Leadership development of nursing professionals: Education and influences of self-efficacy.

BACKGROUND: According to Bandura's theory, understanding the relationship of traits and leader self-efficacy in the various roles of nursing can aid in leader development and the growth of the profession. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of leader self-efficacy of academic nursing professionals to determine if traits and participation in certain activities was predictive of leader self-efficacy. METHOD: A validated survey tool, the Leader Efficacy Questionnaire (LEQ) was administered to nursing professionals using snowball sampling from publicly available email addresses. FINDINGS: Statistical significance was found between the academic degrees and the 4 scores of the LEQ. Overall, the participants reported moderate to high leader self-efficacy with an LEQ overall score (LSME) of 70 or greater. DISCUSSION: The dynamic challenges of health care require an understanding of nursing professionals' leader self-efficacy in light of their academic preparation and activities to grow the profession.

Differences in critical thinking skills between nursing students on a fast-track versus traditional 4-year programme.

BACKGROUND: The authors were unable to find studies comparing the critical thinking skills of nursing students on advanced standing programmes (ASP) and on traditional 4-year BN programmes in Canada. The ASP is a condensed Bachelor of Nursing (BN) programme, designed for students who already have a university degree or similar qualification. AIM: To measure and compare the critical thinking skills of ASP students and traditional 4-year BN students. METHOD: A cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire used to collect data from 100 nursing students at a university in Canada. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. All research ethics were taken into consideration. FINDINGS: All participants scored highly in their critical thinking skills. However, ASP students scored significantly higher than their counterparts on the 4-year programme (M=21.6 vs M=18.9, F=4.75, P=0.035). CONCLUSION: Higher critical thinking skills among ASP nursing students is a promising sign to expand and support this type of programme as a fast and effective method to cover the shortage in nurses.

Associations of 4 Nurse Staffing Practices With Hospital Mortality.

BACKGROUND: Cross-sectional studies of hospital-level administrative data have suggested that 4 nurse staffing practices-using adequate staffing levels, higher proportions of registered nurses (RNs) (skill mix), and more educated and experienced RNs-are each associated with reduced hospital mortality. To increase the validity of this evidence, patient-level longitudinal studies assessing the simultaneous associations of these staffing practices with mortality are required. METHODS: A dynamic cohort of 146,349 adult medical, surgical, and intensive care patients admitted to a Canadian University Health Center was followed for 7 years (2010-2017). We used a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model to estimate the associations between patients' time-varying cumulative exposure to measures of RN understaffing, skill mix, education, and experience, each relative to nursing unit and shift means, and the hazard of in-hospital mortality, while adjusting for patient and nursing unit characteristics, and modeling the current nursing unit of hospitalization as a random effect. RESULTS: Overall, 4854 in-hospital deaths occurred during 3,478,603 patient-shifts of follow-up (13.95 deaths/10,000 patient-shifts). In multivariable analyses, every 5% increase in the cumulative proportion of understaffed shifts was associated with a 1.0% increase in mortality (hazard ratio: 1.010; 95% confidence interval: 1.002-1.017; P=0.009). Moreover, every 5% increase in the cumulative proportion of worked hours by baccalaureate-prepared RNs was associated with a 2.0% reduction of mortality (hazard ratio: 0.980; 95% confidence interval: 0.965-0.995, P=0.008). RN experience and skill mix were not significantly associated with mortality. CONCLUSION: Reducing the frequency of understaffed shifts and increasing the proportion of baccalaureate-prepared RNs are associated with reduced hospital mortality.

Predictors of Helping Babies Breathe knowledge and skills among nurses in primary health settings in Dodoma region, Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Globally, birth asphyxia is one of the leading causes of neonatal death. In Tanzania, neonatal deaths are estimated to be 25 deaths per 1000 live births and birth asphyxia accounts for 31% of those deaths. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 40 health centers within 7 districts in Dodoma Region among nurses working in maternity units. Simple random sampling was used to select participants. A knowledge questionnaire and performance skills checklist were used to assess nurses' knowledge and skills respectively. Chi-square and binary logistic regression were employed to test association and identify significant predictors of HBB knowledge and skills. RESULTS: A total of 172 participants completed the study out of 176 recruited. This represents a respondent rate of 98%. Findings indicate that age, duration of professional training, and experience in maternity were significant predictors for knowledge and skills. However, after control of the confounders, experience in the maternity unit was found to be the only significant predictor of knowledge and skills in resuscitation of the neonates (AOR = 2.94; CI: 0.96-8.98; P = 0.05) and (AOR = 4.14; CI: 1.12-15.31; P = 0.03) respectively. Nurses with longer maternity nursing care experience of 5 years and above were better able to answer questions that demonstrated adequate knowledge (53.9%) and perform skills correctly (53.2%) related to HBB. Those with less than 5 years' experience had limited knowledge (20%) and skills (10.5%). CONCLUSION: In this setting, direct work experience in the maternity unit was the main factor influencing knowledge and skills in neonatal resuscitation with HBB.

