A Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timed (SMART) Nursing Project Reduces Anxiety, Depression, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Parents of Childhood or Adolescent Osteosarcoma Patients.

Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timed (SMART) principle improves the nursing utility by setting individual goals for participants and helping them to achieve these goals. Our study intended to investigate the impact of a SMART nursing project on reducing mental stress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in parents of childhood or adolescent osteosarcoma patients. In this randomized, controlled study, 66 childhood or adolescent osteosarcoma patients and 126 corresponding parents were enrolled and divided into SMART or normal care (NC) groups at a 1:1 ratio. All parents received a 3-month corresponding intervention and a 6-month interview. Our study revealed that the self-rating anxiety scale score at the 3rd month (M3) (P < 0.05) and the 6th month (M6) (P < 0.01), and anxiety rate at M3 (P < 0.05) and M6 (P < 0.05) were lower in parents in SMART group vs. NC group. The self-rating depression scale score at M3 and M6, and depression rate at M3 and M6 were lower in parents in SMART group vs. NC group (all P < 0.05). Impact of events scale-revised score at the 1st month (M1) (P < 0.05), M3 (P < 0.05), and M6 (P < 0.01) were lower in parents in SMART group vs. NC group. By subgroup analyses, the SMART nursing project showed better impacts on decreasing anxiety, depression, and PTSD in parents with an undergraduate education or above than in those with a high school education or less. Conclusively, SMART nursing project reduces anxiety, depression, and PTSD in parents of childhood or adolescent osteosarcoma patients, which is more effective in those with higher education.

Management of epileptic seizures in school-age children: Educational project dedicated to school staff.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to educate the school staff for a correct management of epileptic seizures in order to increase the safety of young people at school and promoting the administration of rescue drugs and in order to improve care and reduce improper calls to the health emergency number. METHODS: This project started in January 2016, and it is still ongoing at the Department of Neuroscience of Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital in Rome, Italy. There has been a data cut-off evaluation in November 2018. Two-hour training meetings with the school staff have been organized. The major topics of the training activities were as follows: report what epilepsy is, how to manage students with epileptic seizures, and how to administer rescue medications. During the meetings, the following two questionnaires were administered: one pretest in order to collect personal information and information on awareness of epilepsy, willingness to administer rescue medications, and anxiety in facing a seizure; and one posttest in order to check the knowledge acquired after the training sessions. Statistical analysis was performed using R version 3.2.3 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, http://www.R-project.org/). Demographics (sex and age) and teaching experience were summarized with descriptive statistics for each variable. Demographics, teaching experience, awareness of disability, and knowledge of epilepsy were correlated to the management of seizures occurring in the classroom before the course; results are reported as odds ratios [OR] and 95% confidence interval (95 CI). RESULTS: Nine hundred school staff members (95% school staff and 5% social workers) entered in the project between January 2016 and November 2018. Seven hundred and forty (82%) returned the questionnaires fulfilled, and not all of them were completely filled. Ninety-eight percent of school staff (676/691) were aware about epilepsy; however, only in 16% (110) the awareness of epilepsy came from medical staff, scientific brochures, or participation in conventions. Thirty-five percent of school staff (248/707) believed that epilepsy reduces learning abilities, and 58% (409/703) believed that children with epilepsy need school support. After the training, 68% of school staff (496/734) correctly filled in the questionnaire related to the management of acute seizures versus 8% of them (57/718) in the prequestionnaire. After the training, 89% of school staff (601/675) were ready to administer rescue medications versus 54% (384/712) before the training. The majority of participants reported that the level of anxiety related to the management of seizures after the training significantly reduced. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this project documented an increase in knowledge of epilepsy, a better knowledge on management of acute seizures in the school settings, a reduction in anxiety, and an increase in willingness to administer rescue medications. Further studies should be planned in order to document the changes in the real-world management of seizures, to evaluate if a reduction in hospital admittances might be reached, and to extend the project by assessing, through a questionnaire, the stigma and prejudices against the children affected by epilepsy by their classmates.

[Project for Promoting the Completeness of Electronic Dialysis Nursing Records].

