ABSTRACT
AIM: This paper is aimed to assess nurses' perceptions of patient safety culture in four public general hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam. BACKGROUND: Patient safety culture is a vital component in ensuring high quality and safe patient care. Assessment of nurses' perceptions on existing hospital patient safety culture (PSC) is the first step to promote PSC. METHODS: The cross-sectional study surveyed 705 nurses utilizing the validated Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) in an online format. RESULTS: The average positive response rate was high at 72.8 % and varied from 52.9 % to 93.4 %. The strongest areas are teamwork within units (93.7 %) and supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting patient safety (85.0 %). The areas for improvement are staffing (52.9 %) and non-punitive response to error (57.6 %). The communication openness, staffing, frequency of events reported, lengths of services in hospital and unit are significant factors that predict the overall patient safety grade. CONCLUSIONS: Initiatives are necessary to improve response to errors, staffing, and error reporting. Nurse managers could develop and implement interventions and program to improve patient safety, including providing education related to patient safety culture, encouraging staff to notify incidents and avoiding punitive responses.
Subject(s)
Nurse Administrators , Patient Safety , Humans , Organizational Culture , Cross-Sectional Studies , Vietnam , Safety Management , Hospitals, Public , Surveys and Questionnaires , InpatientsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Eczema and food allergy start in infancy and have shared genetic risk factors that affect skin barrier. We aimed to evaluate whether skincare interventions can prevent eczema or food allergy. DESIGN: A prospectively planned individual participant data meta-analysis was carried out within a Cochrane systematic review to determine whether skincare interventions in term infants prevent eczema or food allergy. DATA SOURCES: Cochrane Skin Specialised Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase and trial registries to July 2020. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTED STUDIES: Included studies were randomized controlled trials of infants <1 year with healthy skin comparing a skin intervention with a control, for prevention of eczema and food allergy outcomes between 1 and 3 years. RESULTS: Of the 33 identified trials, 17 trials (5823 participants) had relevant outcome data and 10 (5154 participants) contributed to IPD meta-analysis. Three of seven trials contributing to primary eczema analysis were at low risk of bias, and the single trial contributing to primary food allergy analysis was at high risk of bias. Interventions were mainly emollients, applied for the first 3-12 months. Skincare interventions probably do not change risk of eczema by age 1-3 years (RR 1.03, 95% CI 0.81, 1.31; I2 =41%; moderate certainty; 3075 participants, 7 trials). Sensitivity analysis found heterogeneity was explained by increased eczema in a trial of daily bathing as part of the intervention. It is unclear whether skincare interventions increase risk of food allergy by age 1-3 years (RR 2.53, 95% CI 0.99 to 6.47; very low certainty; 996 participants, 1 trial), but they probably increase risk of local skin infections (RR 1.34, 95% CI 1.02, 1.77; I2 =0%; moderate certainty; 2728 participants, 6 trials). CONCLUSION: Regular emollients during infancy probably do not prevent eczema and probably increase local skin infections.
