Development and psychometric testing of the Professional Interpersonal Competency Assessment Scale for Novice nurses (PICASN).

Background: Assessing the professional interpersonal competency of novice nurses is crucial for preventing staff turnover and promoting effective work. However, none of the instruments identified in the literature specifically target novice nurses. Objective: This study aimed to develop and psychometrically test the perception dimension of the Professional Interpersonal Competency Assessment Scale for Novice nurses (PICASN) in Japan. Methods: The study comprised four steps: 1) concept identification, 2) item construction, 3) validity measure, and 4) reliability measure. A cross-sectional web-based questionnaire was administered from February to April 2023 and was completed by 203 novice nurses. Data quality was assessed using mean, item response, missing values, floor and ceiling effects, internal consistency, and item-rest correlations. Content validity index (CVI) was used to determine the instrument's validity, while exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using maximum likelihood estimation with Promax rotation was employed to assess the factor structure. Cronbach's alpha was used to evaluate reliability. Results: The 27-item PICASN demonstrated an Item-CVI of 0.94 and a Scale-CVI of 0.88. EFA revealed two factors: 1) Basic competencies as a novice nurse (15 items) and 2) Relationship building skills within the healthcare team (12 items), which explained 80% of the variance. Internal consistency reliability was excellent at 0.94 and 0.91 for the factors, and the overall scale reliability was 0.95. The item-rest (I-R) correlation values exceeding 0.6 were considered acceptable. Conclusion: The PICASN demonstrates satisfactory psychometric properties, making it an effective tool for measuring professional interpersonal competency among novice nurses in Japan. This instrument serves to assist novice nurses by promoting self-awareness and offering targeted insights into specific areas requiring improvement. Additionally, it provides experienced nurses and nurse managers with valuable insights into team dynamics, guiding interventions for continuous quality improvement.

Effects of Healthcare Technologies on the Promotion of Physical Activities in Older Persons: A Systematic Review.

This study aimed to explore the effects of health technologies on the promotion of health through physical activities of older persons. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review of relevant articles published prior to 2020 was conducted from selected indices such as COCHRANE, PubMed, Science Direct, Proquest, including the use of hand search procedure. Twenty-seven articles were analyzed with significant findings influential to older people nursing: types of health technologies used for promoting physical activity; effects of technology use in promoting physical activity of older person care; and aspects that need to be considered in technology use among older persons. Characteristics of technologies were accuracy, usefulness, reliability, comfort, safety, and relevancy. Most technologies promoting physical activities for older people were wearable technologies that use artificial intelligence. Altogether, these technologies influenced overall healthcare behaviors of older persons. With healthcare technology efficiencies, proficiencies, and dependencies, technology-based healthcare have served older people well. Most technologies for older people care, such as wearables, reliably produce characteristics enhancing dependency and accuracy of bio-behavioral information influencing physical activities of older persons. Health technologies foster the values of physical activities among older persons thereby promoting healthy living.

Study of life satisfaction and quality of life of patients receiving home oxygen therapy.

An investigation was conducted by mail using a questionnaire regarding the life satisfaction and quality of life (QOL) of patients receiving home oxygen therapy (HOT) to evaluate their support. QOL was evaluated according to 4 scales: (1) activities, (2) state of health and quality of living, (3) physical symptoms, and (4) economic state. The answers of 90 patients (recovery rate: 60%) who responded to the investigation were analyzed, and the following points were clarified. 1. Most of the subjects visited the hospital regularly, and about half the subjects (50.6%) had been treated by hospitalization during the 3 years prior to the investigation. 2. A large majority of the subjects (77.4%) answered they were satisfied with life. 3. Life satisfaction was closely related to the patients' roles and hobbies, and their activities in their communities and families. 4. The quality of living and the state of health were closely related to mental activity. 5. The economic state was closely related to all items of life satisfaction, quality of living, and state of health. From these results, expansion of the range of activities of patients receiving HOT and providing an economic basis for their living as well as preventing exacerbation of the disease are considered to be important for improving their life satisfaction.