Impact of promoting self-care in nursing workload

Abstract OBJECTIVES To assess the impact of promoting self-care in nursing workload and associate it to the variables: age, gender, socioeconomic status, education, marital status and number of children of caregivers. METHODS Prospective study with 31 children and their caregivers. Participants were assessed at two moments, 1st and 2nd hospitalization, the nursing workload was measured by the Nursing Activities Score (NAS). RESULTS The mean NAS in the 1st hospitalization was 60.9% and in the 2nd hospitalization was 41.6%, that is, 14.6 and 9.9 hours of nursing, respectively. The nursing workload on the first day of hospitalization was higher compared to the last day, both for the 1st (p<0.001) and for the 2nd hospitalization (p<0.001), and higher in the first (p<0.001) and in the last day (p=0.025) in the 1st hospitalization. Comparing the 1st hospitalization to the 2nd hospitalization, the first was higher (p<0.001), and NAS items related to the training of self-care was influenced (p<0.001). CONCLUSION The nursing workload associated to self-care promotion corresponded to 14.6 hours and was higher than determined by the existing legislation

Measuring professional satisfaction and nursing workload among nursing staff at a Greek coronary care unit

Objective: To explore potential associations between nursing workload and professionalsatisfaction among nursing personnel (NP) in Greek Coronary Care Units (CCUs).Method: A cross-sectional study was performed involving 66 members of the NPemployed in 6 randomly selected Greek CCUs. Job satisfaction was assessed by theIWS and nursing workload by NAS, CNIS and TISS-28. Results: The response ratewas 77.6%. The reliability of the IWS was α=0.78 and the mean score 10.7 (±2.1, scalerange: 0.5-39.7). The most highly valued component of satisfaction was &quot;Pay&quot;, followedby &quot;Task requirements&quot;, &quot;Interaction&quot;, &quot;Professional status&quot;, &quot;Organizational policies&quot; and&quot;Autonomy&quot;. NAS, CNIS and TISS-28 were negatively correlated (p≤0.04) with thefollowing work components: &quot;Autonomy&quot;, &quot;Professional status&quot;, &quot;Interaction&quot; and &quot;Taskrequirements&quot;. Night shift work independently predicted the score of IWS. Conclusion:The findings show low levels of job satisfaction, which are related with nursing workloadand influenced by rotating shifts

Experience of using the bioresorbable copolyester poly(DL-lactide-ε-caprolactone) nerve conduit guide Neurolac™ for nerve repair in peripheral nerve defects: Report on a series of 28 lesions

Synthetic nerve guides are occasionally used to repair nerve defects. The aim of the present work was to analyse the results of Neurolac™ use in a series of 23 patients. We operated on 28 nerve lesions located on various sites: arm ( n = 1), elbow ( n = 5), forearm ( n = 4), wrist ( n = 2), palm ( n = 5), fingers ( n = 11). Defects averaged 11.03 mm and were repaired using Neurolac™. After an average of 21.9 months’ follow up (3–45 months), subjective criteria (pain, cold intolerance, Quick DASH) and objective criteria (strength, Weber and Semmes–Weinstein sensitivity tests) were compared with the contralateral side. Average pain score was 2.17/10. Cold intolerance was reported in fifteen cases. Quick DASH averaged 35.37/100. Grip strength averaged 64.62% of the contralateral side. As regards sensitivity, the difference between the two sides was 18.89 on Weber’s test, and 46.92 on Semmes–Weinstein. Defect size did not affect the outcomes. We observed eight complications the most serious being two fistulizations of the Neurolac™ device close to a joint and one neuroma. Neurolac™ presents some advantages (resorption, semi-permeability, emergency use, tenseless repair) like other synthetic guides used for nerve regeneration and its transparency constitutes an added benefit. However, some difficulty in its handling and its expensiveness represent real disadvantages. Our results are not in favour of its use in repairing hand nerve defects. </jats:p