Subject(s)
Dermatitis, Atopic/prevention & control , Emollients/therapeutic use , Food Hypersensitivity/prevention & control , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Skin Care , Skin Diseases, Infectious/epidemiology , Soaps , Water SofteningABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Eczema and food allergy are common health conditions that usually begin in early childhood and often occur together in the same people. They can be associated with an impaired skin barrier in early infancy. It is unclear whether trying to prevent or reverse an impaired skin barrier soon after birth is effective in preventing eczema or food allergy. OBJECTIVES: Primary objective To assess effects of skin care interventions, such as emollients, for primary prevention of eczema and food allergy in infants Secondary objective To identify features of study populations such as age, hereditary risk, and adherence to interventions that are associated with the greatest treatment benefit or harm for both eczema and food allergy. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the following databases up to July 2020: Cochrane Skin Specialised Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, and Embase. We searched two trials registers and checked reference lists of included studies and relevant systematic reviews for further references to relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs). We contacted field experts to identify planned trials and to seek information about unpublished or incomplete trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: RCTs of skin care interventions that could potentially enhance skin barrier function, reduce dryness, or reduce subclinical inflammation in healthy term (> 37 weeks) infants (0 to 12 months) without pre-existing diagnosis of eczema, food allergy, or other skin condition were included. Comparison was standard care in the locality or no treatment. Types of skin care interventions included moisturisers/emollients; bathing products; advice regarding reducing soap exposure and bathing frequency; and use of water softeners. No minimum follow-up was required. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: This is a prospective individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis. We used standard Cochrane methodological procedures, and primary analyses used the IPD dataset. Primary outcomes were cumulative incidence of eczema and cumulative incidence of immunoglobulin (Ig)E-mediated food allergy by one to three years, both measured by the closest available time point to two years. Secondary outcomes included adverse events during the intervention period; eczema severity (clinician-assessed); parent report of eczema severity; time to onset of eczema; parent report of immediate food allergy; and allergic sensitisation to food or inhalant allergen. MAIN RESULTS: This review identified 33 RCTs, comprising 25,827 participants. A total of 17 studies, randomising 5823 participants, reported information on one or more outcomes specified in this review. Eleven studies randomising 5217 participants, with 10 of these studies providing IPD, were included in one or more meta-analysis (range 2 to 9 studies per individual meta-analysis). Most studies were conducted at children's hospitals. All interventions were compared against no skin care intervention or local standard care. Of the 17 studies that reported our outcomes, 13 assessed emollients. Twenty-five studies, including all those contributing data to meta-analyses, randomised newborns up to age three weeks to receive a skin care intervention or standard infant skin care. Eight of the 11 studies contributing to meta-analyses recruited infants at high risk of developing eczema or food allergy, although definition of high risk varied between studies. Durations of intervention and follow-up ranged from 24 hours to two years. We assessed most of this review's evidence as low certainty or had some concerns of risk of bias. A rating of some concerns was most often due to lack of blinding of outcome assessors or significant missing data, which could have impacted outcome measurement but was judged unlikely to have done so. Evidence for the primary food allergy outcome was rated as high risk of bias due to inclusion of only one trial where findings varied when different assumptions were made about missing data. Skin care interventions during infancy probably do not change risk of eczema by one to two years of age (risk ratio (RR) 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.81 to 1.31; moderate-certainty evidence; 3075 participants, 7 trials) nor time to onset of eczema (hazard ratio 0.86, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.14; moderate-certainty evidence; 3349 participants, 9 trials). It is unclear whether skin care interventions during infancy change risk of IgE-mediated food allergy by one to two years of age (RR 2.53, 95% CI 0.99 to 6.47; 996 participants, 1 trial) or allergic sensitisation to a food allergen at age one to two years (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.28 to 2.69; 1055 participants, 2 trials) due to very low-certainty evidence for these outcomes. Skin care interventions during infancy may slightly increase risk of parent report of immediate reaction to a common food allergen at two years (RR 1.27, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.61; low-certainty evidence; 1171 participants, 1 trial). However, this was only seen for cow's milk, and may be unreliable due to significant over-reporting of cow's milk allergy in infants. Skin care interventions during infancy probably increase risk of skin infection over the intervention period (RR 1.34, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.77; moderate-certainty evidence; 2728 participants, 6 trials) and may increase risk of infant slippage over the intervention period (RR 1.42, 95% CI 0.67 to 2.99; low-certainty evidence; 2538 participants, 4 trials) or stinging/allergic reactions to moisturisers (RR 2.24, 95% 0.67 to 7.43; low-certainty evidence; 343 participants, 4 trials), although confidence intervals for slippages and stinging/allergic reactions are wide and include the possibility of no effect or reduced risk. Preplanned subgroup analyses show that effects of interventions were not influenced by age, duration of intervention, hereditary risk, FLG mutation, or classification of intervention type for risk of developing eczema. We could not evaluate these effects on risk of food allergy. Evidence was insufficient to show whether adherence to interventions influenced the relationship between skin care interventions and risk of developing eczema or food allergy. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Skin care interventions such as emollients during the first year of life in healthy infants are probably not effective for preventing eczema, and probably increase risk of skin infection. Effects of skin care interventions on risk of food allergy are uncertain. Further work is needed to understand whether different approaches to infant skin care might promote or prevent eczema and to evaluate effects on food allergy based on robust outcome assessments.
