Ibero-American Consensus on Communication Skills for Nursing Degree students. / Consenso Ibero-americano sobre Habilidades Comunicacionais para Estudantes de Graduação em Enfermagem.

OBJECTIVE: as a health care profession focused on caring for people, Nursing requires sound communication skills. Based on an international expert consensus, a proposal on learning outcomes in clinical communication for undergraduate Nursing education curricula in Spanish speaking countries is presented. METHOD: a steering committee, consisting of 5 nurses and experts in communication in health care sciences, drew up the first list of communication skills specific to the Nursing degree. Their proposal was reviewed and improved by a committee of 7 international scientific advisers. 70 experts from 14 countries were selected using a snowball sampling procedure and invited to participate in a distance modified Delphi consensus process in two survey rounds. Statistical analysis was carried out to establish the final consensus level for each item. RESULTS: a questionnaire with 68 learning outcomes in clinical communications was submitted for panel assessment. In the first Delphi round, the panel reached a statistical consensus on all the items assessed. There was no need for a second round to reconcile positions. CONCLUSION: an academic proposal, approved by a high level of international consensus, is presented to guide and unify the learning outcomes on the clinical communication curriculum for undergraduate Nursing studies in Spanish speaking countries.

Consenso Ibero-americano sobre Habilidades Comunicacionais para Estudantes de Graduação em Enfermagem / Ibero-American Consensus on Communication Skills for Nursing Degree students / Consenso Iberoamericano sobre Habilidades de Comunicación para Estudiantes de Grado de Enfermería

Resumo Objetivo: como profissão orientada à atenção da saúde, focada no cuidado às pessoas, a Enfermagem precisa desenvolver habilidades de comunicação sólidas. Com base em um consenso internacional de especialistas, apresenta-se uma proposta sobre os resultados de aprendizagem na comunicação clínica para planos de estudos em cursos de Enfermagem em países hispanofalantes. Método: um comitê orientador, composto por 5 enfermeiros e especialistas em comunicação em ciências de atenção à saúde, elaborou a primeira lista de habilidades comunicacionais específicas para o curso de Enfermagem. Outro comitê de 7 assessores científicos internacionais revisou e melhorou a referida proposta. Foram selecionados 70 especialistas de 14 países pelo procedimento de amostragem "bola de neve", sendo convidados para participar em um processo de consenso Delphi modificado a distância em duas rodadas de pesquisa. Foi realizada a análise estatística para estabelecer o nível de consenso final correspondente a cada item. Resultados: foi apresentado um questionário com 68 resultados de aprendizagem em comunicações clínicas para serem avaliados pelo painel. Na primeira rodada Delphi, o painel chegou a um consenso estatístico em todos os itens avaliados. Não foi necessária uma segunda rodada para conciliar posições. Conclusão: apresenta-se uma proposta acadêmica aprovada com um elevado nível de consenso internacional a fim de orientar e unificar os resultados de aprendizagem nos planos de estudo sobre comunicação clínica para cursos de Enfermagem em países hispanofalantes.

Abstract Objective: as a health care profession focused on caring for people, Nursing requires sound communication skills. Based on an international expert consensus, a proposal on learning outcomes in clinical communication for undergraduate Nursing education curricula in Spanish speaking countries is presented. Method: a steering committee, consisting of 5 nurses and experts in communication in health care sciences, drew up the first list of communication skills specific to the Nursing degree. Their proposal was reviewed and improved by a committee of 7 international scientific advisers. 70 experts from 14 countries were selected using a snowball sampling procedure and invited to participate in a distance modified Delphi consensus process in two survey rounds. Statistical analysis was carried out to establish the final consensus level for each item. Results: a questionnaire with 68 learning outcomes in clinical communications was submitted for panel assessment. In the first Delphi round, the panel reached a statistical consensus on all the items assessed. There was no need for a second round to reconcile positions. Conclusion: an academic proposal, approved by a high level of international consensus, is presented to guide and unify the learning outcomes on the clinical communication curriculum for undergraduate Nursing studies in Spanish speaking countries.

