ESDM intervention in severe preschool autism: an Italian Case report, psychological and social medicine reflections.

BACKGROUND: The goal of our contribution is to discuss a preschool intervention based on the Early Start Denver Model and the use of the main tools for the detection of adaptive behaviour in cases of autism: Vineland, ABAS. CASE PRESENTATION: the work is the presentation of a clinical case that has benefited from an intervention with the Early Start Denver Model methodology for the benefit of a child with socio-cultural and economic disadvantages. This early intervention, in a child of 36 months, which followed the diagnosis, was possible thanks to the intervention of many third-sector organizations which allowed this child, with a serious autism profile, to receive an evidence-based intervention for free. At the beginning of the intervention, the child presented a diagnosis of severe autism with absence of gaze, vocalizations and other communicative impairments. The level of motor clumsiness was also quite high, as were stereotypies. CONCLUSIONS: Research has shown the usefulness of intervening in this area with an early assessment and/or diagnosis and immediate intervention; however, public health services are not always able to maintain this pace. Our contribution therefore shows on the one hand the evidence of the improvements achieved by the child despite the low intensity of the treatment, and on the other hand, demonstrates the total versatility and adaptability of the Denver Model to the Italian context. In our conclusions, there are also some reflections on the tools used to measure adaptive behavior which seem to have a number of limitations and criticalities.

The Italian Validation of the Healthcare Professional Humanization Scale for Nursing.

Purpose: The Healthcare Professional Humanization Scale (HUMAS) is a measure of the evaluation of the humanization of care in nursing professions. Despite being validated for the Spanish language, there still needed validation in Italian, which seems essential considering the cultural differences. Aim: We aimed to test the validity and reliability of the HUMAS with an Italian sample of registered nurses. Methods: The present study used cross-sectional data from 300 nurses that completed the survey. The study's main phases were (a) construction of the Italian version; (b) testing and analyzing the psychometric properties of the scale. The exploratory factor analysis and the Content Validity Index (CVI) were performed. Cronbach's alpha and test-retest were used to determine the reliability. Findings: The final Italian version of HUMAS (HUMAS-I) comprised 19 items grouped into five correlated latent factors, accounting for 68.4% of the variance. Additionally, it exhibited a satisfactory Cronbach's alpha for each latent component and an average CVI for the entire scale of 0.68. Conclusions: The HUMAS-I shows acceptable psychometric proprieties as the original Spanish version. Therefore, it could be an advantageous instrument for use in nursing practice and research.

Thirdhand Smoke Knowledge, Beliefs and Behaviors among Parents and Families: A Systematic Review.

Families play a primary role in protecting children. Thirdhand smoke (THS) is an underestimated public health issue, and health effects correlated to its exposition are emerging. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze papers focusing on knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors regarding THS among parents, families, and caregivers, published until May 2022 on MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. Critical appraisal of the included studies was conducted by two independent reviewers using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal tool. Out of the 97 articles, 8 were included in this review (two from the USA, one from Europe, and five from Asia). Although there were no restrictions on the date of publication, all the articles were published in the last 10 years, underlining that THS is an emerging concept. They were characterized by relevant heterogeneity in the study design and assessment tools. The results showed that percentages of parents who believed that THS is harmful ranged from 42.4% to 91%, but parental awareness was not always associated with the adoption of a home- and car-smoking ban or healthy behaviors. Further research is needed to understand the resistance and problems faced by parents who are aware of THS risks but unable to improve good practices.

[Impact of job satisfaction on nursing turnover: a mixed method study]. / Impatto della job satisfaction sul turnover infermieristico: uno studio mixed-method.

AIM: To describe job satisfaction and to explore the rationale for the nurse turnover request. METHOD: A mix-method was carried out. The study was conducted in Hub Hospital in Rome, using a convenience sampling to all nursing staff on duty in the following areas: medical area, surgical and urgency/emergency areas. RESULTS: The sample of 133 nurses was found to have good job satisfaction (60.9%). 21% feel dissatisfied and 18% are uncertain about the degree of satisfaction. Nurses belonging to the urgent-emergency area showed the highest satisfaction (43.7%), while the most dissatisfied were nurses of the surgical area (53.3%). The age group between 45-50 years is useful for immediate turnover, compared to the over 50 who prefer to remain in the reality where it operates. The qualitative analysis revealed 7 macro-areas. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses have good job satisfaction, but many of them believe a turnover is necessary. The findings have important implications for nurses by helping to improve work environments, thus reducing turnover intention.

Correlation between Work Engagement and Burnout among Registered Nurses: an Italian hospital survey.

AIM: To investigate the correlation between work engagement and burnout among Italian nurses. INTRODUCTION: Work engagement is a protective factor against burnout. Both of them may be affected by the cultural and organizational features of the investigated population, which means that results cannot be generalized. In Italy studies to measure how they correlate have never been performed. METHODS: Monocentric and quantitative observational study. The Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale were used on a convenience sample of 318 nurses from an Italian hospital to assess the burnout and work engagement levels and to measure the existing correlation between the two conditions. RESULTS: Work engagement assessment highlighted average values of vigor (57.2%) and absorption (48%), while data referring to burnout demonstrated high levels of emotional exhaustion (55%) and depersonalization (41,5%). The three burnout dimensions and the three work engagement dimensions showed a close and meaningful correlation (p ≤0,01). A correlation between work engagement and burnout has been found. CONCLUSIONS: The correlation between Work Engagement and Burnout highlighted in Italian nurses should encourage the implementation of strategies which may enhance work engagement levels to limit burnout, improving the well-being of healthcare workers and significantly influencing the quality of the care process.

Evaluation of Psychometric and Linguistic Properties of the Italian Adolescent Pain Assessment Scales: A Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents' pain experiences are complex and multidimensional, and evaluating pain only from a sensory and affective point of view may be in many instances limiting and inadequate; this is the reason why it is of paramount importance to identify the tools which can better assess the pain experienced by young patients. A person-oriented approach is highly encouraged, as it may better investigate the cognitive and behavioral development typical of this age group. The aim of this review paper is to describe the available tools which are able to adequately assess pain intensity in adolescents, in particular those validated in Italian. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review using four databases: CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed and Cochrane, and selected all the articles published between January 1970 and November 2017. We selected all the papers reporting the validation process of pain assessment tools specifically tailored for adolescent patients (age range 10-18 years) and based on psychometric and linguistic parameters, and focused especially on the tools available in Italian and able to measure acute and chronic pain. RESULTS: The results of our investigation have revealed the existence of 40 eligible tools, 17 of which are monodimensional and the remaining 23 multidimensional, more specifically tailored to assess both acute and chronic pain. Some of the instruments (26) were self-reports while others were classified as behavioral (13) and/or mixed. Only one tool turned out to be suitable for fragile adolescents, while six adopted a person-oriented approach that better emphasized the cognitive and behavioral process typical of the adolescent population. None of them has ever been validated in Italian. CONCLUSION: Valid and reliable psychometric tools specifically organized to provide a cultural and linguistic evaluation of the patient are indeed the most recommended instruments to assess the intensity of the pain experienced by the patient, as they may provide useful information to implement a health policy aimed at identifying the best assistance programs.