The mediation of health-promoting lifestyle on self-perceived health status and quality of life among nurses: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Nurses with busy workloads lack the time to maintain health, leading to a decline in physical and mental health and quality of life. It is widely accepted that self-perception of health triggers health-promoting behaviors and impacts the quality of life; however, the relationship between these factors among nurses is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of a health-promoting lifestyle to mediate the relationship between self-perceived health and quality of life among nurses. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in four regional Taiwanese teaching hospitals with over 500 beds. The survey used stratified random sampling of 600 nurses who had worked for more than six months. The Self-Perceived Health Questionnaire, the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale were used to measure nurses' self-perceived health (SPH), health-promoting lifestyle (HPL), and quality of life (QoL). A Hayes PROCESS analysis and bootstrapping method were used for the mediation analysis. RESULTS: A total of 518 nurses' data was included in the analysis. Nurses perceived their health status as less favorable than their colleagues, but frequently adopted health promotion behaviors. Nurses reported a moderate QoL. QoL and SPH were correlated (r = .33) and a high correlation between QoL and HPL (r = .64) was found. SPH and HPL both affect QoL (B = 0.077 and 0.070). SPH and HPL explained 42.6% of the variation in QoL. HPL played a partial mediation role. CONCLUSIONS: The study confirmed that HPL has an important role in mediating nurses' SPH and QoL. Nurse administrators are advised to encourage nurses to monitor their health status and provide health promotion mechanisms to improve their quality of life.

Factors associated with 14-day hospital readmission in frail older patients: A case-control study.

Frailty is a key predictor of readmission among older patients. However, studies on the factors associated with readmission of frail older patients are lacking. This study aims to examine factors associated with 14-day hospital readmission in frail older patients. A retrospective case-control study was conducted. Patients were eligible for inclusion if they were age 65 and over and if their Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) score was above 4. A total of 210 frail older patients were included. Patients who had partners, experienced a fall within 6 months before hospitalization, had pressure injuries, received surgery or chemotherapy, and received rehabilitation therapy from a physical therapist during hospitalization had increased odds of being readmitted to the hospital within 14 days. Moreover, patients receiving comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) services during hospitalization showed a significantly reduced risk of readmission. Adapting CGA and developing continuity care plans from hospitals to the community are crucial.

A 3D-printed phantom for stereotactic body radiation therapy simulation.

In modern radiation therapy for lung cancer, examining the uncertainty between tumor motion and beam delivery is vitally important. To lower the radiation dose delivery to the patient's normal tissue, narrowing the irradiation field margin to hit the tumor accurately is critical. Thus we proposed a phantom that simulates the thorax and lung tumor's motions by employing a 3D printing technique. The lung tumor is controlled by a linear miniature Delta robot arm, with a maximum displacement of 20 mm in each direction. When we simulated the thoracic breathing movements at 12 mm in A-P (Anterior-Posterior), the control errors were within 10%. The average tracking errors of the prosthetic tumor were within 1.1 mm. Therefore, the 3D-printed phantom with a robot arm can provide a reliable simulation for training and dosimetry measurement before lung radiotherapy, especially SBRT.

[A study of work values, professional commitment, turnover intention and related factors among clinical nurses].

BACKGROUND: The high rate of turnover in nursing positions is a global problem. There have been few studies done addressing the relationship between work values and nurse turnover intention. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between work values, professional commitment and turnover intention among clinical nurses. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between February 1st to March 10th, 2008 on a convenience sample of nurses, all of whom had at least a half year of work experience at one of four teaching hospitals in Taiwan. RESULTS: A total of 289 valid responses were received, with a response rate of 96.3%. Major findings included: (1) Nurses who were older, had more years of school, had worked more years, held specific job duties, earned a higher salary, held Buddhist beliefs, or were married with two or more children presented higher work values and professional commitment and lower turnover intention; (2) As a group, total work values and professional commitment scores corresponded negatively with turnover intention scores; (3) Significant factors affecting turnover intent in clinical nurses included professional commitment, institution characteristics, Buddhist beliefs and salary. These four variables accounted for 52.2% of the variation in turnover intention. CONCLUSIONS / IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This study indicated that nurses with higher work values and professional commitment tend to exhibit less turnover intention. It is highly recommended to develop strategies to bolster the teaching of altruistic values and professional commitment in nursing education in order to reduce turnover intent. Also, further studies on the influence of religious beliefs and organizational attributes on nurse turnover intentions are also suggested.