Clinical Nursing Research

Physical distancing measures to limit contagion in the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to care for older persons with dementia. Non-essential home visits were prevented and family caregivers took over most of their care. The aim of our study was to describe the lived experience of peoples living with dementia caregivers during the pandemic regarding the care provided and the person cared for. A qualitative phenomenological design was used. Participants were recruited using purposeful sampling. Informants were selected from primary healthcare centers, day centers, and a community mental health unit...

Adverse maternal and infant health outcomes among African Americans are increasingly recognized as indicators of a critical public health crisis in the United States. Research has found that stress is related to structural racism and the social determinants of health (SDOH) that cause avoidable, unfair inequities in resources, education, power, and opportunities across ethnic groups. This paper describes the SDOH needs and experiences of pregnant Black women from the perspective of doulas and Birthing Beautiful Communities (BBC) clients...

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) play a central role in clinical research and patient care resulting in a plethora of standardized PROMs to measure a range of constructs, including disease symptoms, health-related quality of life, and health status (Meadows/Reaney) used in a range of settings, including the nursing environment. However, the use of PROMs in drug development and their use in healthcare evaluation do not easily marry together. In drug development, standardization of measurement is key to the interpretation of the formation at a population level with minimal biases...

This retrospective study investigated the long-term incidence and risk of postoperative complications following spinal fusion. This study included 640,366 participants from a National Health Examination cohort in the Republic of Korea. Among them, 11,699 individuals underwent spinal fusion, and 56,667 individuals who underwent non-fusion spinal procedures served as controls. Propensity score matching was used to account for patient characteristics including demographic factors, comorbidities, and other relevant variables...

UNLABELLED: Saliva measurements serve as a noninvasive tool for clinically monitoring newborns (NB) and children, a vulnerable population with promising potential for both research and clinical practice. Saliva acts as a repository for various inflammatory biomarkers involved in diverse biological functions. Particularly for children, it offers numerous advantages when compared to plasma and urine sampling. Nevertheless, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding detectable levels of cytokines in the saliva of newborns and children, as well as studies aiming to assess the relationship of this content with physiological and pathological processes...

Around 5% to 10% of hospitalized patients develop a hospital-acquired infection (HAI). Scrubs are a potential vector of HAIs. To compare the antimicrobial characteristics of scrubs with and without an antimicrobial fabric coating, as tested in the laboratory (in vitro) and hospital (in vivo) environments. Two protocols were conducted to address the purpose. The in vitro protocol was a laboratory study that involved observing the microbe growth after inoculating coated and uncoated scrub fabric swatches with S...

Significant morbidity and mortality from COVID-19-related illnesses have been observed among people of color within the United States. While theories involving healthcare inequity and political division have emerged to explain this observation, the role of chronic stress and inflammation is also being explored. Toxic stress is experienced disproportionately by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status and increases frailty and vulnerability to diseases such as COVID-19. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a biomarker associated with the inflammatory response that is typically elevated due to exposure to acute or chronic traumatic stress, as well as COVID-19...

The Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema is described as a statue of unrelenting strength, resilience, and self-sufficiency, serving as a shield of protection and cultural adaptation to suppress and control manifestations of racial and gender oppression. Stemming from superwoman syndrome, a conceptual model exploring the multifactorial roles women hold and their impact, the SBW extends beyond gender roles to the sociopolitical context of the Black woman's lived experience. Endorsement of the SBW posits risk for health disparities including stress, anxiety, depression, and obesity...

Despite the growing number of Korean American (KA) family caregivers for persons with dementia, little is known about how acculturation might affect caregiving stress in this population. Acculturation is a variable of considerable interest in caregiving research due to its significance in understanding the impact of cultural perceptions and expectations on the caregiving role and its relation to mental health outcomes. A cross-sectional descriptive study using baseline data from an ongoing randomized controlled trial of dementia caregiver intervention was performed to examine the association between acculturation and mental health outcomes among KA caregivers ( n  = 32) for persons with dementia...

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are structural factors that yield health inequities. Within the context of cancer, these inequities include screening rates and survival rates, as well as higher symptom burden during and after treatment. While pain is one of the most frequently reported symptoms, the relationship between SDOHs and cancer pain is not well understood. The purpose of this study is to describe and synthesize the published research that has evaluated the relationships between SDOH and cancer pain...