Isolated, small, and large hospitals have fewer nursing resources than urban hospitals: Implications for rural health policy.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to compare nurse education, patient-to-nurse staffing, nursing skill mix, and nurse work environments across hospitals depending on extent of rurality. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, comparative, and descriptive. SAMPLE: The final sample included 566 urban, 49 large, 18 small, and 9 isolated hospitals from California, Florida, and Pennsylvania. MEASUREMENT: Data collected from large random samples from the 2005-2008 Multi-State Nursing Care and Patient Safety Study funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research and National Institutes of Health were linked to 2005-2006 American Hospital Association data. Rural-Urban Commuting Area codes developed by the University of Washington and the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service were used to determine the extent of hospital rurality across the sample. RESULTS: Hospital percentages of baccalaureate prepared nurses differed significantly among urban (38%), large (28%), small (31%), and isolated rural hospitals (21%). Patient-to-registered nurse ratios in urban (4.8), large (5.6), small (5.6), and isolated rural hospitals (7.3) differed. Rural hospital nursing skill mix differed, and was lowest in isolated rural hospitals (65%). Nursing foundations for quality care were poorer in large, small, and isolated rural hospitals. CONCLUSION: Results support bolstering rural nursing resources in more remote locations, potentially through rural health policies.

Benefits of the epilepsy specialist nurses (ESN) role, standardized practices and education around the world.

Epilepsy, often considered as a stigmatizing disease, affects 65 million people worldwide and is frequently associated with comorbidities that increase both direct and indirect costs. The degree of impact on quality of life and the cost of care differs depending on the social and health care organizations in place, political, medico-economic and/or socio-cultural contexts. Across the globe, healthcare is provided by nurses in primary care, urgent or emergency care, and within specialized domains of practice. In Epilepsy the global care could be enhanced by developing standardized nursing education in close collaboration with other caregivers. The impact of epilepsy nursing care has been documented in some developed countries, but the diversity of nursing practices and professional education of nurses raise difficulties in generalizing these findings. Specialized education in epilepsy will improve access, treatment and ultimately the quality of life of patients.

A bibliometric analysis of 81 articles that represent excellence in nursing publication.

AIM: To analyze publication patterns of 81 articles included in a "virtual journal." BACKGROUND: From May-July 2017, editors submitted articles from their journals representing distinction in nursing research, education, or practice. Brief responses explained their rationale for article selection. This sample embodied a unique exemplar of excellence in nursing publication and warranted further bibliometric analysis, which was undertaken from February to May 2018. DESIGN/METHOD: Using Scopus, each article (N = 81) was searched to obtain bibliographic information and subsequent second and third generation citations. Three concepts guided the analysis: (a) persistence, rate of subsequent citations over time; (b) reach, geographic distribution of subsequent citations; and (c) dissemination, specialty of follow-on citations represented as nursing or another discipline. Patterns amongst the second and third generation of citations were also examined. RESULTS: Of the 81 articles, 43 (53%) were cited at least once, resulting in 721 second generation citations. There was long-term persistence (N = 2094) over the third and fourth generation citations. There was a wide geographic reach, representing 41 states in the United States and 44 countries. Dissemination was broad with citations in the medical literature eclipsing nursing in the third generation. The highest cited articles were all research reports. Patterns of silos and ripple effect were identified. No pattern could be identified for the 31 articles with zero subsequent citations. CONCLUSION: This study revealed the impact of articles perceived as exemplar representations of 80 different nursing journals. Nursing research is being widely read and cited, both in and outside the profession.

Diversity and education of the nursing workforce 2006-2016.