Subject(s)
Eczema/prevention & control , Emollients/therapeutic use , Food Hypersensitivity/prevention & control , Skin Care/methods , Bias , Female , Filaggrin Proteins , Food Hypersensitivity/immunology , Humans , Hypersensitivity, Immediate/immunology , Immunoglobulin E/immunology , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Milk Hypersensitivity/etiology , Skin Diseases, Infectious/epidemiology , SoapsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Five nationally representative U.S. federal data sources consistently showed the link between poverty and poor health outcomes. To determine the modality effective in teaching students about poverty and health, this study compared the attitudes toward poverty of students participating in the Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) and the poverty table-top simulation (Dwell™). METHODS: In this quasi-experimental study, undergraduate and graduate nursing students and physical therapy students participated in either CAPS or a table-top simulation (TTS) depending on their semester of enrollment in the relevant course. The Undergraduate Perception of Poverty Tracking Survey (UPPTS) was administered before and after each simulation. RESULTS: The analysis included 118 matched pairs. Using MANOVA tests, the authors found no group difference in the overall change of attitude after the simulations (p = .232). However, by the subscale analyses, TTS significantly increased students' willingness to help (p = .008, η2 = 0.058) and their empathy toward those living in poverty (p = .039, η2 = 0.039). CONCLUSION: TTS participants had more elements of improvement, but both modalities were found to change participants' attitudes.
Subject(s)
Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate , Students, Nursing , Attitude of Health Personnel , Empathy , Humans , Learning , PovertyABSTRACT
The relationship between infant skin health and food allergy pathogenesis is the focus of intense research activity, on the basis that interventions to improve infant skin health may potentially lead to the prevention of food allergy. Current evidence does not provide conclusive findings on the mechanisms of food allergy development but does support the possibility that food allergy develops through transcutaneous sensitisation to allergenic peptides. In this article, we review the evidence for this model of food allergy development, assess strategies currently being tested for prevention of food allergy through cutaneous interventions, and identify key knowledge gaps which might be explored in future work.
Subject(s)
Dermatitis, Atopic/immunology , Food Hypersensitivity/immunology , Skin/immunology , Humans , Infant , Infant, NewbornABSTRACT
We examined the molecular regulation of porphyrin biosynthesis and protective responses in transgenic rice (Oryza sativa) expressing Bradyrhizobium japonicum Fe-chelatase (BjFeCh) after treatment with acifluorfen (AF). During the photodynamic stress imposed by AF, transcript levels of BjFeCh in transgenic plants increased greatly; moreover, transcript levels of OsFeCh2 remained almost constant, whereas in wild type (WT) plants they were considerably down-regulated. In the heme branch, transgenic plants exhibited greater levels of OsFC and HO transcripts than WT plants in the untreated stems as well as in the AF-treated leaves and stems. Both WT and transgenic plants treated with AF substantially decreased transcript levels for all the genes in the chlorophyll branch, with less decline in transgenic plants. After AF treatment, ascorbate (Asc) content and the redox Asc state greatly decreased in leaves of WT plants; however, in transgenic plants both parameters remained constant in leaves and the Asc redox state increased by 20% in stems. In response to AF, the leaves of WT plants greatly up-regulated CatA, CatB, and GST compared to those of transgenic plants, whereas, in the stems, transgenic plants showed higher levels of CatA, CatC, APXb, BCH, and VDE. Photochemical quenching, qP, was considerably dropped by 31% and 18% in WT and transgenic plants, respectively in response to AF, whereas non-radiative energy dissipation through non-photochemical quenching increased by 77% and 38% in WT and transgenic plants, respectively. Transgenic plants treated with AF exhibited higher transcript levels of nucleus-encoded photosynthetic genes, Lhcb1 and Lhcb6, as well as levels of Lhcb6 protein compared to those of WT plants. Our study demonstrates that expression of BjFeCh in transgenic plants influences not only the regulation of porphyrin biosynthesis through maintaining higher levels of gene expression in the heme branch, but also the Asc redox function during photodynamic stress caused by AF.
