SAFETY SNACKS: IMPROVING QUALITY IN LONG-TERM CARE

Falls among residents in the long-term care setting adversely affect resident health with potential for serious injury and quality of care provided. Nurses at the long-term care facility recognize the need to reduce falls. The nurses propose the intervention and name the initiative Safety Snacks. The research questions are: in a long-term care facility, does the practice of additional rounding while providing snacks twice daily, decrease the incidence of falls and falls with serious injury as compared to not providing Safety Snacks over a three-month period? Will unintended weight loss change by additional rounding during which nourishment and fluids are given to residents twice daily over a three-month period? The study examines the number of falls, falls with serious injury, and unintended weight loss before and after the Safety Snacks intervention. Poissons Means Test and odds ratio are used for fall data analysis. A two-proportion z-test is used for weight loss data. The results demonstrate a reduction in falls and falls with serious injury. The odds ratio demonstrates a medium effect in falls with serious injury. The two-proportion test on unintended weight loss yields a significant difference of 0.09 with a 95% confidence interval of (0.015, 0.17). One implication is the increase in rounding while providing nutrition and hydration may reduce falls and falls with serious injury. The second implication is the more significant effect on unintended weight loss with providing Safety Snacks. The third implication is the empowerment of nurses to recommend and execute a change in practice to improve quality.

Mental health in the general population and in health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: Map the literature on mental illness in the general population and in health professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods: Research carried out within the VHL with the descriptors: covid AND mental health AND nursing professionals, in the database BDENF AND MEDLINE, filtering with the main subjects: Corona virus infections, nursing professionals, health personnel and mental health, using as exclusion criteria articles that were not in the Portuguese language and that were not within the theme of the study, including only articles published in the year 2020. Results: A total of 10 articles were found, all of them were analyzed. Among them, 9 (100%) dealt with the prevalence of mental illness in the general population, 5 (45%) in nurses, two (18%) in other health professionals and one (0.9%) in the general population and nurses. 15 symptoms of mental illness were identified. Conclusion: the Covid-19 pandemic triggered anxiety, depression, stress and post-traumatic stress disorders more frequently in the general population and health professionals. Women, students and nurses are among the most affected.

CHALLENGES TO BREASTFEEDING DURING THE FIRST FOUR WEEKS POSTPARTUM AMONG MOTHERS AGED 18 – 29 YEARS, WHO ATTEND SELECTED CLINICS IN ELEUTHERA, THE BAHAMAS

The present study seeks to investigate the breastfeeding challenges mothers on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera face, and propose strategies to improve the situation. Purposive sampling was utilized to recruit mothers from selected health centers in Eleuthera, the Bahamas (N=51). The study utilized a cross-sectional, quantitative research design wherein a forced choice, closeended survey questionnaire using Likert Type scale to elicit data from the research participants. Demographic data was analyzed using descriptive analysis, while ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) was used to determine the relationship between demographic variables (independent variable) and breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes and practices (dependent variables) using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26. The findings demonstrated that the relationship between breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes and practices and demographic variables such as educational level, marital status, maternal parity and religion was not statistically significant. The implications of the finding are that health centers can enable mothers to overcome breastfeeding challenges, by improving breastfeeding knowledge through advocacy, education and awareness. Important recommendations pertaining to nursing interventions and social support programs for initiating and continuing breastfeeding among Bahamian mothers and focusing on erasing the social stigma associated with breastfeeding to improve breastfeeding rates were also made.

THE NURSE IN THE ASSISTANCE OF BASIC LIFE SUPPORT AT CARDIORESPIRATORY STOP

INTRODUCTION: In Brazil, cardiovascular diseases are the major causes of death among adults and the elderly. Cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) consists of the cessation of activities of the heart, circulation and breathing, recognized by the absence of a pulse or signs of circulation, with the patient unconscious OBJECTIVE: To analyze the nurse’s contribution in the assistance of Basic Life Support in Stoppage Cardiorespiratory. METHODS: The present study is a literature review about the assistance of nurses in cardiorespiratory arrest. The search for literary sources took place in October 2018, using only the online version in the database; SCIELO (Scientific Electronic Librany Online); MEDLINE / BVS (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online / Virtual Health Library) and LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences). RESULTS: The study showed that nurses, through their care, are an essential and trained professional to diagnose and attend a PCR. CONCLUSION: It is possible to observe that PCR is a serious situation that requires from the nursing team scientific knowledge that can be used quickly and systematically, as well as defined protocols and teamwork so that the assistance provided is as qualified as possible, since its recognition until post-PCR care; since nursing is responsible for the continuous care of the individual, therefore, this professional category is responsible for a significant part of all assistance provided to the PCR victim.

