for identifying and assessing the hidden curriculum in nursing education.

Effects of the mini-clinical evaluation exercise teaching mode based on nurse-faculty cooperation in Fundamentals of Nursing course: A quasi-experimental study.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the effects of the mini-clinical evaluation exercise (mini-CEX) teaching model based on nurse-faculty collaboration in Fundamentals of Nursing course. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was conducted. A total of 111 nursing students of two parallel classes were recruited from a nursing college in Guilin, China from February to December 2022, and allocated to the intervention group (n = 56) and control group (n = 55). The intervention group received a mini-CEX teaching model based on nurse-faculty collaboration, the teaching-learning process included scenario creation (10 min), inquiry-based learning (30 min), case report (30 min), scenario simulation exercise (40 min), and effectiveness evaluation (10 min). While the control group received conventional teaching method. All students were invited to complete the College Classroom Climate Assessment Scale (CCCA) and the Chinese version of the Competency Inventory for Nursing Students (CINS-CV) before and after the intervention. Course achievement of students was evaluated. After the intervention, the intervention group was asked an open-ended question to explore the difficulties or challenges they had encountered. Results: After intervention, the CCCA score (208.36 ± 23.25 vs. 190.60 ± 28.83), CINS-CV score(106.95 ± 14.48 vs. 99.55 ± 14.60), the oretical exam score (83.01 ± 4.27 vs. 79.75 ± 5.45), and scenario simulation exam score (89.23 ± 3.17 vs. 81.42 ± 7.19) of intervention group were higher than those of the control group (P＜0.01). The open-ended questionnaire survey revealed that the difficulties or challenges faced by the intervention group were mainly related to case analysis, group cooperation, learning material acquisition, and teacher guidance. Conclusion: Applying the mini-CEX teaching model based on nurse-faculty collaboration could cultivate nursing students' competency, build a positive classroom climate, and improve the course achievement of students.

m6A echoes with DNA methylation: Coordinated DNA methylation and gene expression data analysis identified critical m6A genes associated with asthma.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that involves complex gene-environment interactions. Methylation of nucleotides, such as 5-methylcytosine (5mC) in DNA and N6-methyladenosine (m6A) in mRNA, carries important information for gene regulation. Our study screened m6A genes and genes associated with asthma from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases GSE63383, GSE119580, GSE38003, GSE34313, GSE13168, and GSE35643. GSE52778, GSE35643, GSE40996, and GSE64744), and DNA methylation data from GSE85568 and GSE146377. We screened out 6 m6A related genes (FTO, IGF2BP2, RBM15, RBMX, WTAP, and YTHDC1) that were significantly dysregulated in asthma or proinflammatory conditions. A correlation study showed a high correlation between m6A genes and gene pairs such as WTAP, IL7R, and TLR2; RBMX, SLC22A4, IL33, TNC, FLG, and IL6R (|r| ≥ 0.8). Following DNA methylation dataset analysis, we proposed several DNA methylation-m6A modification asthma-related gene axes such as cg19032951/cg15153914-IGF2BP2-SMAD3. Interestingly, several target genes, such as SMAD3, possess the ability to participate in DNA methylation processes, which may reciprocally regulate the expression of m6A genes and form a closed-loop regulation axis. Some classic DNA methylation-related genes, such as TET1, UHRF1, and ZBTB4, were also involved. We identified an integrated profile of m6A gene expression in asthma and proposed a novel potential interplay between DNA methylation and m6A modification in asthma pathogenesis. Using the CMAP database, we found that resveratrol may target these dysregulated m6A genes, and therefore may serve as a potential therapeutic agent for asthma.