Subject(s)
Bacterial Proteins/metabolism , Bradyrhizobium/enzymology , Ferrochelatase/metabolism , Nitrobenzoates/pharmacology , Oryza/metabolism , Porphyrins/biosynthesis , Bacterial Proteins/genetics , Ferrochelatase/genetics , Gene Expression Regulation, Plant , Oryza/genetics , Oxidative Stress/genetics , Oxidative Stress/physiology , Plants, Genetically ModifiedABSTRACT
We examined the effects of light quality on growth characteristics and porphyrin biosynthesis of rice seedlings grown under different wavelengths from light emitting diodes (LEDs). After 10 days of exposure to various wavelengths of LEDs, leaf area and shoot biomass were greater in seedlings grown under white and blue LEDs than those of green and red LEDs. Both green and red LED treatments drastically decreased levels of protoporphyrin IX (Proto IX) and Mg-porphyrins compared to those of white LED, while levels of Mg-Proto IX monomethyl ester and protochlorophyllide under blue LED were decreased by 21% and 49%, respectively. Transcript levels of PPO1 were greatly upregulated in seedlings grown under red LED compared to white LED, whereas transcript levels of HO2 and CHLD were upregulated under blue LED. Overall, most porphyrin biosynthetic genes in the Fe-porphyrin branch remained almost constant or upregulated, while most genes in the Mg-porphyrin branch were downregulated. Expression levels of nuclear-encoded photosynthetic genes Lhcb and RbcS noticeably decreased after exposure to blue and red LEDs, compared to white LED. Our study suggests that specific wavelengths of LED greatly influence characteristics of growth in plants partly through altering the metabolic regulation of the porphyrin biosynthetic pathway, and possibly contribute to affect retrograde signaling.
Subject(s)
Light , Oryza/radiation effects , Porphyrins/biosynthesis , Gene Expression Regulation, Plant , Oryza/genetics , Oryza/growth & development , Plant Proteins/genetics , Plant Proteins/metabolism , Seedlings/genetics , Seedlings/growth & development , Seedlings/radiation effectsSubject(s)
Health Services Accessibility/legislation & jurisprudence , Hepatitis B/diagnosis , Mass Screening/methods , Adult , Aged , Antiviral Agents/administration & dosage , Antiviral Agents/economics , Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use , Australia/epidemiology , Cost of Illness , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Fibrosis/economics , Fibrosis/epidemiology , Fibrosis/prevention & control , Health Services Accessibility/standards , Hepatitis B/epidemiology , Hepatitis B/prevention & control , Hepatitis B Vaccines/administration & dosage , Hepatitis B Vaccines/therapeutic use , Humans , Liver Neoplasms/economics , Liver Neoplasms/epidemiology , Liver Neoplasms/prevention & control , Mass Screening/standards , Mass Screening/statistics & numerical data , Middle Aged , Practice Guidelines as Topic , PrevalenceABSTRACT
Across the USA and various parts of the world, ambulatory surgery centers have transitioned to accepting patients with advanced ASA statuses, leading to a larger volume and higher complexity of surgeries performed, while still urging for same-day patient discharges. Inadequate postoperative pain management and opioid analgesia side effects, such as sedation, respiratory depression, and postoperative nausea and vomiting, are the most common complications and most common reasons for readmission after ambulatory surgery. The trend to limiting these complications and achieve a more rapid patient discharge currently emphasizes a multifactorial, balanced analgesia strategy. This article reviews the multimodal approach by detailing the important aspects of specific regional nerve blocks, nerve blockade with catheter techniques, acetaminophen, non-selective NSAIDs, Cox-2 inhibitors, membrane stabilizers, and corticosteroids. Pain management in the ambulatory surgery patient will thus be optimized with a thorough preoperative evaluation, recognizing intraoperative events, and implementing multiple analgesic modalities.
