Factors associated with depressive symptoms in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: A prospective cohort study.

AIM: To identify the association between possible factors and depression among post-percutaneous coronary intervention patients with acute coronary syndrome. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. METHODS: Sixty-eight post-percutaneous coronary intervention patients with acute coronary syndrome were enrolled between January 2016 - June 2017. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale scores at 1-3 months after discharge were regressed onto uncertainty in illness and other clinical factors based on the Roy Adaptation Model. RESULTS: Thirty-six patients were included in the final analysis. Higher baseline depression scores, higher changes in uncertainty in illness and feeling annoyed by troublesome tasks after discharge were associated with higher depressive scores at 1 month after discharge. Careful observation and support of patients' ineffective responses in self-concept mode may be effective in preventing depression.

Validating the Japanese Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale for Nursing Education.

BACKGROUND: The Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale for Nursing Education (SDLRSNE) assesses the extent to which an individual has the characteristics, capabilities, and attitudes required for self-directed learning. This study aimed to validate the Japanese version of the SDLRSNE with graduate-level nursing students. METHOD: Confirmatory factor analyses, using data from a cross-sectional online survey of 376 nursing students, were conducted to examine construct validity. Relationships with potential related factors were analyzed to evaluate construct validity. Reliability was evaluated with item analysis and Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: Factor analyses revealed that three-factor and individual subscale models had a moderate-to-poor fit. No meaningful relationship with potential related factors was noted. Reliability measurements indicated a moderate fit to data. CONCLUSION: This study could not confirm that the Japanese version of the SDLRSNE had acceptable levels of reliability and validity when tested with graduate-level nursing students. Further research is needed to examine the psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the SDLRSNE with other adult nursing learners or with graduate-level nursing students in other countries.

A literature review of factors related to hospital nurses' health-related quality of life.

AIM: To conduct a literature review in order to determine the predictors of nurses' health-related quality of life and to clarify the implications for nursing management and future study in this area. BACKGROUND: Good health is essential to the performance of health care workers. EVALUATION: Relevant studies were retrieved from PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, the Japan Medical Abstract Society, and the Technology Information Aggregator, Electronic. The studies selected for this review were published in English or Japanese between 1995 and 2012, investigated nurses' health-related quality of life. The identified predictive factors of each study were categorised according to type. KEY ISSUES: Based on the criteria, 22 studies were reviewed. The predictive factors of nurses' health-related quality of life were classified into eight categories. CONCLUSIONS: Age and occupational stress should be considered when examining unknown predictive factors of nurses' health-related quality of life. In addition, it may be useful to adopt a conceptual framework and consider patient and organisational factors in future research. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: It is necessary to identify nurses' occupational stressors and consider age during job placement in order to support their health.

Cross-sectional online survey of research productivity in young Japanese nursing faculty.

AIM: To investigate the factors affecting the research productivity of young nursing faculty in Japan. METHODS: An online survey targeting young nursing scholars (aged ≤ 39 years) who were members of the Japan Academy of Nursing Science was conducted from October to November 2012. Of 1634 potential respondents, 648 completed the survey (39.7%), and 400 full-time faculty of a baccalaureate degree program were selected for the analysis. The numbers of English-language and Japanese publications in the past 3 years were regressed onto personal characteristics, such as academic degree and type of university. RESULTS: The mean numbers of publications in English and Japanese in the past 3 years were 0.41 and 1.63, respectively. Holding a doctoral degree was significantly related to a higher number of publications in English and Japanese (e(ß) = 5.78 and e(ß) = 1.89, respectively). Working at a national university (e(ß) = 2.15), having a research assistant (e(ß) = 2.05), and the ability to read research articles in English (e(ß) = 2.27) were significantly related to more English-language publications. Having the confidence to conduct quantitative research (e(ß) = 1.67) was related to a larger number of Japanese publications. The lack of mentoring (e(ß) = 0.97) and university workload (e(ß) = 0.96) were associated with a lesser number of Japanese publications. CONCLUSION: The research productivity of young nursing faculty appeared to be quite low. Strategies to enhance research productivity in young nursing faculty, such as encouraging the achievement of a doctoral degree or enrichment of research resources, should be undertaken.

Nurse health-related quality of life: associations with patient and ward characteristics in Japanese general acute care wards.

AIM: To investigate the factors affecting nurse health-related quality of life (HRQOL) by considering the patient characteristics and ward characteristics. BACKGROUND: Nurse health-related quality of life is an important health outcome, and should be promoted for quality nursing care. METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted on nurses who work in general acute care wards in three university hospitals in metropolitan Japan. Multilevel analysis was conducted to investigate possible factors related to nurse health-related quality of life. RESULT: Nurses who worked at a ward had a significantly lower physical health score (ß = -0.13, P < 0.01). These nurses had a higher ratio of patients who could not understand medical instructions, had cognitive disabilities, or required assistance with activities of daily living (ADL). The number of beds was the only factor significantly related to mental health status of nurses (ß = 0.19, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Work conditions that sustain nurse health should take into account not only the number of nurses, but also patient characteristics. Further large-scale studies are needed in order to investigate the effect of hospital characteristics on nurse health-related quality of life. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Increasing the number of nurses' aides and delegating assistance with ADL to them could support nurse health-related quality of life in the acute care setting.

Factors that allow elderly individuals to stay at home with their families using the Japanese long-term care insurance system.

AIM: This study examined the factors that allow elderly individuals to stay at home continuously by considering the roles of the family caregiver, the use of services and characteristics of the elderly individual. METHODS: We analyzed 432 elderly individuals living at home with family. The outcome was that participants remained at home continuously over a 24-month period. The participants were stratified into two care-needs levels, and then multiple logistic regression analyses were carried out to examine relationships between staying at home and the Japanese version of the Zarit Burden Interview (J-ZBI), public Long-term Care Insurance (LTCI) service use, family caregivers' characteristics and elderly peoples' characteristics. RESULTS: Low scores on the J-ZBI were related to outcome in both care-needs subgroups (low care-needs subgroup: OR 2.11; 95% CI 1.31-3.43, high care-needs subgroup: OR 5.03; 95% CI 1.04-31.1). Regarding LTCI services, the use of home-visit nursing (HN) service was related to staying at home continuously in the high care-needs group (OR 37.39; 95% CI 3.31-879.1). CONCLUSIONS: Alleviation of caregiver' burden was essential for continuous stay at home of elderly people regardless of care-needs levels. Also, the HN service was founded as the relevant LTCI service factor for staying at home continuously. The HN service use might affect the outcome when we consider the causal relationship. Therefore, the policy for the promotion of HN service use will be important to achieve the ultimate goal of LTCI, which is to allow elderly people to live in their communities for as long as possible.