Sleep Disturbance and Occupational Fatigue in Emergency Nurses of Public Hospitals in Greece: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The emergency department (ED) is a stressful workplace for nurses, due to heavy workload and work shifts, which affect sleep quality, causing occupational fatigue. As a result, nurses burn out and turn over and quality of care is impaired. The aim of this study was to investigate sleep disturbance (SD) and occupational fatigue (OF) in emergency nurses of public hospitals in Greece. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the ED of tertiary public hospitals in Greece from September 2019 to October 2021, after the approval from the scientific and ethical committee of hospitals and the full informed consent of participants. The Standard Shift work Index (SSI) questionnaire was used, which includes 12 question groups about sleep habits and OF evaluation for shift workers, as nurses. Two hundred and ten ED nurses were recruited for the purpose of the study. In this research their quality of life, sleep completeness, and fatigue levels were studied. A moderate level of SD (total score = 70.54) of nurses was found that was related to marital status, presence of children, and underlying diseases (p = 0.012, p = 0.024, and p = 0.002, respectively). OF was assessed at low levels (score = 27.34) and was mainly related to age, with younger nurses reporting less fatigue compared with older nurses. The effect of work shifts in SD and OF of ED nurses was well documented. ED nurses' OF was correlated with increased SD, age, and marital status. Further research is needed for a better assessment and understanding of the factors that influence SD and OF of ED nurses to plan a strategy to optimize sleep patterns of work shift ED nurses.

The strength of combined cytogenetic and mate-pair sequencing techniques illustrated by a germline chromothripsis rearrangement involving FOXP2.

Next-generation mate-pair sequencing (MPS) has revealed that many constitutional complex chromosomal rearrangements (CCRs) are associated with local shattering of chromosomal regions (chromothripsis). Although MPS promises to identify the molecular basis of the abnormal phenotypes associated with many CCRs, none of the reported mate-pair sequenced complex rearrangements have been simultaneously studied with state-of-the art molecular cytogenetic techniques. Here, we studied chromothripsis-associated CCR involving chromosomes 2, 5 and 7, associated with global developmental and psychomotor delay and severe speech disorder. We identified three truncated genes: CDH12, DGKB and FOXP2, confirming the role of FOXP2 in severe speech disorder, and suggestive roles of CDH12 and/or DGKB for the global developmental and psychomotor delay. Our study confirmes the power of MPS for detecting breakpoints and truncated genes at near nucleotide resolution in chromothripsis. However, only by combining MPS data with conventional G-banding and extensive fluorescence in situ hybridizations could we delineate the precise structure of the derivative chromosomes.

Parents' satisfaction concerning their child's hospital care.

AIM: To explore parents' satisfaction concerning their child's care during hospitalization and its determinants. METHODS: A descriptive, non-experimental correlational design was used. The data collection was based on interviews using a 63 item questionnaire, the Swedish Pyramid Questionnaire. The parents of 206 children (hospitalized in two pediatric and two surgical units) participated in the study. RESULTS: The independent t-test results demonstrated that the parents showed greater satisfaction with staff attitudes and medical treatment, whereas they were less satisfied with the information concerning routines and the staff work environment. The stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that adequacy of care, adequate pain management, parents' involvement in care, a trusting relationship, and staff attitudes were the most important determinants of parental satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Interventions in pediatric care should include measurements of parental and child satisfaction as a tool to assess the quality of care.