Anxiety, Depression, Body Mass Index, Physical Activity in Nomophobic Italian Nurses: A Chronic Latent Inflammation?

AIM: To investigate which risk factors are strictly connected to nomophobia in Italian nurses, according to socio-demographic characteristics, Body Mass Index scores, physical activity habits, anxiety, and depression. METHODS: An "ad hoc" online questionnaire has been created and then administered to Italian nurses. Data include sex, age, years of work experience, shift work per day, nursing educational level, Body Mass Index, physical activity, anxiety, depression, and nomophobia conditions. Univariate logistic regression has been performed to explore what potential factors may contribute to the nomophobia condition. RESULTS: A total of 430 nurses agree to participate. No respondents record severe nomophobia levels, as 308 (71.6%) register mild and 58 (13.5%) register moderate levels and 64 (14.9%) report no abnormal condition. Females seem to be more exposed than males to nomophobia (p < 0.001); nurses aged from 31 to 40 years and also with less than 10 years of work experience are more affected comparnig to the other sub groups (p < 0.001). Nurses who practice low physical activity report significant high levels in nomophobia (p < 0.001) and nurses reporting high anxiety levels also suffer from nomophobia (p < 0.001). The trend is inverse by considering depression condition since most of the nurses suffering from mild or moderate nomophobia levels report the absence of depression condition (p < 0.001). No statistical differences have been reported between nomophobia levels and shift work (p = 0.269), nursing educational level (p = 0.242), and BMI levels (p = 0.183). Anxiety and physical activity report strong relationships with nomophobia condition (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Nomophobia may affect all individuals, especially young individuals. Although further studies on nurses will be implemented, including the workplace and training environments of nurses by allowing a clearer picture of the levels of "nomophobia" in general, as nomophobic behavior may have negative repercussions both in social and professional spheres.

Which socio-demographic patterns influence nursing managers' empowerment perceptions among nurses? An investigatory study.

AIM OF THE WORK: Nurses were the most numerous healthcare workers employed in the current Italian healthcare systems. By considering them the driving force of the healthcare systems, the present study aimed to investigate which socio-demographic characteristics in nurses could influence empowerment promoted by their managers, by understanding what socio-demographic characteristics influenced the nursing manager empowerment and could help nursing managers to perform their empowerment approaches by highlighting strengths or weaknesses. METHODS: An on-line, observational, multicenter, cross- sectional study was conducted by recruiting a total of 126 nurses. RESULTS: Negative and significant correlations and associations were recorded between all the Empowering Leadership Questionnaire sub dimensions and age (p<.05). Data reported linear and significant associations between all the five sub dimensions of the ELQ and age (p<.05), as younger nurses more perceived their nursing managers' empowerment presence than their older colleagues, too. CONCLUSIONS: Empowerment is a very complex topic in the nursing practice in which managers should be aware of the role of empowerment in promoting work engagement and effectiveness and differential effects on new graduates and more experienced nurses.

Transcultural health: attitudes, perceptions, knowledge of Italian nurses. An observational study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE WORK: The Italian health profile of foreigners depends from several factors and events, such as: environmental, microbiological, cultural and / or behavioral. Healthcare professionals might to have greater and better basic and post-basic training in approaching foreign users. Listening and empathy, with complementary training can help to reduce distances and better understand the patient's socio-cultural background. The aim of the study is to explore the basic intercultural knowledge of the Italian nurses, the perception of the problems encountered during the interaction with foreign users and any solution strategies. METHODS: From December 2020 to March 2021 a national observational study was conducted by involving 327 nurses. RESULTS: 85.5% among participants were females and most of them aged between 20 and 30 years (20.20%) and were employed in medical wards (22.60%). Among the hindering barriers explored, linguistic ones are highlighted (41.30%), specifically for the description of hospital rules (34.90%) and of social and health regulations (34.90%). CONCLUSIONS: From the present findings, it emerges that the cultural competence of nurses could be developed by offering a multicultural education through basic and post-basic courses. (www.actabiomedica.it).

