ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: As a developable ability, empathy is significantly associated with patient-centered care. The authors intended to evaluate the effect of Virtual Dementia Tour (VDT) upon nursing students' empathy level and propose practical rationales for optimizing future dementia care. METHODS: A total of 45 second-year undergraduate nursing students were organized to watch a theme movie entitled Still Alice and participate in an 8-min VDT. Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Professional Students (JSE-HPS) was employed for evaluating the empathy level of nursing students. After VDT, all nursing students participated in a structured interview. Descriptive statistics and paired t-tests were performed using SPSS 24.0. RESULTS: Their empathy levels demonstrated significant overall improvements (106.69 ± 9.49 vs 115.51 ± 10.16, P < 0.01). During the course of VDT, nursing students experienced varying levels of anxiety and frustration. All of them were satisfied with the program since they had gained a deeper understanding of demented patients and the program could change their attitudes toward demented elders. CONCLUSION: Watching a specially selected movie and participating in VDT may be an effective method for enhancing empathy and caring during nursing student education.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To compare the advantages and disadvantages of electrophoresis with the traditional method in measuring lipoprotein cholesterol in serum. METHODS: Four lipoprotein cholesterols were determined by the Helena electrophoretic system. Quantification of high density lipoprotein-choleterol(HDL-C) was performed by phosphotungstate-magnesium precipitation or direct HDL-C assay. The concentration of low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) was calculated by F-equation. RESULTS: Four lipoprotein zones were segregated distinctly by the electrophoretic method. Lp(a) zone appeared only in 6 out of 68 normal samples (8.82%). Reference values of HDL-C, Lp(a)-C, VLDL-C, and LDL-C in serum were 1.16-2.19, 0-0.22, 0.07-0.47, and 1.86-3.46 mmol.L-1, respectively. When comparing the results by electrophoresis with those by the precipitation method for HDL-C, no significant difference was found (P > 0.05); but there was a significant difference between electrophoresis and F-formula calculation for LDL-C (P < 0.05). When comparing results of electrophoresis with the direct method, we found significant differences in both HDL-C and LDL-C (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: F-formula used for calculating LDL-C is not appropriate to clinical application. Electrophoresis allows the quantification of HDL-C, VLDL-C, LP(a)-C, and LDL-C. The method is simple, convenient, and appropriate to routine application.
