Assessing satisfaction in simulation among nursing students: psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Simulation Experience - Italian Version scale.

BACKGROUND: The Satisfaction with Simulation Experience scale is a 5-point Likert scale that measures students' satisfaction in medium and high-fidelity simulation scenarios. This study aims at investigating the psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Simulation Experience - Italian Version scale. METHODS: A multi-centre cross-sectional study was conducted. The scale was administered to a sample of 266 undergraduate nursing students from two Italian universities after attending a medium- and high-fidelity simulation session in November 2022 and March 2023. Cronbach's alpha coefficient and item-total correlation were sorted out to assess internal consistency and reliability. The test-retest method was used as a measure of scale stability over time as well as the confirmatory factor analysis to verify construct validity. RESULTS: The Cronbach's alpha value was 0.94 for the overall scale, indicating excellent reliability, and it was 0.84 or higher for each subscales, indicating good reliability. A large correlation coefficient of 0.60 or higher was found between each item and its subscale and between each item and the overall scale score. A medium test-retest correlation coefficient was found for most items (r > 0.30). The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the factorial structure found in the original study. CONCLUSIONS: Satisfaction is an important teaching and learning quality indicator along with the achievement of learning outcomes in simulation. The Satisfaction with Simulation Experience - Italian Version scale showed good reliability and validity; therefore, it could be a useful tool to assess simulation impact in Italian nursing students. The extensive utilization of the Satisfaction with Simulation Experience scale, along with its various validated versions, could facilitate assessing satisfaction in simulation across diverse contexts and enable comparisons of findings across studies in different countries.

Trajectories of early secondary insults correlate to outcomes of traumatic brain injury: results from a large, single centre, observational study.

BACKGROUND: Secondary insults (SI), such as hypotension, hypoxia, and intracranial hypertension frequently occur after traumatic brain injury (TBI), and have a strong impact on patients' clinical outcomes. The aim of this study is to examine the trajectories of SI from the early phase of injury in the prehospital setting to hospital admission in a cohort of TBI patients. METHODS: This is a retrospective, observational, single centre study on consecutive patients admitted from 1997 to 2016 to the Neuro Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at San Gerardo Hospital, in Monza, Italy. Trajectories of SI from the prehospital to hospital settings were defined as "sustained", "resolved", "new event", and "none". Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to correlate SI trajectories to a 6-months outcome. RESULTS: Nine hundred sixty-seven patients were enrolled in the final analysis. About 20% had hypoxic or hypotensive events and 30.7% of patients had pupillary abnormalities. Hypotension and hypoxia were associated with an unfavourable outcome when "sustained" and "resolved", while pupillary abnormalities were associated with a poor outcome when "sustained" and as "new events". After adjusting for confounding factors, 6-month mortality strongly correlated with "sustained" hypotension (OR 11.25, 95% CI, 3.52-35.99), "sustained" pupillary abnormalities (OR 2.8, 95% CI, 1.51-5.2) and "new event" pupillary abnormalities (OR 2.8, 95% CI, 1.16-6.76). CONCLUSIONS: After TBI, sustained hypotension and pupillary abnormalities are important determinants for patients' outcomes. Early trajectories define the dynamics of SI and contribute to a better understanding of how early recognition and treatments in emergency settings could impact on 6-month outcomes and mortality.

Intracranial pressure monitor insertion in traumatic brain injury: a single center, retrospective decision process analysis.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based indications for intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are lacking. The aim of this study was to analyze the main factors that guided the decision-making of invasive ICP monitoring in a large cohort of TBI patients from our institution. METHODS: This is a retrospective, single centre, observational study including adult TBI patients consecutively admitted to our NeuroIntensive Care Unit over 20 years. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify potential factors associated with the decision for ICP monitor insertion. A decision tree was developed to identify the combination of factors with the highest statistical power to predict the decision for ICP monitor insertion. RESULTS: A total of 857 adult patients were included in the analysis. The decision to monitor ICP was strongly related to different factors, including Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Computed Tomography (CT) scan classification, pupils' reactivity, and patients' prognosis at the admission calculated by the International Mission on Prognosis in Traumatic Brain Injury (IMPACT) score (p<0.01). Results from the decision tree showed an overall ability of the 72% in the prediction of ICP monitoring and that, among the factors analysed, CT findings had the primarily and strongest discrimination power. CONCLUSIONS: The decision to insert an invasive ICP monitoring in patients with TBI is multifactorial. Among the different factors analysed in our cohort of TBI patients, prognostication factors as for IMPACT score and in particular CT findings could potentially explain the decision making for ICP monitoring.