Remote Assisted Home Dressing vs. Outpatient Medication of Central Venous Catheter (Peripherally Inserted Central Venous Catheter): Clinical Trial A.R.C.O. (Remote Assistance Oncology Caregiver).

BACKGROUND: Management of PICC dressing can be performed at home by the patient through adequate training and telenursing. This trial verifies that the incidence of catheter-related complications in home patients, assisted by telenursing, is not greater than that observed in outpatients. METHODS: This clinical trial is composed of 72 patients with malignant tumors who underwent long-term chemotherapy with PICC insertion. They were randomly divided into an experimental group (33 cases) and a calibration group (39 cases). The control group received outpatient dressing for the PICC at the hospital, while the experimental group received a telenursing intervention about the management of the PICC. The incidence of catheter-related infections, the ability of self-management, and a rough cost/benefit estimation were compared between the two groups. This trial was performed according to the CONSORT 2010 checklist. RESULTS: The two groups do not significantly differ in relation to age, sex, and PICCs in terms of the body side insertion, the type of dressing, and the agents used for cleaning. The analysis of the results showed that in the home-managed group, the clinical events reported during the connection were higher when compared with the outpatient group (p < 0.001). The patients in the homecare group developed frequent complications resulting from skin redness (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The use of telenursing for patient education in cancer centers can reduce nurses' working time, improving the self-management capacity of patients with a long-term PICC. This trial was retrospectively registered with the Clinical Trial Gov on the 18 May 2023 with registration number NCT05880420.

Pain Education in Schools of Nursing: a Survey of the Italian Academic Situation.

INTRODUCTION: Proper assessment of pain is imperative for the development of an effective pain management plan and is a core responsibility of nurses and healthcare professionals. This article describes the contents of Italian on-line bachelor's in nursing degree programs, with particular focus on pain management. METHOD: A descriptive study was made on curricula published and available on-line in Italian Nursing Schools, and the concordance with the standards set by the Consensus Curriculum on Pain for Nursing ofthe International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP, 2015) was analyzed. RESULTS: Of all the bachelor programs published on-line, 42.6% offered programs and courses specifically centred on pain education, while in general pain teaching seemed to be delivered as part of other topics. Results showed that the contents of the programs were partially in line with those suggested by the IASP. True is that on-line results may underestimate the actualdiffusion of pain education programs and topics in Italian Universities. CONCLUSION: The Italian academic system does not seem to comply with any specific international standard. Only by interviewing the university administrative staff we may investigate the amount and type of pain education received by Italian healthcare undergraduates and the existing educational curricula and plans, as on-line information may be only partially complete.