Resumen Objetivo: en su carácter de profesión de atención de la salud enfocada en cuidar a las personas, la Enfermería requiere habilidades de comunicación sólidas. Sobre la base de un consenso internacional de expertos, se presenta una propuesta sobre resultados de aprendizaje en la comunicación clínica para planes de estudio de las carreras de grado de Enfermería en países de habla hispana. Método: un comité orientador, compuesto por 5 enfermeros y expertos en comunicación en ciencias de atención de la salud, elaboró la primera lista de habilidades de comunicación específicas para la carrera de Enfermería. Un comité de 7 asesores científicos internacionales revisó y mejoró dicha propuesta. Se seleccionó a 70 expertos de 14 países a través del procedimiento de muestreo "bola de nieve", y se los invitó a participar en un proceso de consenso Delphi modificado a distancia en dos rondas de encuesta. Se realizó un análisis estadístico para establecer el nivel de consenso final correspondiente a cada ítem. Resultados: se presentó un cuestionario con 68 resultados de aprendizaje en comunicaciones clínicas para que lo evaluara el panel. En la primera ronda Delphi, el panel llegó a un consenso estadístico en todos los ítems evaluados. No fue necesaria una segunda ronda para conciliar posiciones. Conclusión: se presenta una propuesta académica, aprobada con un elevado nivel de consenso internacional, a fin de orientar y unificar los resultados de aprendizaje en los planes de estudio sobre comunicación clínica para carreras de grado de Enfermería en países de habla hispana.

Clinical-therapeutic study on the efficacy and safety of thalidomide in the management of discoid lupus erythematosus. A single-centre, retrospective study.

Thalidomide is a second-line treatment for discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE). The efficacy of this treatment, the minimum effective doses, and safety is poorly documented in the literature. The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy and tolerance of thalidomide as first or second line of therapy for discoid lupus erythematosus. We present a retrospective single-centre study of 68 patients with DLE treated with thalidomide from 2003 to 2019. The inclusion criteria were the presence of clinical lesions suggestive of DLE, confirmed by histological examination and direct immunofluorescence. The mean age at diagnosis was 37.45 years (range 18-65 years). Thalidomide was started an average of 2.25 years after the diagnosis of DLE, as second-line therapy in 85% of the cases (58 patients), and as first-line therapy in 10 patients (15%). Fifty-six patients improved with thalidomide (82%), 39 cases achieved complete remission and 17 partial remissions. The mean duration of follow-up with thalidomide was 8.4 months (range 3-25 months). Five patients discontinued thalidomide due to adverse events. The most frequent side effect was headache (23.5%). Thalidomide is effective and safe in DLE patients as first or second-line treatment with a good safety profile.

Traditional Methods of Analysis for Listeria monocytogenes.

Conventional methods for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes in foods and environmental samples rely on selective pre-enrichment, enrichment, and plating. This is followed by confirmation of suspected colonies by testing a limited number of biochemical markers.

Traditional methods for isolation of Listeria monocytogenes.

Conventional methods for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes in foods and environmental samples relies on selective pre-enrichment, enrichment, and plating. This is followed by confirmation of suspected colonies by testing a limited number of biochemical markers.

Campylobacter spp. as a Foodborne Pathogen: A Review.

Campylobacter is well recognized as the leading cause of bacterial foodborne diarrheal disease worldwide. Symptoms can range from mild to serious infections of the children and the elderly and permanent neurological symptoms. The organism is a cytochrome oxidase positive, microaerophilic, curved Gram-negative rod exhibiting corkscrew motility and is carried in the intestine of many wild and domestic animals, particularly avian species including poultry. Intestinal colonization results in healthy animals as carriers. In contrast with the most recent published reviews that cover specific aspects of Campylobacter/campylobacteriosis, this broad review aims at elucidating and discussing the (i) genus Campylobacter, growth and survival characteristics; (ii) detection, isolation and confirmation of Campylobacter; (iii) campylobacteriosis and presence of virulence factors; and (iv) colonization of poultry and control strategies.

Study of cytolethal distending toxin (cdt) in Campylobacter coli using a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay and its distribution among clinical and food strains.

From a collection of 242 food isolates of Campylobacter spp. 72 were identified as Campylobacter jejuni and 170 as Campylobacter coli and of 112 isolates from clinical sources, 92 were identified as C. jejuni and 20 as C. coli. The results for food isolates were in contrast to other reported identifications. Twenty C. coli strains from clinical cases of Campylobacter that occurred in Portugal and 170 isolated from poultry products were examined for the presence of cytolethal distending toxin (cdt) by multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay. CdtA, cdtB, and cdtC were present in 100% of the clinical strains. With respect to the food isolates, the cdtA and cdtC genes were detected in 99.4% of the strains and cdtB in 98.8%. Small point mutations or major deletions within the primer binding sites are possible explanations for these observations but need to be further investigated.