The COVID-19 experience: A survey of RNs.

PURPOSE: To explore the psychological factors that impacted RNs during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Survey response data were collected from 151 respondents across 25 states and various healthcare system settings. RESULTS: RNs in clinical settings had slightly more emotional stress than those in academia. Concerns ranged from personal health and family considerations to large-scale sociopolitical issues. CONCLUSIONS: RNs in all settings experienced at least some emotional stress during the early stages of the pandemic. However, in a majority of respondents, none of the stressors individually or in combination were so great as to encourage departure from the profession.

Use of real-time cadence to prescribe aerobic physical activity intensity and its comparison with existing methods.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of physical activity intensity prescription using real-time cadence on achieving the required intensities for health benefits. Forty adults (18-65 years) participated in the study. The intensity prescriptions included Rating of Perceived Exertion, Talk Test, Heart Rate, and Real-Time Cadence. The participants performed a2-min trial for both moderate- and vigorous-intensity according to each prescription. Atri-axial accelerometer was used as acriterion measure. After completion of the trials, participant's preference for the prescriptions was assessed by three domains (e.g., understanding, performing, maintaining). The compliance and achievement rates of RC were calculated and compared to other prescription methods. Coefficient of Variance was used to evaluate the extent of variation of intensity during the trials. Higher compliance rates were found in both moderate- (92.1%) and vigorous-intensity (94.9%) when using RC. When using RC, most participants (92.5%) were able to achieve the targeted moderate-intensity, but not for vigorous-intensity although asignificant difference was found between the two intensities (p < .001). Overall, RC was the most favoured method in all three domains. RC is apromising tool to prescribe moderate-intensity of physical activity for health benefits but still needs to be refined on prescribing vigorous-intensity.

Validation of wearable activity monitors for real-time cadence.

The purpose of this study is to establish evidence of validity for wearable activity monitors providing real-time cadence against a criterion measure. Thirty-six healthy adults, aged 18-65 years, participated in the study. Four activity monitors including 2 watch-based monitors and 2 cadence sensors attaching to shoelaces were tested. Each participant completed the study protocol consisting of 2 distinct components: (1) treadmill protocol and (2) overground protocol. Lin's concordance correlation and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) were calculated for the comparisons between the criterion and measures of the monitors. Bland-Altman analysis was performed to determine the mean bias and 95% limits of agreement. All activity monitors showed high correlations with the criterion measures (p < .01). Lower correlations were observed at slow walking speeds in the watch-based monitors. In contrast, consistent and strong correlations were found with both cadence sensors regardless of walking speeds (p < .01). Similar patterns were observed in the MAPE scores. Greater than 90% of the participants were able to maintain prescribed walking intensity using real-time cadence. The results suggest that the wearable activity monitors are an acceptable measure of real-time cadence and provide the potential to improve intensity-based prescription of physical activity using the monitors.