PURPOSE: To determine if there were differences between the subjective and objective assessments of physical activity while controlling for sociodemographic, anthropometric, and clinical characteristics. SETTING/SAMPLE: A total of 810 participants across eight sites located in three countries. MEASURES: Subjective instruments were the two subscales of Self-efficacy for Exercise Behaviors Scale: Making Time for Exercise and Resisting Relapse and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System, which measured physical function...

Major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders are among the major public health issues. Therefore, identifying predictors of symptoms of depression and anxiety holds fundamental importance to avoid the aggravation of these conditions. Muscle strength and function (e.g., handgrip strength and timed-stands test) are widely recognized predictors of health outcomes; however, their association with symptoms of depression and anxiety is still not completely understood. This study investigated the associations between handgrip strength and timed-stands test scores with symptoms of depression and anxiety...

The status syndrome proposed by Marmot is located at the closest level of influence within the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) framework, connecting the body's response to the mental states that arise from the subjective experience of social status. Marmot defines these psychological states through concepts of autonomy and social integration articulated in the Capability Approach (CA). These elements are further explored and expanded upon with the Self-Determination Theory (SDT), an empirically based framework with an extensive tradition of practical application...

Aging is a challenging process for people with gender nonconformity. Indeed, the older transgender population faces several disparities in accessing and using health care and social support services. Furthermore, the clinical management of gender transition in later life is empirical since clear research evidence is lacking. This paper aimed to present the problems encountered by older transgender adults in their access to social support and health care and to propose insightful solutions to address them both from a social and medical/nursing perspective...

Prenatal depression is highly prevalent, but its relationship with the multidimensional burden of physical symptoms during pregnancy remains underexplored. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between pregnancy-related physical symptom burden, including frequency, severity, and impact on life and pregnancy adaptation to prenatal depression, and to identify predictors of depression during pregnancy. The study was cross-sectional in design. A hospital-based setting providing comprehensive maternity care services from outpatient to inpatient...

Screening for adolescent sexual activity is a vital aspect of comprehensive pediatric care. Adolescents engage in risky sexual behaviors. Thus, a complete and accurate sexual health history can assist in the prevention and treatment of disease, prevention of unwanted pregnancy, treatment of existing diseases, and optimal planning of future healthcare for adolescents. Current evidence shows that provider-focused strategies improve the delivery of preventive services, including sexual health screenings. In this initiative, we assessed and examined pre- and post-screening rates for sexual activity among adolescents by advanced practice providers...

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a comprehensive and multidisciplinary secondary prevention care in coronary heart disease (CHD). There are barriers at the patient and health system levels that prevent CR from being utilized. Cardiac telerehabilitation led by nurses (Ne-CTR) can alleviate the obstacles to participation in CR. A patient perspective can improve CR access. This study was the first pre-program investigation to clarify the status of knowledge and participation in CTR. We sought to clarify the acceptability, the reasons for rejection, the desired form, components, and associated factors with the components needed for (Ne-CTR) in patients with CHD...

We explored the influence of social determinants of health (SDH) risk on stress and coping style in heart failure (HF) caregivers. In this cross-sectional study, data from 250 caregivers were analyzed. Multivariable linear regression analyses were performed to determine the extent to which SDH risk (measured using a modified PRAPARE tool (National Association of Community Health Centers), range 0-22) predicted stress (Perceived Stress Scale, 0-56) and coping style (active (0-45), avoidance (0-30), and minimization (0-30)) while accounting for caregiver burden (HF Caregiver Questionnaire (HF-CQ) 0-100)...

Several individual social determinants of health have been identified as significant factors contributing to achieving glycemic targets (glycated hemoglobin < 7). However, it remains unclear how these social variables individually or collectively contribute to glycemic targets among adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the United States (U.S.) The purpose of the current integrative review (IR) was to describe and synthesize findings from studies on social determinants of glycemic target achievement in adults with T2D in the U...

Low health literacy (LHL) significantly impacts patients' ability to participate actively in their healthcare. Registered nurses (RNs) play a crucial role in identifying LHL and addressing patient knowledge gaps and skill deficits. This correlational study examined the relationship between RNs' predictions of patients' health literacy levels (HLL) and the actual HLL of a predominately Hispanic patient population. In addition, personal factors (i.e., demographics) were analyzed to determine their influence on the nurse's predictions and patients' HLL...