Subject(s)
Ambulatory Surgical Procedures , Pain Management/methods , Pain, Postoperative/drug therapy , Patient Satisfaction/statistics & numerical data , Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting/drug therapy , Analgesia, Patient-Controlled , Anesthetics, Local/administration & dosage , Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal/therapeutic use , Drug Therapy, Combination , Humans , Nerve Block/methods , Pain Measurement , Pain, Postoperative/physiopathology , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A recent report suggested that human milk (HM) composition not only changes with lactation stages but also vary according to gender of the offspring. In spite of available literature, the dynamic changes of HM composition still remain to be completely explored and characterized. Progress in analytical technologies together with quantitative sampling of HM allows for a better quantification of HM nutrients and thereby providing a deeper understanding of the dynamics of HM secretion. OBJECTIVE: To characterize and quantify HM nutrients based on appropriate for analyses sampling procedures and advanced analytical methodologies. CLINICAL STUDY DESIGN: We conducted an observatory, single center, longitudinal trial with HM collection at 30, 60, and 120 days postpartum from 50 mothers (singleton-deliveries of 25 male and 25 female infants). HM samples were analyzed for lipid, lactose, energy density, fatty acids, phospholipids, and gangliosides. Longitudinal analyses of the datasets have been carried out using linear mixed models. RESULTS: HM for male infants compared to females at 120 days, were higher for energy content and lipids by 24 and 39%, respectively. Similarly, other bioactive lipids such as linoleic acid, phospholipids and gangliosides were also significantly different based on the gender of the infant. Significant stage-based differences were observed for total lipids, energy density, phospholipids, and gangliosides. Such difference in HM composition may stem from different energy needs to cope up for individual growth and development. CONCLUSION: Collectively, the current observations affirm that HM secretion, especially the lipid composition, is a very dynamic and personalized biological process.
Subject(s)
Fatty Acids/analysis , Gangliosides/analysis , Milk, Human/chemistry , Phospholipids/analysis , Adult , Chromatography, Gas , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Chromatography, Liquid , Female , Humans , Lactation , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Mass Spectrometry , Postpartum Period , SingaporeABSTRACT
The most common symptom of iron (Fe) deficiency in plants is leaf chlorosis caused by impairment of chlorophyll biosynthesis. Magnesium (Mg)-chelatase H subunit (CHLH) is a key component in both chlorophyll biosynthesis and plastid signaling, but its role in Fe deficiency is poorly understood. Heterologous expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana Mg-chelatase H subunit gene (AtCHLH) increased Mg-chelatase activity by up to 6-fold and abundance of its product, Mg-protoporphyrin IX (Mg-Proto IX), by 60-75% in transgenic rice (Oryza sativa) seedlings compared to wild-type (WT) controls. Noticeably, the transgenic seedlings showed alleviation of Fe deficiency symptoms, as evidenced by their less pronounced leaf chlorosis and lower declines in shoot growth, chlorophyll contents, and photosynthetic efficiency, as indicated by F v/F m and electron transport rate, compared to those in WT seedlings under Fe deficiency. Porphyrin metabolism was differentially regulated by Fe deficiency between WT and transgenic seedlings, particularly with a higher level of Mg-Proto IX in transgenic lines, showing that overexpression of AtCHLH reprograms porphyrin metabolism in transgenic rice. Leaves of Fe-deficient transgenic seedlings exhibited greater upregulation of deoxymugineic acid biosynthesis-related genes (i.e., NAS, NAS2, and NAAT1), YSL2 transporter gene, and Fe-related transcription factor genes IRO2 and IDEF2 than those of WT, which may also partly contribute to alleviating Fe deficiency. Although AtCHLH was postulated to act as a receptor for abscisic acid (ABA), exogenous ABA did not alter the phenotypes of Fe-deficient WT or transgenic seedlings. Our study demonstrates that modulation of porphyrin biosynthesis through expression of AtCHLH in transgenic rice alleviates Fe deficiency-induced stress, suggesting a possible role for CHLH in Fe deficiency responses.
