Ophthalmic nurses' knowledge, attitude, and practice toward venous thromboembolic prevention: a dual-center cross-sectional survey.

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a severe preventable complication among ophthalmic surgical patients. The knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of nurses play a key role in effective VTE prevention. However, little is known about the KAP of ophthalmic nurses' VTE prevention. This study aimed to examine the level of KAP toward VTE prevention among Chinese ophthalmic nurses and to investigate the influencing factors of their VTE practice. Methods: A total of 610 ophthalmic nurses from 17 cities in Hunan and Zhejiang Provinces, China, participated in this study. Data was collected via the Sojump online platform from March to April 2021. A self-administered VTE questionnaire was developed to assess nurses' KAP toward VTE prevention. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors of ophthalmic nurses' VTE prevention practice. Results: The scores (correct rates) of ophthalmic nurses' knowledge, attitude, and practice were 103.87 ± 20.50 (76.4%), 21.96 ± 2.72, and 48.96 ± 11.23 (81.6%), respectively. The three lowest-scored knowledge items were related to VTE complications, physical prevention, and risk assessment. The three lowest-scored attitude items were related to nurses' training, VTE risk, and patient education. The three lowest-scored practice items were related to the assessment scale, VTE assessment, and patient education. Nurses' knowledge, attitude, and practice were significantly correlated with each other. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that Hunan Province (B = 2.77, p = 0.006), general hospital (B = 2.97, p = 0.009), outpatient department (B = 3.93, p = 0.021), inpatient department (B = 2.50, p = 0.001), previous VTE prevention training (B = 3.46, p < 0.001), VTE prevention management in hospital (B = 4.93, p < 0.001), better knowledge (B = 0.04, p = 0.038), and positive attitude towards VTE prevention (B = 1.35, p < 0.001) were all significantly and positively associated with higher practice scores in VTE prevention. Conclusions: Our study provided a comprehensive understanding of the ophthalmic nurses' knowledge, attitude, and practice in VTE prevention, as well as identified specific items in each dimension for improvement. In addition, our study showed multiple factors were associated with ophthalmic nurses' practice in VTE prevention, including environmental factors, training and management, knowledge and attitudes toward VTE prevention. Our findings provide important implications and guidance for future intervention programs to improve the ophthalmic nurses' knowledge, attitude, and practice in VTE prevention.

Albumin Level at Admission to the Intensive Care Unit Is Associated With Prognosis in Cardiac Arrest Patients.

Aim Cardiac arrest is a global health concern with consistently high mortality. It is also a common condition seen in the intensive care unit (ICU). We aimed to investigate the importance of albumin level on admission, which is a widely available and simple test, to predict in-hospital mortality in cardiac arrest patients. Methods The retrospective study collected data from the eICU Collaborative Research Database. It contains data from 171 hospitals, 276 ICU wards, and 4,529 patients who were treated for cardiac arrest from 2014 to 2015. We analyzed the patients' laboratory results and vital signs during the first 24 hours after admission to the ICU. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality, and the secondary outcome was the length of ICU stay among survivors. Results In total, 2,414 patients were eligible. After adjusting for severity scores, including the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) IV and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores, serum albumin was found to be a protective factor for survival (odds ratio of mortality: 0635, 95% confidence interval: 0.458-0.734, P<0.001). Among patients who survived until discharge, those with hypoalbuminemia had a long duration of stay in the ICU (P=0.005). Conclusion The higher albumin level at admission to the ICU was associated with lower mortality in patients with cardiac arrest.

Association Between Red Cell Distribution Width and Hospital Mortality in Patients with Sepsis.

OBJECTIVE: Sepsis is the leading cause of death in patients admitted to adult intensive care units (ICUs). We aimed to determine the predictive value of red blood cell distribution width (RDW) in patients with sepsis in a large cohort. METHODS: This retrospective observational study used data from the eICU Collaborative Research Database. The prognostic value of RDW was investigated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, multiple logistic regression model, integrated discriminatory index (IDI), and net reclassification index (NRI). RESULTS: In total, 9743 patients were included. The area under the ROC curve of the RDW for predicting hospital mortality was 0.631 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.616-0.645). Based on the multiple logistic regression model, an RDW of ≥14.5% was correlated with hospital mortality, regardless of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation IV (APACHE IV) scores (odds ratio [OR]: 1.838, 95% CI: 1.598-2.119). Using SOFA and APACHE IV scores as reference, the IDI and continuous NRI of RDW for hospital mortality was about 0.3 and 0.014, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The RDW may be useful in predicting hospital mortality in patients with sepsis, offering extra prognostic value beyond SOFA and APACHE IV scores.

Fabrication of the Ni-NiCl2 Composite Cathode Material for Fast-Response Thermal Batteries.

Thermal batteries with a high power density and rapid activation time are crucial for improving the fast response ability of sophisticated weapons. In this study, an Ni-NiCl2 composite was prepared via hydrogen reduction and employed as a cathode material. Discharge tests on a battery assembled using the fabricated composite revealed that its initial internal resistance decreased and the activation time reduced. Notably, the Ni-NiCl2 cathode increased the energy output by 47% (from 6.76 to 9.94 Wh in NiCl2 and Ni-NiCl2, respectively) with a cut-off voltage of 25 V; the power density of the novel battery system reached 11.4 kW/kg. The excellent performance of the thermal battery benefited from the high electrode potential and low internal resistance of Ni-NiCl2. This study contributes to the development of high-performance electrode materials for next-generation thermal battery-related technologies.

A Solution-based Method for Synthesizing Pyrite-type Ferrous Metal Sulfide Microspheres with Efficient OER Activity.

Simple and stable synthesis of transition metal sulfides and clarification of their growth mechanisms are of great importance for developing catalysts, metal-air batteries and other technologies. In this work, we developed a one-step facile hydrothermal approach to successfully synthesize NiS2 microspheres. By changing the experimental parameters, the reason that affects the formation of nanostructured spheres is investigated and discussed in detail, and the formation mechanism of microspheres is proposed innovatively. Furthermore, electrochemical testing results show that the 7 h-NiS2 catalyst exhibits a remarkable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity with an overpotential of 311 mV at 10 mA cm-2 in 1.0 M KOH, superior to precious metal RuO2 . The NiS2 catalyst also exhibits a robust durability. This work will contributes to the rational design and the understanding of growth mechanism of transition metal chalcogenide electrocatalysts for diverse energy conversion technologies.