BACKGROUND & PROBLEMS: Obtaining complete electronic dialysis nursing records, a tool that facilitates communication between medical teams, is critical in terms of maintaining the continuity of nursing procedures and nursing quality. An analysis of our unit indicated that nurses lacked sufficient familiarity with electronic dialysis nursing record systems. Moreover, they received insufficient training in operating these systems and lacked the guidelines necessary to maintain these records properly. Furthermore, these systems tend to be poorly designed, and an inspection system for dialysis nursing records is currently unavailable. These factors led to a rate of record completeness of only 58.2%. PURPOSE: To raise the rate of completeness for electronic nursing records to above 90%. RESOLUTION: An intervention was conducted to accomplish seven tasks. These tasks included: modify the electronic dialysis nursing record system, input preset phrases in order to facilitate record compilation in the system, devise a manual to instruct staff on recordkeeping procedures, organize in-service training on system operations, conduct clinical scenario simulations for nurses to practice operating the system, recruit informatics nurses to teach other nurses about the operations, and implement an inspection system for these electronic records. RESULTS: After implementing the intervention, the rate of completeness for electronic nursing records improved to 96% and the average time required for nurses to complete a nursing record decreased from 21 mins 35 s to 8 mins 15 s. CONCLUSIONS: The developed intervention significantly improved the completeness of electronic nursing records, reduced the time required for recordkeeping, and ensured adequate nursing quality for dialysis patients.

[Review and analysis of the review results of Taiwan nurses association nursing projects (2011~2013)].

BACKGROUND: Nursing projects are a key part of N4 professional competency training for nursing personnel. Low passage rates for these projects have been shown to negatively affect the intent of nursing personnel to advance further in the nursing ladder system. PURPOSE: This study analyzes the scores for nursing projects between 2011 and 2013, the passage rate for these projects, and the differences in passage rates between different types of projects. METHOD: This retrospective and descriptive study collected data on nursing projects conducted under the auspices of the Taiwan Nurses Association between 2011 and 2013. Furthermore, the comments of reviewers on 100 nursing projects were randomly selected and subjected to content analysis. RESULTS: A total of 3,359 nursing projects were examined. Eliminating unqualified nursing projects left a total of 3,246 projects for the dataset. A total of 1,099 projects were scored with passing grades, giving a passing rate of 33.9%. The authors of these passing projects worked primarily in northern Taiwan, worked in medical centers, and worked in intensive care departments. The projects submitted by authors in central Taiwan had the highest average score and passing rate, while those living in offshore islands had the lowest average score and passing rate. Most of the project topics belonged to the category: "improvement of nursing service skills or quality" (77.3%). Items with the lowest scores were: validation of questions, analysis of the current situation, and evaluation of results. The topics of nursing projects did not relate significantly to passing rate. However, years of experience, geographic location of hospital, level of institution, and department each had a statistically significant impact on the passage rate. A content analysis of reviewer comments was used to extract common problems. Most of the positive comments were related to the category of "literature review and reference", while most of the negative comments were related to the categories of "literature review and reference", "analysis of current situation", "problem result and process", "evaluation of results", and "validation of questions". CONCLUSIONS / IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This study analyzed the types of nursing projects, the trends in submission, and the comments of project reviewers. The results indicate that the validation of problems in project writing and current situation analysis and the evaluation of results should be improved. These findings may be referenced by nursing personnel for executing projects in the future and for developing improved criteria / methodologies for the clinical ladder system for nursing personnel.

Improving insulin self-injection accuracy in patients with diabetes mellitus through a nursing project.

BACKGROUND: Non-standardized insulin injection has an impact on the efficacy of glucose control. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to explore the effectiveness of a nursing project in improving the insulin self-injection accuracy of diabetes mellitus patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 200 type 2 diabetes patients who received insulin therapy with an insulin pen were recruited at the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University (Chongqing, China). Patients were randomly assigned to a control (n = 100) or intervention (n = 100) group. Conventional health education was conducted in the control group, while a nursing project and conventional health education were undertaken in the intervention group. The following parameters were analyzed between the 2 groups: standardized insulin pen use at admission and discharge, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), time in range (TIR), and adipose hyperplasia incidence rate 6 months after discharge. RESULTS: Concerning standardized insulin self-injection, the intervention group was superior to the control group, and the difference between the 2 groups was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The HbA1c levels (p = 0.000), TIR (p = 0.005) and adipose hyperplasia incidence rate 6 months after discharge (p = 0.000) all improved in the intervention group compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The application of the nursing project effectively improved the efficacy of glucose control in diabetes mellitus patients.

An example of evaluation of tuning nursing competences in the licensure exam: An observational study.

