Evaluating the role of heart rate variability in monitoring stress and sleep quality among nurses in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIM: To assess heart rate variability (HRV) as a measure to assess job stress and sleep quality among nurses in the post-COVID-19 period. BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected nurses, with heightened job stress and impaired sleep quality impacting their well-being and effectiveness in patient care. HRV could offer insights for supporting strategies in the pandemic aftermath. DESIGN: A quantitative cross-sectional study. METHODS: This study involved 403 clinical nurses recruited from a teaching hospital in Taiwan. Data on job stress, work frustration, sleep quality and HRV were collected and analysed. RESULTS: Among the nurses surveyed during the COVID-19 pandemic, 72.7% reported poor sleep quality (PSQI = 9.369). Job stress emerged as a strong predictor of work frustration. High stress levels and poor sleep quality were correlated with significantly decreased HRV, indicating a potential physiological impact of stress on the nurses' health and well-being. CONCLUSIONS: HRV is a valuable and cost-effective measure for monitoring and managing nurses' well-being in the post-COVID-19 era. Targeted interventions can be implemented to support nurses' overall performance and promote their well-being by identifying those at high risk of job stress and poor sleep quality.

Nurses' perceived health and occupational burnout: A focus on sleep quality, workplace violence, and organizational culture.

AIM: This study investigates the mediation of sleep quality between perceived health and occupational burnout in hospital nurses, considering the moderation of workplace violence and organizational culture. BACKGROUND: Occupational factors lead to physical and mental distress, burnout, and sleep issues in nurses. Approximately two-thirds of nurses experience burnout, impacting patient care quality and safety. Cultivating a positive organizational culture is essential for nursing workforce stability. METHODS: This cross-sectional study employed convenience sampling to recruit 346 nurses from a teaching hospital in southern Taiwan in July-August 2020 (response rate: 87.3%). Self-administered questionnaires containing validated instruments were employed, including an adapted occupational burnout scale, the Chinese version of an organizational culture scale, a Perceived Health Questionnaire, a Workplace Violence Experience Scale, and the CPSQI; all instruments were reliable and valid. The analysis involved descriptive statistics, linear regression, and the Johnson-Neyman technique. RESULTS: Nurses with better perceived health exhibited significantly lower occupational burnout (p < 0.001). Perceived health indirectly impacted burnout through sleep quality (p < 0.01) with organizational culture as a partial moderator. Bureaucratic organizational culture exacerbated this relationship. Additionally, decreased workplace violence moderated the connections among perceived health, sleep quality, and occupational burnout among nurses. CONCLUSIONS: Given the inverse correlation between nurses' perceived health and occupational burnout and considering factors such as workplace violence, organizational culture, and sleep quality, healthcare institutions can proactively take steps to enhance nurses' overall well-being and mitigate burnout. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: By implementing wellness programs, mental health support, security training, robust reporting, and a zero-tolerance approach to violence, healthcare stakeholders can foster a safe and supportive work environment for nurses, thus improving well-being, patient outcomes, and healthcare quality.

[New Horizons for Clinical Practice and Competence: Applying Game-Based Learning in Nursing Education].

Game-based teaching strategies enrich nursing education by enhancing the appeal and practicality of teaching activities. Different from the high-pressure and serious nature of traditional nursing education, interactive and entertaining teaching strategies that employ board games, card games, escape rooms, virtual reality, scratch cards, Kahoot quiz competitions, and other innovative methods better motivate learners to engage actively with learning content and retain nursing knowledge and practices, resulting in better learning outcomes. Game-based teaching strategies not only strengthen learners' mastery of core nursing concepts but also enhance their decision-making and critical-thinking abilities. In this article, practical applications of game-based teaching are introduced, in hopes that, by applying these instructional approaches, educators can alleviate the stress of the learning process and make learning more efficient and enjoyable for students.

Binding Behavior of Human Hepatoma-Derived Growth Factor on SMYD1.

The protein-induced fluorescence change technique was employed to investigate the interactions between proteins and their DNA substrates modified with the Cy3 fluorophore. It has been reported that the human hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF), containing the chromatin-associated N-terminal proline-tryptophan-tryptophan-proline (PWWP) domain (the N-terminal 100 amino acids of HDGF) capable of binding the SMYD1 promoter, participates in various cellular processes and is involved in human cancer. This project investigated the specific binding behavior of HDGF, the PWWP domain, and the C140 domain (the C-terminal 140 amino acids of HDGF) sequentially using protein-induced fluorescence change. We found that the binding of HDGF and its related proteins on Cy3-labeled 15 bp SMYD1 dsDNA will cause a significant decrease in the recorded Cy3 fluorophore intensity, indicating the occurrence of protein-induced fluorescence quenching. The dissociation equilibrium constant was determined by fitting the bound fraction curve to a binding model. An approximate 10-time weaker SMYD1 binding affinity of the PWWP domain was found in comparison to HDGF. Moreover, the PWWP domain is required for DNA binding, and the C140 domain can enhance the DNA binding affinity. Furthermore, we found that the C140 domain can regulate the sequence-specific binding capability of HDGF on SMYD1.