BACKGROUND: The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, The Future of Nursing, included recommendations to increase nurse diversity, the percent of nurses obtaining a bachelor's degree, and inter-professional education. PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to report the progress toward achievement of these recommendations. METHODS: We used a longitudinal, multi-state data from four cohorts of nurses newly licensed in 2004 to 2005, 2007 to 2008, 2010 to 2011, and 2014 to 2015 to examine and compare the trends. FINDING: The percentage of males who became licensed increased, from 8.8% in 2004 to 2005 cohort to 13.6% in the 2014 to 2015 cohort. The percentage of white-non-Hispanic nurses who were licensed decreased from 78.9% in 2007 to 2008 to 73.8% in 2014 to 2015. These differences primarily reflect an increase in white-Hispanic nurses. More nurses are obtaining a bachelor's degree as their first professional degree, from 36.6% in 2004 to 2005 cohort to 48.5% in 2014 to 2015 cohort. About 40% of the 2014 to 2015 cohort reported that they learned to work in inter-professional teams. Collegial nurse-physician relations had an upward positive trajectory over time increasing almost 7%. DISCUSSION: The diversity and education of new nurses have increased, but are short of meeting the IOM recommendations.

Experiences of internationally educated nurses holding management positions in the United States: Descriptive phenomenological study.

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of internationally educated nurses in management positions in United States health care organisations to understand the obstacles and support these individuals' experience when pursuing and working in managerial roles. BACKGROUND: Although internationally educated nurses are an integral part of the US health care industry, few work in managerial roles. Little is known about the experiences of internationally educated nurses who do obtain management positions. METHODS: In this qualitative, phenomenological study, seven internationally educated nurses who were managers in Chicago, Illinois, responded to open-ended interview questions. RESULTS: Supervisors contributed to the participants' acceptance of management positions. The participants experienced challenges such as cultural differences, language, and communication. Despite these challenges, the participants had positive working relationships with staff and supervisors. Further, the participants had opportunities for education and professional growth. CONCLUSIONS: Internationally educated nurses benefit from participating in organisational committees. They face challenges related to work responsibilities, cultural differences and communication but can succeed in management roles through developing strategies to overcome the challenges and through receiving support from staff, colleagues and supervisors. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: More internationally educated nurses may obtain managerial positions if supervisors provide encouragement and support.

Policy to practice: Investment in transitioning new graduate nurses to the workplace.

AIM: To analyse nurses' perceptions of the impact of an extended transition programme on key dimensions of care delivery 1-6 years after graduation. The dimensions included decision-making, communication, care management, system integration and commitment. BACKGROUND: Health care employers in Ontario, Canada, can apply for government funding to support an extended transition programme for new graduate nurses that includes orientation and mentorship. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was used. Nurses who participated in the transition programme were compared with nurses who did not. A survey was administered to a convenience sample of 2369 nurses. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences between the two groups. Nurses in the transition programme had higher mean scores on the key dimensions of care delivery. Results were confirmed when controlling for length of time since graduation. CONCLUSION: Extended transition benefits new graduate nurses. It has a lasting effect over time and impacts key dimensions of care delivery. It can also enhance workforce integration and reduce turnover. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Responding to the needs of new graduate nurses has potential long-term advantages for health care organisations and can influence both quality and delivery of care.

[The Spiritual Health Status and Spiritual Care Behaviors of Nurses in Intensive Care Units and Related Factors].

BACKGROUND: Patients suffer sudden and life-threatening conditions in intensive care units (ICU), which frequently result in traumatic changes in physical, mental, and spiritual health. Little research has been conducted on the spiritual health and spiritual care behaviors of nurses in ICU. PURPOSE: To explore the relationship among demographic characteristics, spiritual health, and spiritual care behaviors in ICU nurses. METHODS: A descriptive correlational research was used and 219 nurses from three teaching hospitals were enrolled as study participants. A structured questionnaire consisting of a demographic datasheet, a spiritual health scale, and a spiritual care behavior scale was used for data collection. SPSS for Windows version 22.0 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The participants received few hours of spiritual-care education. The highest scored item for spiritual health was "connecting with people". The highest scored item for spiritual care behavior was "helping the patient out of adversity". Participants who were older in age and who had more years of clinical experience exhibited spiritual care behaviors such as "helping the patient out of adversity" and "retaining hope" more frequently with their ICU patients. CONCLUSIONS / IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The older and more clinically experienced nurses in this study performed spiritual care behaviors at a higher frequency than their younger, less experienced counterparts. Therefore, it is recommended that hospitals retain more-experienced nursing staff to elevate the level of holistic health care. Concurrently, training in spiritual care skills should be provided to younger and less experienced nurses in order to facilitate more spiritual care behaviors. The results of this study provide a reference for providing spiritual care behaviors to patients.

