Do differences in chronotypes affect sleep and health-related quality of life of nursing students? A cross-sectional study.

Nursing students experience higher levels of stress and more sleep-related problems than other students; however, the relationship of chronotype to nursing students' sleep status and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is unclear. This cross-sectional, observational study investigated whether chronotype affected Japanese nursing college students' sleep and HRQOL. Nursing students completed the Attribute Questionnaire about Subject Background, Japanese Version Morningness‒Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), Munich Chrono-Type Questionnaire‒Japanese Version (MCTQ), Japanese Version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), SF-12v2 Standard, Japanese Version 2.0 (SF-12), Japanese Translation of Profile of Mood States 2nd Edition‒Adult Short (POMS2). Of the 241 students (mean age 20.16 ± 1.80 years; 80.9% female), 80 (33.2%) had evening, 142 (58.9%) had intermediate, and 19 (7.9%) had morning chronotype. The overall total PSQI score was 6.86 ± 2.97. Additionally, 141 students (64.1%) scored ≥ 6, suggesting disturbed sleep. Approximately 80% of the evening chronotype students had a total PSQI score of 8.34 ± 3.11, clearly indicating disturbed sleep. Sleep-related parameters (total PSQI score, bedtime, sleep latency, wake-up time, sleep duration, social jetlag) were worse in evening than in other chronotypes. SF-12 and POMS2 did not differ among chronotypes. Thus, evening chronotype nursing students require sleep-related support from early on.

Opportunities for Interactive Communication in Mechanically Ventilated Critically Ill Patients: A Video-Based Observational Study.

Background: Mechanically ventilated critically ill patients need the opportunity to communicate their physical and psychosocial concerns to nurses. However, these patients face the unique problem of lacking even the opportunity to communicate. Aims: The study aimed to describe the characteristics of communication opportunities for critically ill mechanically ventilated patients. Methods: The study was designed as a video-based descriptive observational study. Participants included seven mechanically ventilated critically ill patients at the intensive care unit, coronary care unit, or high care unit who were conscious and seven registered nurses (seven pairs). Videos were recorded continuously from 8 am to 4 pm, and the footage was then descriptively analyzed. Data collection took place between July 2019 and June 2020. Results: The total recording time was 668.0 minutes. Of these 668.0 minutes, nurses stayed in the Conversation Area of the Patient for 279.6 minutes, and of these 279.6 minutes, two-way face-to-face communication between nurse and patient occurred for 78.0 minutes. Of these 78.0 minutes, communications were started by nurses for 47.2 minutes (174 scenes) and by patients for 24.2 minutes (36 scenes). The patient-started two-way communication scenes included 37 instances of Patient-Intentional-Action that triggered the start of communication. Actions using the upper limbs were observed in 20 instances and represented the most frequently used body part. The head/face, lower limbs, or trunk were also used in some of the actions. Gestures were the most commonly used action type (14 instances). Other types included lip movement, grimace, leg flex/extension, and cough. Conclusions: We found that nurses tended to start communication more frequently than patients did and that patients demonstrated Patient-Intentional-Action with a variety of actions using various body parts. Communication opportunities for patients were created when nurses took the initiative to start communication or when they noticed and responded to the Patient-Intentional-Action. Our findings demonstrate that nurses need to recognize and always respond to Patient-Intentional-Action and to take the initiative in communicating rather than waiting for the patient to do so.

Identifying periodicity in nurse call occurrence: Analysing nurse call logs to obtain information for data-based nursing management.

AIM: To verify our hypothesis that 'there is periodicity in nurse call occurrence'. BACKGROUND: It is difficult to plan nursing management because nursing tasks can vary widely, seemingly at random. One of the most useful pieces of information for decision-making is periodicity. If periodicity is present, it should be possible to predict the occurrence of tasks and make preventive strategies. In this study, we focused on the nurse call, which plays an important role in nursing practice. METHOD: We used nurse call logs that accumulated automatically when patients pushed the button. Data were obtained from 1 January 2014 to 30 September 2017 (1,369 days) in a university hospital. The total number was 5,982,935. Periodicity was verified by the autocorrelation function. RESULTS: The value of the autocorrelation function increased regularly, which demonstrates there was periodicity in nurse call occurrence. CONCLUSION: Our hypothesis was accepted. The presence of periodicity indicates that nurse call occurrence is not a random event but has a pattern. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: If we can identify patterns such as the time that nurse calls frequently occur, managers can implement two strategies: one, assigning more nurses and two, moving tasks other than nurse calls to another time.

Workflow analysis of medical staff in surgical wards based on time-motion study data.

The aim of this study is to clarify the change over time in the elements of work (job elements) and their features, as well as the relationship between job elements and the type of job, job class, and the role of the hospital they are performed in. A time-motion study was conducted on the medical staff in the surgical wards of two hospitals. An analysis of roles bys by (a) type or class of job type, and (b) hospital function was conducted. The number of working hours was analyzed, as well as the ratio of working hours with respect to direct and indirect job elements. The job elements required for each medical staff member were proven to differ by type of job (doctors and nurses) and also by job class (nurse leaders and staff). When comparing between hospital the differences in job elements were proven not to be a result of differences in hospital function, but to result from the ward system (ward design and nursing system).