Healthcare workers perceptions in the difficult moment of the end of life and coping strategies adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic: an Italian pilot study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE WORK: In a society that tries so hard to forget and make people forget that death exists, death has never been so close to man in his daily life as during this pandemic. Health care professionals have therefore all too often had to  deal with the death of the people they care for and with related issues such as, for example, the dignity of death, the humanization of death and care for the dying. The aim of the study is to highlight the perceptions of physicians, nurses and health and social workers in the difficult moment of the end of life, also analyzing which coping strategies were implemented by them. METHODS: All Italian healthcare workers were enrolled in this survey. The questionnaire was administered in an online version. Physicians, nurses and support staff (social and health workers) were contacted through social networks. RESULTS: A total of 512 healthcare workers were enrolled in this survey. No statistical significant differences were recorded among the COPE-NVI- 25 sub dimensions according to sex, profession and to different wards. Additionally, by considering the COPE-NVI-25 sub dimensions according to years of work experience, a statistical significant difference was reported in the Transcendent Orientation sub dimension (p=.047), as healthcare workers with 11-20 years of work experience recorded higher levels than the other two groups. By considering differences in the COPE-NVI-25 sub dimensions according to religion, significant differences were recorded in the transcendent orientation (p=.032), in the positive attitude (p=.030), in the social support (p=.035). CONCLUSIONS: From the evidence in the literature, the quality of end-of-life care performance has a positive correlation with awareness of a good death and attitudes towards end-of-life care.

Eating disorders and related stigma: analysis among a population of Italian nursing students.

According to the World Health Organization, eating disorders are a constantly growing public health problem in industrialized countries with an important stigmatizing impact. The study investigates stigmatizing beliefs and attitudes towards Anorexia nervosa (AN) and Bulimia nervosa (BN). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From October 2018 to November 2019, an online survey was conducted for students of the Degree Courses in Nursing of 2 Italian university centres, using the Italian version of the SAB-BN-ITA, adapted for AN. RESULTS: The sample consists of 517 nursing students, aged between 20 and 23. Male subjects presented higher scores, relative to stigma, both for BN (F =17.5, p <0.001) and for AN (F = 1 9.64, p <0.001). For the sample the main trigger factor of BN is the influence of the media (56.67), the lack of social support (53.19) and parental care (51.84). The association between the stigmatizing views was explored through Spearman's correlation and a linear regression model between the two overall scores (coeff. 0.73; p <0.001: r-squared 0.52). The 'self-regulation' is the stigmatizing opinions for AN (Coeff. 0.0768; p <0.001; r-squared 0.039) and BN (Coeff 0.0684; p <0.001; r-squared 0.030), and the 'social support' is stigmatizing opinions for AN (coeff. -0.0713; p = 0.004; r-squared 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that the male gender has a higher level of stigma than the female one. Moreover, a large number of students consider media influence to be the main causative factor in the onset of ADs, in addition to the lack of social support.

First soluble M@C60 derivatives provide enhanced access to metallofullerenes and permit in vivo evaluation of Gd@C60[C(COOH)2]10 as a MRI contrast agent.

M@C(60) and related endohedral metallofullerenes comprise a significant portion of the metallofullerene yield in the traditional arc synthesis, but their chemistry and potential applications have been largely overlooked because of their sparse solubility. In this work, procedures are described to solublize Gd@C(60) species for the first time by forming the derivative, Gd@C(60)[C(COOCH(2)CH(3))(2)](10), and its hydrolyzed water-soluble form, Gd@C(60)[C(COOH)(2)](10). Imparting water solubility to Gd@C(60) permits its evaluation as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent. Relaxometry measurements for Gd@C(60)[C(COOH)(2)](10) reveal it to possess a relaxivity (4.6 mM(-1) s(-1) at 20 MHz and 40 degrees C) comparable to that of commercially available Gd(III) chelate-based MRI agents. An in vivo MRI biodistribution study in a rodent model reveals Gd@C(60)[C(COOH)(2)](10) to possess the first non-reticuloendothelial system (RES) localizing behavior for a water-soluble endohedral metallofullerene species, consistent with its lack of intermolecular aggregation in solution as determined by light-scattering measurements. This first derivatization and use of a M@C(60) species suggests new potential for metallofullerene technologies by reducing reliance on the chromatographic purification procedures normally employed for the far less abundant M@C(82) and related endohedrals. The recognition that water-soluble fullerene derivatives can be designed to avoid high levels of RES uptake is an important step toward fullerene-based pharmaceutical development.