Association between health literacy and nursing care in hospital: A retrospective study.

AIMS: To describe the health literacy (HL) levels of hospitalised patients and their relationship with nursing diagnoses (NDs), nursing interventions and nursing measures for clinical risks. DESIGN: Retrospective study. METHODS: The study was conducted from December 2020 to December 2021 in an Italian university hospital. From 146 wards, 1067 electronic nursing records were randomly selected. The Single-Item Literacy Screener was used to measure HL. Measures for clinical risks were systematically assessed by nurses using Conley Index score, the Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score, Braden score, and the Barthel Index. A univariable linear regression model was used to assess the associations of HL with NDs. RESULTS: Patients with low HL reported a higher number of NDs, interventions and higher clinical risks. HL can be considered a predictor of complexity of care. CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion of standardised terms in nursing records can describe the complexity of care and facilitate the predictive ability on hospital outcomes. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE: HL evaluation during the first 24 h. From hospital admission could help to intercept patients at risk of higher complexity of care. These results can guide the development of interventions to minimise needs after discharge. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution was required to design or undertake this research. Patients contributed only to the data collection.

Health Literacy in Patients' Clinical Records of Hospital Settings: A Systematic Review.

Introduction: Health literacy (HL) can be defined as the individual's ability to understand and process health information. A low level of HL can be viewed as a stronger predictor of a person's health status than age, education level, and race. Although HL is an important determinant of health, it is often underestimated. This systematic review investigates the evidence on HL assessment in hospital settings. Methods: PubMed Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science and Educational Resources Information Centre databases were searched, with the date last searched being 16 March 2020. The PRISMA guidelines were applied, and the protocol of the study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021236029). The quality of the included studies was appraised using the STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines for cross-sectional studies. Results: Five studies reported HL assessments in hospital patients' clinical records. Four main strategies were used to implement HL routine assessment in hospitals: multidisciplinary teams, stakeholders, training, and monitoring. Different performance measures were used to monitor the feasibility of incorporating HL assessment into electronic health records (EHRs). Conclusion: This review examined how inpatients' HL is recorded in hospital settings. HL is poorly measured in a hospital setting. These results guide hospital leadership in involving nurses in HL assessment implementation in hospitals and support nurses in creating a specific performance measure dashboard to monitor effective HL assessments in hospitals.

Digitally augmented learning: a qualitative study on the perception of nurses and midwives in the Master's degree during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Italy. / La didattica aumentata digitalmente: studio qualitativo sulla percezione di infermieri e ostetriche del corso di Laurea magistrale durante la pandemia SARS-CoV-2 in Italia.

BACKGROUND: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has necessitated a rapid transition to digitally augmented education, generating a phenomenon that is unprecedented in the history of university education of healthcare professionals. The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of online teaching on the learning of students of the Master's Degree, to collect the significant elements of their experience and stimulate reflection on teaching practices. OBJECTIVE: To describe perceptions and experiences of nurses and midwives in the Master's degree on digitally augmented learning during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. METHODS: A descriptive qualitative study was performed on a proactive sample of 34 nurse practitioners, pediatric nurses and midwives. The data was collected in January-February 2021 through an online form, built ad hoc. The answers were analyzed with deductive content analysis. RESULTS: 4 main categories emerge from the analysis of the texts: educational impact, time management, disadvantages of online teaching, distance learning-teaching. The results partly confirm what is reported in the literature about virtual learning, with better time management and the usefulness of video recordings. However, learning is strongly conditioned by the difficulties of interaction and communication between the students and between the teachers and the students. CONCLUSION: The digitally augmented learning allowed the continuation of the training course of health professionals engaged during the SARS-CoV-2 emergency. However, distance learning if used exclusively for a long time is a limited tool as it modifies the didactic processes preventing the development of meaningful relationships, dialogue and educational relationships which are important and essential outcomes in the master's course.

Exploring hospital compliance with the primary nursing care model: validating an inventory using the Delphi method.

BACKGROUND: The primary nursing care model is considered a personalized model of care delivery based on care continuity and on the relationship between the nurse and patient. Primary nursing checklists are not often mentioned in the literature; however, they represent a valid instrument to develop, implement, and evaluate primary nursing. The aim of this study was to create a structured checklist to explore hospital compliance in primary nursing. METHODS: The Delphi method was used to develop and validate a checklist. The preliminary version was created and sent to three experts for their opinions. Their comments were ultimately used in the first version, which included four components with 19 items regarding primary nursing characteristics. A two-round Delphi process was used to generate consensus items. The Delphi panel consisted of six experts working in primary nursing contexts and/or teaching or studying primary nursing. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from July 2020 to January 2021. These experts were asked to rate each element for relevance using a 4-point Likert-type scale. Furthermore, the consensus among the panel of experts was set at ≥78%, with selected items being voted "quite relevant" and "highly relevant". Content validity index (I-CVI) and modified kappa statistic were also calculated. Following expert evaluation, the first version of the checklist was modified, and the new version, constituting 17 items, was sent to the same experts. RESULTS: The first version of the checklist demonstrated a main relevance score of 3.34 (SD = 0.83; range = 1.3-4; mean I-CVI = 0.84; range: 0.83-1), but three items did not receive an adequate I-CVI score, that is, lower than 0.78. After the second round, the I-CVIs improved. The main score of relevance was 3.61 (SD: 0.35; range = 2.83-4; mean = I-CVI: 0.93). The S-CVI/UA was 0.58, and the S-CVI/Ave was 0.93. CONCLUSION: Measuring primary nursing compliance should be implemented to provide continuous feedback to nurses. Moreover, utilizing valid checklists could permit comparing different results from others' research. Future research should be conducted to compare the results from the checklist with nursing outcomes.

The experience of educational quality in undergraduate nursing students: a phenomenological study.

AIM: The evaluation of academic education has become crucial in the European Union since the Bologna Process encouraged all European universities to reach high quality standards in education. Although several studies have been conducted on the quality of undergraduate nursing education, few studies have explored this topic from the students' perspective. The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of educational quality in undergraduate nursing students. METHOD: The phenomenological method was used to study 55 students (mean age 24 years; 73% female) pursuing a baccalaureate degree in nursing in three universities in central Italy. RESULTS: The following five themes emerged from the phenomenological analysis: 1) quality of faculties: teaching skills, preparation, sensitivity to students, self-discipline; 2) theory-practice integration and communication between teaching and clinical area; 3) general management and organization of the programme; 4) quality of infrastructures: libraries, classrooms, information technology, services, administration, and communication; and 5) clinical tutorship: humanity, relationships and ability of the clinical tutor to guide and support. CONCLUSION: This study's novel finding was a deeper understanding of the educational quality's meanings among undergraduate nursing students. Students thought educational quality consisted of the faculty members' sensitivity towards their problems and the clinical tutors' humanity, interpersonal skills, guidance and support.