ABSTRACT
Salt stress disrupts cellular ion homeostasis and adversely impacts plant growth and productivity. We examined the regulatory mechanisms of porphyrin biosynthesis, photoprotection, and antioxidant properties in salt-stressed rice seedlings. In response to 150 mM NaCl, the rice seedlings exhibited dehydration, reduced relative water content, and increased levels of conductivity, malondialdehyde, and H2O2. The expression levels of the salt-stress-responsive genes NHX1, SOS1, and MYB drastically increased after NaCl treatment. The seedlings grown under NaCl stress displayed declines in Fv/Fm, ΦPSII, rETRmax, and photochemical quenching but increases in nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) and the expression of genes involved in zeaxanthin formation, BCH, and VDE. Under salt stress conditions, levels of chlorophyll precursors significantly decreased compared to controls, matching the downregulation of CHLD, CHLH, CHLI, and PORB. By contrast, NaCl treatment led to increased heme content at 24 h of treatment and significant upregulations of FC2, HO1, and HO2 compared to controls. Salt-stressed seedlings also increased their expression of CATs (catalases) and APXs (ascorbate peroxidases) as well as the activities of superoxide dismutase, CAT, APX, and peroxidase. Our results indicate that chlorophyll and heme biosynthesis involve the protective strategies for salt stress alleviation through photoprotection by the scavenging of chlorophyll precursors and NPQ as well as activating antioxidant enzymes.
ABSTRACT
Hepatitis B is a chronic condition, primarily associated with hepatitis B viral infection in early life. The failure of prevention and appropriate management can lead to subsequent liver cirrhosis and cancer. Hepatitis B most commonly affects people born in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa and their global diasporas. The physical, psychological, and social impacts of hepatitis B are strongly influenced by sex and gender. Inequities in access to timely, sensitive diagnosis and effective management arise from interactions between structural inequalities related to race, ethnicity, Indigenous/settler status, class, and geography. The biomedical response to hepatitis B has led to advances in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, but many affected communities have explanatory health belief models that differ from that of biomedicine. We argue that an intersectional approach, led by affected people and communities, can integrate biomedicine with the lived experience and social context that give purpose to and shape all personal, communal, clinical, and public health responses to hepatitis B. This approach has the potential to enable a consciously equitable, effective response to the biopsychosocial complexities of hepatitis B, improve the health and wellbeing of people living with hepatitis B, and reduce hepatitis B-associated mortality.
Subject(s)
Health Status Disparities , Hepatitis B , Male , Female , Humans , Hepatitis B/epidemiology , Hepatitis B/prevention & control , Liver Cirrhosis , Ethnicity , Hepatitis B virusABSTRACT
Research teams in high-income countries often fail to acknowledge the capacity and contributions of Community Researchers. This qualitative exploratory study used decolonising methodology and the Foundation House 'Refugee Recovery Framework' to understand Community Researchers' perceptions and experiences of their role, and how research teams can integrate the knowledge they bring into research. Purposive sampling was used to facilitate the recruitment of eight Community Researchers from five different community groups working in Melbourne, Victoria. Semi-structured interviews lasting forty to sixty minutes occurred between December 2020 and January 2021. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings reported in this paper include eight themes: 'nothing about us without us'; 'open the door'; a safe space to share; every step of the way; this does not translate; finding the right way to ask; a trauma-informed approach; and support within the workplace. The knowledge obtained demonstrates that Community Researchers facilitate meaningful participation in research for women, families, and communities of refugee or migrant background. Community Researchers' presence, knowledge, and skills are vital in establishing culturally safe research practices and developing accessible language to facilitate conversations about sensitive research topics across multiple languages. Community Researchers can make important contributions at all stages of research, including data collection and interpretation.