Burnout syndrome in healthcare professionals who care for elderly people with Alzheimer’s

Objective: Identify what is the burnout syndrome, how it affects professionals, what are its symptoms, what is the role of nursing in the face of this syndrome. Methods: This study is a bibliographic search, where information was extracted from the MEDILINE and SCIELO database. With the following descriptors: Alzheimer, Burnout and Elderly. Articles were selected between the years 2009 to 2013. We excluded all those that were not related to the proposed theme. Results: Burnout syndrome or professional exhaustion syndrome is a type of occupational and institutional stress, constituting one of the main occupational diseases in the world with a predilection for health professionals, education and assistance services. Inducing physical and psychological illness, compromising the lives of these professionals and the result of their work (COSTA, 2009). Bunourt’s syndrome affects caregivers in a very subtle and insidious way, the symptoms of this syndrome are diverse and can be divided into four levels: Physical health level, emotional level, psychic level, behavioral level (GUSMÃO et al., 2010). Nursing should contribute to preventive measures where it is possible to better understand how the syndrome starts and how it evolves over time, thus allowing it to act early in preventive actions (PEREIRA, 2013). Conclusion: There is a need to seek alternatives and expand studies related to minimizing factors that predispose to the appearance of burnout syndrome in caregivers of elderly people with Alzheimer’s.

NURSING RECOMMENDATIONS TO REDUCE THE RISK OF PREECLAMPSIA DURING PRENATAL CARE

Aim: Develop nursing recommendations based on scientific evidence, aimed at reducing the probability of developing pre-eclampsia during prenatal care. Material and methods: A bibliographic search was carried out on the web: Medline, BVS, Cinahl and Google Scholar with the descriptors: pre-eclampsia, prenatal care, nursing with the conjunction AND and the disjunction OR. The documents with the referred descriptors were included. Two reviewers selected the articles. Conflicts were resolved by another reviewer. The methodological quality of each article was evaluated. The evidence was ranked and the recommendation was made. The Shekelle and Galvez Toro model was used for grading. Results: 4 aspects were evidenced: risk factors, timely detection, nursing care, protective factors and recommendations. Conclusions: Prenatal care continues to be a source of protection and control for pregnant women. Blood pressure measurement continues to be the gold standard for early detection. Nursing is a primary protective factor.

Challenges in Pursuing Nursing Education at the Graduate Level: Motivators, Barriers, and Persistence

As the United States [U.S.] nursing shortage continues, the need for a highly educated work force grows. Although, the Carnegie Report [1] advocated for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing [BSN] degree as entry into practice with a required Master of Science in Nursing [MSN] earned within 10 years, the necessity to pursue a graduate degree in nursing has not been as widely encouraged as the baccalaureate degree. Master’s prepared nurses are essential across a variety of health care settings to serve in leadership, management, and advanced primary provider positions, as well as in academic settings as faculty members and researchers. In 2017, approximately 17% of the nursing workforce held a master’s degree. This was up from 13.8% in 2013 [2]. While the percentage of nurses earning a master’s degree has risen gradually, the need for additional highly educated nurses persists as rapid advancements in health care technology, including telehealth and informatics, occur. During 2016 and 2017, the nursing program at the authors’ institution tasked the recruitment and retention committee with increasing enrollment in the graduate nursing program. The committees stated goal was increasing enrollment in all role specializations (nurse practitioner, education, and management). The committee identified two areas of particular concern: the need for family nurse practitioners in the nearby rural communities and a shortage of nursing faculty in the area as these areas had become challenging. Although the nursing program had been successful at retaining a majority of its students, recruitment of new students was challenging and thus became the key focus.

Effects of factors of informal care on the utilization of social care insurance benefits: A cross-sectional study

Background: Presently in Germany, as there is a shortage of nursing staff, informal caregivers have become highly relevant. Because they often deal with care related burden, legislation was passed to improve caregivers’ situations by offering more supports. Nonetheless, a considerable percentage of caregivers do not utilize it. Methods: Data was collected in Saxony (Germany) from November 2019 to December 2019 by using an online survey and a postal survey (cross-sectional study design; n= 1,716). For analysis bivariate logistic regression (forward method LR, α≤0.05) was performed. Results: The average age of the sample was 61.9 years, 52.9% were female and 45.7% male. Results indicate a medium utilization of care insurance services. Considerable associations were time spent on care and utilization of care allowance (OR: 1.77), such as duration of care degree and utilization of residential care services (OR: 1.88) and substitute care (OR: 1.81). Conclusions: Informal caregivers putting intensive effort into care do tend to utilize services. The resulting questions of why newer informal caregivers do not tend to utilize services and why there is a medium utilization among all caregivers implies that people need to gain better access to services independently of care factors.