The Effects of COVID-19 on First-Generation College Nursing Students.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on nursing education and nursing students needs to be explored. The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a difference in comprehensive predictor scores for first-generation college nursing students compared to non-first-generation students before and during the pandemic. This quantitative comparative study showed no statistically significant difference in scores for these two groups. However, there was a statistically significant difference in scores for first-generation nursing students compared to non-first-generation students regardless of time frame.

The effect of COVID-19 on nursing program passing scores.

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly challenged nursing education. Nursing programs had to continue providing quality nursing education in an altered environment where much of what was traditionally face-to-face learning was forced online and into simulation. The purpose of this quantitative comparative ex post facto designed study, using secondary data and guided by Knowles's adult learning theory, was to determine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on nursing students' nursing program passing scores before and during the pandemic. The results of the independent t test were a statistically significant decrease (p < .001) in the nursing program passing scores for students during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. The implications of this analysis provide information to nursing educators, and nursing programs can use this study to recognize there are students requiring extra support in the face of a challenge such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adolescents who underwent bariatric surgery.

BACKGROUND: Extant literature warns of elevated suicide risks in adults postbariatric surgery, making understanding risks for adolescent patients imperative. OBJECTIVES: To examine prevalence and predictors/correlates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) in adolescents with severe obesity who did/did not undergo bariatric surgery from presurgery/baseline to 4 years postsurgery. SETTING: Five academic medical centers. METHODS: Using a prospective observational design, surgical adolescents (n = 153; 79% female, 65% white, mean [M]age = 17 yr, Mbody mass index[BMI] = 52 kg/m2) and nonsurgical comparators (n = 70; 80% female, 54% white, Mage = 16 yr, MBMI = 47 kg/m2) completed psychometrically sound assessments at presurgery/baseline and postsurgery years 2 and 4 (year 4: n = 117 surgical [MBMI = 38 kg/m2], n = 56 nonsurgical [MBMI = 48 kg/m2]). RESULTS: For the surgical group, rates of STBs were low (year 2 [1.3%-4.6%]; year 4 [2.6%-7.9%], similar to national base rates. Groups did not differ on a year 4 postsurgical STBs (post-STBs) composite (post-STBs: ideation/plan/attempt; n = 18 surgical [16%], n = 10 nonsurgical [18%]; odds ratio = .95, P = .90). For the surgical group, predictors/correlates identified within the broader suicide literature (e.g., psychopathology [P < .01], victimization [P < .05], dysregulation [P < .001], drug use [P < .05], and knowing an attemptor/completer [P < .001]) were significantly associated with post-STBs. Surgery-specific factors (e.g., percent weight loss, weight satisfaction) were nonsignificant. Of those reporting a lifetime attempt history at year 4, only a minority (4/13 surgical, 3/9 nonsurgical) reported a first attempt during the study period. Of 3 decedents (2 surgical, 1 nonsurgical), none were confirmed suicides. CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicates that undergoing bariatric surgery in adolescence does not heighten (or lower) risk of STB engagement across the initial 4 years after surgery. Suicide risks present before surgery persisted, and also newly emerged in a subgroup with poorer psychosocial health.

Evidence of executive dysfunction in extremely obese adolescents: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Obesity in children and adolescents is 1 of the most urgent and serious health threats confronting the United States. Extremely obese adolescents (body mass index >99th percentile for age and gender) are a unique subgroup of obese youth who are at considerable medical and psychosocial risk. Little is known about the cognitive function of extremely obese adolescents. The present study sought to examine the cognitive performance of a sample of extremely obese adolescents seeking primary treatment for weight loss. METHODS: Adolescents were recruited during regularly scheduled medical appointments at a children's center for weight management associated with a major children's hospital in the Southeast United States. A computerized battery of cognitive tests was administered to obese adolescents (body mass index >99th percentile; n = 25). RESULTS: Obese adolescents exhibited deficits in many cognitive domains, including impairment in attention and executive functions (e.g., mental flexibility, disinhibition) compared with the normative data. CONCLUSION: Although preliminary, these data have provided evidence for specific cognitive deficits in extremely obese adolescents. These findings highlight a need to determine whether early weight loss interventions, such as bariatric surgery, for obese adolescents could potentially prevent or reverse cognitive deficits and/or reduce the risk of future adverse neurocognitive outcome.