Subject(s)
Refugees , Transients and Migrants , Community-Based Participatory Research , Female , Focus Groups , Humans , Qualitative ResearchABSTRACT
Introduction: Patient safety culture (PSC) is a vital component in ensuring high-quality and safe patient care. Assessment of physicians' and nurses' perceptions of existing hospital PSC is the first step to promoting PSC. This paper is aimed to assess physicians' and nurses' perceptions of PSC in 5 public general hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam. Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed 410 physicians and 824 nurses utilizing the validated Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture in an online format. Results: The composite positive physician's perception of PSC varied from 47.8 to 89.6% with the lowest composite score of patient safety for "staffing" (47.8%) and the highest composite score for "teamwork within units" (89.6%). The composite positive responses for perception among nurses varied from 51.3 to 94.2% with the lowest composite score of patient safety for "staffing" (51.3%) and the highest composite score for "teamwork within units" (94.2%). Conclusion: The mean scores for "supervisor/manager expectations"; "staffing", "management support for patient safety", "teamwork across units", "handoffs and transitions" among nurses were significantly higher than that among physicians (p<0.05). About two-thirds of physicians and nurses reported no event in the past 12 months (62.8 and 71.7%, respectively). The nurses reported significantly higher patient grades (every good and excellent) than physicians (75% vs 67.1%, p <0.001). Hospitals could develop and implement intervention programs to improve patient safety, including providing interventions on teamwork and communication, encouraging staff to notify incidents, and avoiding punitive responses.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pyrethroid resistance can be considered the main threat to the continued control of many mosquito vectors of disease. Piperonyl butoxide (PBO) has been used as a synergist to help increase the efficacy of certain insecticides. This enhancement stems from its ability to inhibit two major metabolic enzyme systems, P450s and non-specific esterases, and to enhance cuticular penetration of the insecticide. OBJECTIVE: To compare the mortality of a characterized resistant Aedes aegypti strain, Nha Trang, from Vietnam and the susceptible laboratory strain Bora Bora on netting with the pyrethroid deltamethrin (DM) alone and in combination with PBO. METHODS: Resistance mechanisms were characterized using molecular and bioassay techniques; standard PCR was used to test for the kdr target site mutation. Potential genes conferring metabolic resistance to DM were identified with microarray analysis using the Ae. aegypti 'detox chip'. These data were analysed alongside results from WHO susceptibility tests. P450, CYP9J32, was significantly overexpressed in the DM-resistant strain compared with the susceptible Bora Bora strain. Another five genes involved with oxidative stress responses in mosquitoes were also significantly overexpressed. The Nha Trang strain was homozygous for two kdr mutations. WHO cone bioassays were used to investigate mortality with incorporated DM-treated nets with and without PBO. PBO used in combination with DM resulted in higher mortality than DM alone. CONCLUSION: Synergists may have an important role to play in the future design of vector control products in an era when alternatives to pyrethroids are scarce.