Low ERCP Volume Is Associated with More Industry Representative Interactions but Similar Training of Nurses.

BACKGROUND: Data on ERCP nurses and associate (ERCP-NA) training and comfort are lacking. Healthcare industry representative (HCIR) influence may be greater in low-volume units (LVUs) due to decreased procedure and device familiarity. AIM: The aim of this study was to compare ERCP-NA training, safety, and HCIR relationships between LVU and high-volume unit (HVU) ERCP facilities. METHODS: We conducted an electronic survey of all Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates (SGNA) members assessing: (1) demographics and procedure volume, (2) ERCP training and radiation safety, and (3) HCIR interactions. Responses were stratified by ERCP volume. RESULTS: Among 832 SGNA member respondents (median age 55), 615 (74%) worked as an ERCP-NA; 41% derived from LVUs. The majority of ERCP-NAs, irrespective of unit volume, had observed <50 ERCPs before starting. Except for lead glasses, the majority (>80%) adhered to basic radiation safety, irrespective of unit volume. LVUs were more likely than HVU ERCP-NAs to agree that HCIRs were requested for intra-procedure assistance (24 vs. 19%, p = 0.008), asked for input on the next choice of device (22 vs. 15%, p = 0.01), and assist in device usage (27 vs. 22%, p = 0.04). Irrespective of volume, 30% agreed that they were more likely to utilize a company's devices if that HCIR was present. CONCLUSIONS: ERCP-NA training before independent participation in ERCP is suboptimal. HCIRs are frequently requested for assistance during ERCPs, especially in LVUs. HCIR impact on ERCP outcomes and device utilization and whether enhanced ERCP-NA training will impact the role of HCIR, require further study.

MINORITY UNDERGRADUATE NURSING STUDENT SUCCESS.

BACKGROUND: Minority providers are more likely to practice in underserved areas with minority populations. Currently the representation of minorities in healthcare professions is less than that of the United States population. More research is needed to examine specific variables associated with educational success of minority students. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to examine, and increase the understanding of, current factors that influence success among ethnic and minority nursing students. METHODS: The revised Minority Student Nurse Questionnaire (MSNQ) was utilized for this study with a sample of 31 students from 2 entry-level nursing programs in the Midwest. RESULTS: Minority students were slightly older than traditional college students and consisted of African-American Black, Native (American) Indian, Asian, Hispanic/Latino, and Hawaiian. Students reported multiple factors that influenced their higher education experience. Academic services and cultural organizations were available, free, but were used by less than half of the students. Several sources of financial assistance are important, including scholarships, federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans, and grants. Students most strongly disagreed with the statement that 'the number of minorities in this program is representative of the number of minorities overall.' Students felt that several services were supportive and helpful strategies for success. CONCLUSION: Although progress has been made to improve success of minority students, numbers continue to lag between demographic population overall.

Psychometric survey of nursing competences illustrated with nursing students and apprentices / Psychometrische Erfassung von Kompetenzen am Beispiel von Studierenden und Auszubildenden der Pflege.

Background: The term competences is discussed differently in various disciplines of science. Furthermore there is no international or discipline comprehensive accepted definition of this term. Problem: So far, there are few practical, reliable and valid measuring instruments for a survey of general nursing skills. This article describes the adaptation process of a measuring instrument for medical skills into one for nursing competences. Method: The measurement quality of the questionnaire was audited using a sample of two different courses of studies and regular nursing apprentices. Another research question focused whether the adapted questionnaire is able to detect a change of nursing skills. For the validation of reliability and validity data from the first point of measurement was used (n = 240). The data from the second point of measurement, which was conducted two years later (n = 163), were used to validate, whether the questionnaire is able to detect a change of nursing competences. Results/Conclusions: The results indicate that the adapted version of the questionnaire is reliable and valid. Also the questionnaire was able to detect significant, partly even strong, effects of change in nursing skills (d = 0,17 ­ 1,04). It was possible to adapt the questionnaire for the measurement of nursing competences.

