ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the effects of a psychological intervention programme on the mental stress, coping style and cortisol and IL-2 levels of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: A total of sixty cardiovascular patients scheduled for PCI with clear anxiety and depression screened by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were randomly divided into an experimental (n = 30) and control (n = 30) group. The participants in the experimental group received cognitive therapy, relaxation therapy and emotional support. Self-reported questionnaires, including the Self-Report Symptom Checklist (SCL-90) and the Medical Coping Mode Questionnaire (MCMQ), and levels of IL-2 and cortisol were collected at baseline and the day before discharge. RESULTS: Compared with the controls, patients in the intervention group had a better mental state and coping style (confrontation), higher levels of IL-2 and lower levels of cortisol (all P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The psychological intervention programme effectively improved mental state, reduced negative coping styles, increased levels of IL-2, and decreased cortisol levels in patients undergoing PCI. This programme may be an effective preoperative nursing intervention for PCI patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trail Registry ChiCTR-IOR-16007864.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Percutaneous Coronary Intervention/psychology , Stress, Psychological , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
The objectives of this study were to develop, implement, and evaluate an innovative modified Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) model, and to compare students' performance of different clinical skills as assessed by standardized patients and OSCE examiners. Data were obtained from final year undergraduate students undergoing the modified OSCE as a graduation examination. Seventy-seven students rotated through four stations (nine substations). Standardized patients scored students higher than examiners in history taking (9.14 ± 0.92 vs. 8.42 ± 0.85), response to emergency event (8.88 ± 1.12 vs. 7.62 ± 1.54), executive medical orders (8.77 ± 0.96 vs. 8.25 ± 1.43), technical operation (18.21 ± 1.26 vs. 16.91 ± 1.35), nursing evaluation (4.53 ± 0.28 vs. 4.29 ± 0.52), and health education stations (13.79 ± 1.31 vs. 11.93 ± 2.25; p < .01). In addition, the results indicated that the difference between standardized patient and examiner scores for physical examination skills was nonsignificant (8.70 ± 1.18 vs. 8.80 ± 1.27; p > .05). The modified, problem-focused, and nursing process-driven OSCE model effectively assessed nursing students' clinical competencies, and clinical and critical thinking.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of resveratrol supplementation on oxidative damage and lipid peroxidation induced by strenuous exercise in rats. The rats were randomly divided into five groups: a sedentary control group, an exercise control group, and three treatment exercise groups administered increasing doses of resveratrol (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg body weight). Resveratrol was administered by oral gavage once daily for four weeks. At the end of the four-week period, the rats performed a strenuous exercise on the treadmill, and the levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), malondialdehyde (MDA), 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE), and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) were measured. The results showed that resveratrol supplementation had protective effects against strenuous exercise-induced oxidative damage and lipid peroxidation by lowering the levels of LDH, CK, MDA, 4-HNE, and 8-OHdG in the serum or muscle of rats. These beneficial effects are probably owing to the inherent antioxidant activities of resveratrol.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Nurse managers are in an excellent position for providing leadership and support within the institutions they serve and are often responsible for accessing information that is vital to the improvement of health facility processes and patients' outcomes. Therefore, competency in informatics is essential. The purposes of this study are to examine current informatics competency levels of nurse managers and to identify the variables that influence these competencies. METHODS: A questionnaire designed to assess demographic information and nursing informatics competency was completed by 68 nurse managers. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to analyze the factors influencing informatics competency. RESULTS: Descriptive analysis of the data revealed that informatics competency of these nurse managers was in the moderate range (77.65 ± 8.14). Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that level of education, nursing administration experience, and informatics education/training were significant factors affecting competency levels. CONCLUSION: The factors identified in this study can serve as a reference for nurse managers who were wishing to improve their informatics competency, hospital administrators seeking to provide appropriate training, and nursing educators who were making decisions about nursing informatics curricula. These findings suggest that efforts to enhance the informatics competency of nurse managers have marked potential benefits.
Subject(s)
Informatics , Nurse Administrators , Professional Competence , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
The thermal and photochemical processes associated with the acid-induced conversions of 6-nitroBIPS, SP-1, to form the protonated merocyanine (MC-OH+) were investigated via UV/vis spectrophotometric studies in acetone. It was found that the mechanism of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)-induced ring-opening of the SP and the rate of MC-OH+ formation follows a general acid catalysis mechanism. In accord with this mechanism, the thermal growth of the acid-induced ring-opened form (MC-OH+) was retarded as the concentration of TFA in the medium was increased. The N-protonated SP, i.e., SP-NH+, is formed in a competing side-equilibrium process as an unreactive "sink", with the nitrogen lone-pair no longer available to drive the ring-opening process and resulting in the inverse rate dependence as a linear 1/kobs vs [HA] plot. Addition of a tertiary amine to MC-OH+ regenerated MC which underwent thermal ring closure to the SP, thus restoring its function as a molecular switch. NMR titration of SP samples showed a downfield shift of the N-substituent peak upon increasing the TFA concentration. However, a saturation behavior could not be observed with SP-1 up to 1 M acid, unlike the model compound, N,N-dimethylaniline (N,N-DMA), which indicates a base strength order of N,N-DMA > SP-1. Further, we have demonstrated that in solvent acetone, on acidification, the normal photo- and thermochromic behavior is reversed; now MC-OH+ is photochemically transformed into SP-H+, which undergoes thermal ring-opening to MC-OH+.