Subject(s)
Aedes/drug effects , Insect Vectors/drug effects , Insecticides/pharmacology , Piperonyl Butoxide/pharmacology , Pyrethrins/pharmacology , Aedes/genetics , Animals , Biological Assay/methods , Drug Synergism , Female , Genes, Insect , Insect Vectors/genetics , Insecticide Resistance/drug effects , Insecticide Resistance/genetics , Insecticide-Treated Bednets , Mutation , Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis/methods , Pesticide Synergists/pharmacology , Polymerase Chain Reaction/methodsABSTRACT
Objective: Some countries treat carrying condoms as evidence of prostitution, commonly referred to as "condoms-as-evidence" policy/practice. This policy has deleterious outcomes on the health and safety of sex workers worldwide. This study evaluates the impact of a simulation game that advocates against the policy in an effort to increase advocacy attitudes and intentions against condoms-as-evidence policies and practices. Materials and Methods: A between-subjects randomized experiment (N = 70) was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention game relative to a pamphlet. The game, Cops & Rubbers, is a simulation-based tabletop game situating participants in the role of a sex worker trying to balance competing financial, safety, and health-related goals. The research for and development of the pamphlet was funded by Open Society Foundations to highlight the impact of the condoms-as-evidence policy and elicit advocacy efforts. Results: Although the game elicited similar levels of advocacy attitudes toward the pamphlet, it elicited significantly higher advocacy intentions than the pamphlet. Conflicting results were witnessed in psychological reactance. Conclusion: The present results demonstrate the utility of games as an advocacy tool for health and human rights among a polarizing topic such as sex worker advocacy. These results have both practical utility and research implications. From a practical standpoint, we demonstrate that the game can increase advocacy intentions and tangibly contribute to human rights and health issues. Furthermore, these results have the potential to inform novel game design strategies to influence persuasive outcomes in transformational games.
Subject(s)
Condoms , Video Games , Health Policy , Humans , Perception , PolicyABSTRACT
Patient safety culture is a vital component in ensuring high quality and safe patient care. Assessment of staff perception on existing hospital patient safety culture (PSC) is the first step to promote PSC. This paper is aimed to assess the patient safety culture in 1 big public autonomous general hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam. This cross-sectional study surveyed 638 healthcare professional utilizing the validated (Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture [HSOPSC]) in an online format. This study adhered to STROBE guidelines. The positive response rate was high, with a percentage of 74.2. The strongest areas are teamwork within units (91.3%) and organizational learning/continuous improvement (88.4%). The areas for improvement are staffing (49.4%) and non-punitive response to error (53.1%). Hospital administrators should strengthen the culture of patient safety by formulating strategies and implementing interventions with emphasis on adequate staffing and promoting blame-free working environment.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Digital health literacy (DHL) has recently been proposed as a means of enabling healthy decisions for protective behavior, preventive measures, and adherence with COVID-19 policies and recommendations especially in the era of the "infodemic". This study aimed to (1) identify COVID-19 related DHL and its association with online information seeking; (2) to elucidate COVID-19 related DHL as a mediator predictor between the importance of online information search and its association with subjective well-being among Vietnamese university students. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was used to elicit the responses of Vietnamese students over 2 consecutive weeks (from April 25 to May 9, 2020, n = 1,003, 70.1% female students, mean age 21.4 ± 3.1). The online survey questionnaire collected data on the sociodemographic characteristics of participants, DHL about COVID-19, information seeking behavior, and subjective well-being. Mediation analysis was conducted using the importance of searching COVID-19 related information as independent variables, subjective well-being as a dependent variable, and DHL as a mediator variable. Results: Among 1,003 students, the mean (SD) of DHL related to COVID-19 was 2.87 ± 0.32. In the survey, 87.2% of the students reported sufficient well-being, while almost 13% reported low or very low well-being. The findings also indicated that search engines were the most popular platform for information seeking by Vietnamese students (95.3%) and 92.8% of participants had searched for information related to the current spread of COVID-19. Not searching for hygiene regulation as part of infection control and an average level of information satisfaction were associated with limited DHL (p < 0.05). The importance of online information searching related to COVID-19 increased the subjective well-being of students significantly and limited DHL (p < 0.05). DHL was found to mediate the relationship between the importance of online information searching and the subjective well-being of students. Conclusion: The finding provides insight into DHL about COVID-19 among university students, and their ability to find, understand, appraise, and use online health related information during lockdown throughout the first COVID-19 pandemic wave. DHL should be highlighted as a mediating factor that enhances the positive effect of the importance of information seeking on psychological well-being. However, further studies are needed to better define the mediating role of DHL across other factors.