Introduction The licensure exam in nursing has always focused on the curricula used in universities. 'Tuning' was the first project that sought to harmonize training purposes regarding competences and learning outcomes in Europe. The Tuning educational structures have been offered in various disciplines, including nursing with the development of the Tuning Nursing Project. The study describes which of 47 Tuning Nursing Competences were evaluated during the licensure exam in nursing degree courses, and what types of trials were used for their assessment. Methods A multicentric observational study was conducted in 4 universities in Italy. Data were collected in academic years 2017-2019, using two grids: one for cognitive and one for psychomotor tests. Results The Tuning competences were requested 7522 times. The most frequently demanded were those associated with domain number two, "Nursing practice and clinical decision making". The level of performance most required in cognitive tests was the autonomy of judgement, and both tests concerned the fields of non-communicable diseases and the hospitalized adult patient. Conclusions The competences most often assessed coincided with those deemed core for the first cycle of studies at the European level. Unfortunately, it has been detected a high degree of discrepancy in the types of tests used in different schools.

Tuning Nursing Educational in an Italian academic context.

BACKGROUND: The European Union Bologna Process has laid the foundation for a common European competence-based educational framework. In many countries, nursing education is in transition from vocational to higher education, with many diverse systems. The competence-based approach provided by the project Tuning Educational Structures offers a common and coherent framework able to facilitate the implementation of the principles underpinning the Bologna Process reform. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to ascertain the relevance that Italian nursing university lecturers attributed to the 40 competences of the Italian version of the nursing Bachelor's and Master's Degrees. These competences were developed through adoption of the Tuning Methodology in the nursing context. SETTING: The study was conducted in the 4 universities of one region of Italy which offer nursing Bachelor's and Master's Degrees. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 164 Italian university nursing lecturers. METHODS: Using a four point scale, a cross sectional survey was conducted from March 2011 to April 2012. Participants evaluated each competence according to its relevance for Bachelor's or Master's Education. Frequency analysis was conducted. RESULTS: The significance for each competence of Tuning was rated very high by Italian lecturers and appeared to overlap partially with the original European study. In Italy, the most relevant competences for Bachelor's Degree were the skills associated with the use of appropriate interventions, activities and skills in nursing and the skills associated with nursing practice and clinical decision-making. For Master's Degree, leadership, management and team competences were the most important. CONCLUSIONS: The Tuning Nursing Project was accepted by the Italian lecturers. The competence-based approach was considered by Italian lectures as a support enabling to reflect on the current Italian nursing education cycles of study and to ensure shared visions and common approaches between Italian and European lecturers.

Effect of nursing project management on the improvement of night nursing safety / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective To explore the effect of nursing project management on the improvement of night nursing safety quality. Methods Totally 332 cases of inpatients from department of cardiovascular medicine, in accordance with the fore-and-aft sequence of implementing nursing project management, divided into experimental group (160 cases) and control group (172 cases). Through the nursing project improvement management, analyzing the reason of high incidence of adverse events related with the nursing safety at night in control group. Formulating standardized solutions to improve the quality of nursing safety at night. To compare the incidence of night nursing safety incidents, nursing defects and the prevention of nursing defects of the two groups before and after intervention. Results Experimental night nursing safety of nursing adverse events, gaps and prevent nursing defects were occurred in the experimental group 8.75％ (14/160), 10.00％ (16/160), 3.12％ (5/160), the control group after the interventionwere 1.74％ (3/172), 2.33％ (4/172), 11.04％ (19/172), the difference was statistically significant (χ2=6.904, 9.981, 10.626,P< 0.01). After the intervention, patients' self-management ability was enhanced, the experimental group patient compliance, psychological emotion, safety consciousness, rational drug use rate was 56.25％(90/160),52.50％(84/160), 62.50％(100/160), 67.88％(107/160), the control group 86.63％(149/172), 74.41％(128/172), 91.28％(157/172), 88.37％(152/172), the difference was statistically significant (χ2= 4.656- 10.756, P<0.01 or 0.05). Conclusion Nursing project management can effectively improve the quality of night nursing safety and self-management of patients, reduce the occurrence of nursing defects, and improve the safety of nightcare.

Application of nursing project in improving self-management ability of outpatients with chronic kidney disease / 中华护理杂志

Objective To enhance patients' abilities in self-management. Methods We used the nursing project method to analyze reasons and develop standard process of follow-up management and health education. A retro-spective analysis of 84 patients with stage 3 to 4 CKD was performed by nursing project method. This analysis compared the changes after the intervention program,including the ability of self-management,follow-up,medication and diet compliance,and the control rate of physiological indicators. Results By comparison with the intervention before and after,there were significant improvements in each dimension of self-management ability (P<0.001),follow-up, medication and diet compliance were significantly improved(P<0.05),and there were significant improvements in the control rate of systolic pressure and blood uric acid(P<0.001),the differences were statistically significant. Conclusion The application of nursing project can improve self-management ability,the compliance of follow-up,medication and diet as well as physiological indicators in patients with stage 3 to 4 CKD.