Nurse staffing and education and hospital mortality in nine European countries: a retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Austerity measures and health-system redesign to minimise hospital expenditures risk adversely affecting patient outcomes. The RN4CAST study was designed to inform decision making about nursing, one of the largest components of hospital operating expenses. We aimed to assess whether differences in patient to nurse ratios and nurses' educational qualifications in nine of the 12 RN4CAST countries with similar patient discharge data were associated with variation in hospital mortality after common surgical procedures. METHODS: For this observational study, we obtained discharge data for 422,730 patients aged 50 years or older who underwent common surgeries in 300 hospitals in nine European countries. Administrative data were coded with a standard protocol (variants of the ninth or tenth versions of the International Classification of Diseases) to estimate 30 day in-hospital mortality by use of risk adjustment measures including age, sex, admission type, 43 dummy variables suggesting surgery type, and 17 dummy variables suggesting comorbidities present at admission. Surveys of 26,516 nurses practising in study hospitals were used to measure nurse staffing and nurse education. We used generalised estimating equations to assess the effects of nursing factors on the likelihood of surgical patients dying within 30 days of admission, before and after adjusting for other hospital and patient characteristics. FINDINGS: An increase in a nurses' workload by one patient increased the likelihood of an inpatient dying within 30 days of admission by 7% (odds ratio 1·068, 95% CI 1·031-1·106), and every 10% increase in bachelor's degree nurses was associated with a decrease in this likelihood by 7% (0·929, 0·886-0·973). These associations imply that patients in hospitals in which 60% of nurses had bachelor's degrees and nurses cared for an average of six patients would have almost 30% lower mortality than patients in hospitals in which only 30% of nurses had bachelor's degrees and nurses cared for an average of eight patients. INTERPRETATION: Nurse staffing cuts to save money might adversely affect patient outcomes. An increased emphasis on bachelor's education for nurses could reduce preventable hospital deaths. FUNDING: European Union's Seventh Framework Programme, National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, the Norwegian Nurses Organisation and the Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services, Swedish Association of Health Professionals, the regional agreement on medical training and clinical research between Stockholm County Council and Karolinska Institutet, Committee for Health and Caring Sciences and Strategic Research Program in Care Sciences at Karolinska Institutet, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Organization of Hospital Nursing and 30-Day Readmissions in Medicare Patients Undergoing Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Growing scrutiny of readmissions has placed hospitals at the center of readmission prevention. Little is known, however, about hospital nursing­a critical organizational component of hospital service system­in relation to readmissions. OBJECTIVES: To determine the relationships between hospital nursing factors­nurse work environment, nurse staffing, and nurse education­and 30-day readmissions among Medicare patients undergoing general, orthopedic, and vascular surgery. METHOD AND DESIGN: We linked Medicare patient discharge data, multistate nurse survey data, and American Hospital Association Annual Survey data. Our sample included 220,914 Medicare surgical patients and 25,082 nurses from 528 hospitals in 4 states (California, Florida, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania). Risk-adjusted robust logistic regressions were used for analyses. RESULTS: The average 30-day readmission rate was 10% in our sample (general surgery: 11%; orthopedic surgery: 8%; vascular surgery: 12%). Readmission rates varied widely across surgical procedures and could be as high as 26% (upper limb and toe amputation for circulatory system disorders). Each additional patient per nurse increased the odds of readmission by 3% (OR=1.03; 95% CI, 1.00-1.05). Patients cared in hospitals with better nurse work environments had lower odds of readmission (OR=0.97; 95% CI, 0.95-0.99). Administrative support to nursing practice (OR=0.96; 95% CI, 0.94-0.99) and nurse-physician relations (OR=0.97; 95% CI, 0.95-0.99) were 2 main attributes of the work environment that were associated with readmissions. CONCLUSIONS: Better nurse staffing and work environment were significantly associated with 30-day readmission, and can be considered as system-level interventions to reduce readmissions and associated financial penalties.

A cross-sectional study of pedagogical strategies in nursing education: opportunities and constraints toward using effective pedagogy.

