The actual-ideal gap in work-life balance and quality of life among acute care ward nurses.

AIMS: To describe the current situation of the work-life balance gap among acute care ward nurses and assess its association with quality of life (QOL). BACKGROUND: Nurses who spend more time at work than on their personal lives are reported to have lower QOL. To capture the actual-ideal work-life balance gap among nurses with different backgrounds, time spent on work, family and private life must be examined. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 228 nurses from 3 Japanese acute care hospitals. RESULTS: Work gap scores and family gap scores for nurses living alone were significantly higher and lower, respectively, than those for nurses living with family. Moreover, the QOL score decreased with increase in the work-life balance gap for nurses. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses living alone had greater work burden than nurses living with family. Conversely, living with family may protect nurses' family lives. The work-life balance gap was associated with QOL. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Addressing the gap between the actual-ideal proportions in work-life balance is important for improving nurses' QOL and work-life balance. Flexible working options and policy changes may also improve their work-life balance and QOL.

[Multimodal imaging of a case of acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis].

BACKGROUND: Acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis (ASPPC) is a rare manifestation of ocular syphilis. We report on multimodal imaging including ophthalmoscopy, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), fluorescein angiography (FA) and indocyanine green angiography (IA) of a case diagnosed with ASPPC. CASE: A 45-year-old man who was positive for human immunodeficiency virus presented with a 2-week history of visual loss in the right eye. CLINICAL FINDINGS: Ophthalmoscopy showed a unilateral yellowish lesion involving the macula. SD-OCT revealed absence of the photoreceptor inner segment ellipsoid as well as an absent external limiting membrane, and nodular elevations of the retinal pigment epithelium layer at the macula. Late IA demonstrated punctate hypofluorescent dots in diffuse hyperfluorescent area corresponding to the macular lesion. Serologic tests were positive for syphilis and the patient was treated with intravenous penicillin G. Visual acuity improved with treatment from 20/100 to 20/16 and the retinal appearance returned to normal. There was completely restored stratification of the outer retina after therapy. CONCLUSION: In the present case of ASPPC, the SD-OCT imaging demonstrated characteristic abnormalities including RPE nodularity which showed hypofluorescent dots on late IA.