BACKGROUND: The continuous, rapid evolution of medical technology, the public need for ever more complex health-care services and the stagnant global economic situation have posed difficult new challenges for the nursing profession. The need to integrate knowledge, technical skill and ethical conduct in nursing practice has become ever more evident, particularly in response to the emerging challenges over recent years. Major research studies have highlighted that high-quality responses to health needs is highly dependent on both the education received by health care professionals and the pedagogical strategies employed in such training. The aim of this study was to identify the pedagogical strategies used by teachers in nursing programs in the Italian university system and to classify them according to the didactic architectures that are used. METHODS: The study sample was recruited from the entire population of nursing instructors teaching in all years of their respective programs, in every Italian university with a nursing program. A three-part questionnaire, based on a Calvani taxonomy, was designed to collect both demographic and cultural information on the sample subjects, as well as the pedagogical strategies that they may have used in their teaching practices, was administered to all nursing instructors. A five-point Likert scale was used to measure the frequency of use of different pedagogical strategies. RESULTS: On the whole, 992 teachers participated in the study (80.1% of the teachers contacted). Experience data suggest a highly-educated overall instructor population. The settings in which the participants carried out their teaching activities were represented mostly by large lecture halls and the number of students in their classes were for the most part rather large; over 60. Frequency of use revealed that the most commonly used method was the traditional lecture. Indeed, 85.7% of the respondents "often" or "always" used pedagogical strategies belonging to a 'receptive architecture'. CONCLUSIONS: Any redefining of approaches to nursing education must consider several key factors to ensure the promotion of student-focused pedagogical strategies. Only through the implementation of such pedagogical practices will it be possible to generate the knowledge and skills necessary for future professionals to be able to adequately respond to the ever more complex health care needs of the population.

[Transfusiology knowledge and competence of nurses in light of a national survey]. / Ápolók transzfuziológiai ismeretei és kompetenciái egy országos felmérés tükrében.

INTRODUCTION: International literature data clearly show that the role of nurses in transfusion therapy, which needs professional knowledge and skills, continues to increase. AIM: The aim of the authors was to perform a national-level mapping of the practice of transfusion therapy including transfusion therapy-related knowledge of nurses and their knowledge about their competence. Further aim was to identify similarities and differences as referred to the requirements of the transfusion regulations (2008), which was valid at the time of the survey in Hungary. METHOD: The nationwide survey took place between November 19, 2014 and February 20, 2015. Data were collected using paper-form and web-based anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. 657 nurses who were involved in transfusion therapy with changing regularity in adult in-patient wards took part in the survey. Data were processed using descriptive statistical methods. RESULTS: It was found that the transfusion therapy related knowledge of nurses was very incomplete (50.72%), and only about half of the nurses (52.3%) systematized the nursing functions correctly. Significant differences were also found in the practice of transfusion therapy. The vast majority of the institutions had their own protocol, but responsible nurses assigned for transfusion care were present only in 23.9% of the wards. CONCLUSIONS: The authors conclude that the identified problems can be resolved by improving professional responsibility of nurses, increasing supervision by nursing leaders and appropriate transfusiology training and regular retrainings.

An innovative approach to near-infrared spectroscopy using a standard mobile device and its clinical application in the real-time visualization of peripheral veins.

BACKGROUND: Excessive venipunctures are a significant problem both in emergency rooms and during hospital stays. Near-infrared (NIR) illumination devices improve venipuncture success rate but their usage is limited by their availability and economic cost. The objectives of this study were to develop a low-cost NIR spectroscopy prototype from a standard mobile device, to evaluate its efficacy and acceptance as an educational tool, and in a clinical setting. METHODS: Through a user-centric design process a prototype device was developed. Its educational efficacy was evaluated through a non-invasive, observational study (20 student clinicians, 25 subjects) and its acceptance was assessed using quantitative and qualitative analysis. A smaller clinical trial was performed by a group of 4 medical professionals over a period of 6 weeks that involved 64 patients. RESULTS: The prototype enables real-time visualization of peripheral veins on a variety of Android-based devices. The prototype was 35.2% more successful in visualizing and locating veins (n = 500 attempts) than the nursing students. The acceptance assessment revealed high perception of usefulness, satisfaction, and ease of use. In the clinical trial, 1.6 (SD 1.3) additional veins per patient were identified compared with the traditional visualization methods. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge this is the first study that describes the design, feasibility and application of an NIR spectroscopy prototype developed on a standard mobile device.