[Nursing outcomes in medical wards (ESAMED Study): the results of a multicenter longitudinal study].

Unlabelled: . Factors associated to patients' outcomes in medical units: lessons learnt from an Italian multicentric longitudinal study design (ESAMED study).

Introduction: Research on nursing outcomes attempted to identify the associated factors, however, with mainly retrospective or descriptive studies.

The degree of satisfaction of in-hospital medical patients with nursing care and predictors of dissatisfaction: findings from a secondary analysis.

Background: Patient satisfaction with nursing care (NC) is an important predictor of overall satisfaction with the hospital experience. However, the concept of patient satisfaction has been criticised both at the theoretical and at the methodological levels, and more attention on patient dissatisfaction has been called for with the aim of identifying strategies to improve the quality of care.

Aims: To describe dissatisfaction with NC as perceived by acute medical patients and identify predictors.

Prevalence and incidence density of unavoidable pressure ulcers in elderly patients admitted to medical units.

To describe the prevalence and incidence density of hospital-acquired unavoidable pressure sores among patients aged ≥65 years admitted to acute medical units. A secondary analysis of longitudinal study data collected in 2012 and 2013 from 12 acute medical units located in 12 Italian hospitals was performed. Unavoidable pressure ulcers were defined as those that occurred in haemodynamically unstable patients, suffering from cachexia and/or terminally ill and were acquired after hospital admission.

Factors affecting in-hospital informal caregiving as decided by families: findings from a longitudinal study conducted in acute medical units.

Background: Informal caregiving offered by family members has been widely studied in the community setting, but little attention to date has been dedicated to that offered at the hospital level.

Aims: To describe the proportion of patients admitted to acute medical units receiving care from informal caregivers as decided by the family and to identify the factors affecting the numbers of care shifts performed by informal caregivers.

Design And Methods: A longitudinal study was performed involving 12 acute medical units located in 12 northern Italian hospitals.

In-hospital elderly mortality and associated factors in 12 Italian acute medical units: findings from an exploratory longitudinal study.

Background: Given the progressive demographic ageing of the population and the National Health System reforms affecting care at the bedside, a periodic re-evaluation of in-hospital mortality rates and associated factors is recommended.

Aims: To describe the occurrence of in-hospital mortality among patients admitted to acute medical units and associated factors. Two hypotheses (H) were set as the basis of the study: patients have an increased likelihood to die H: at the weekend when less nursing care is offered; H: when they receive nursing care with a skill-mix in favour of Nursing Aides instead of Registered Nurses.

Overcoming redundancies in bedside nursing assessments by validating a parsimonious meta-tool: findings from a methodological exercise study.

Rationale: There is growing interest in validating tools aimed at supporting the clinical decision-making process and research. However, an increased bureaucratization of clinical practice and redundancies in the measures collected have been reported by clinicians. Redundancies in clinical assessments affect negatively both patients and nurses.

Hospital-acquired functional decline in older patients cared for in acute medical wards and predictors: Findings from a multicentre longitudinal study.

Describing the trajectories of hospital-associated functional decline in older patients admitted to acute medical units and identifying predictors at the individual, nursing, and hospital levels, were the aims of the study. A longitudinal survey among 12 acute medical units in which 1464 patients were consecutively enrolled and evaluated using the Barthel Index (BI), was performed. Functional decline was defined as a decrease in the BI of at least 5 points from admission to discharge.

Post-hoc validation of the Conley Scale in predicting the risk of falling with older in-hospital medical patients: findings from a multicentre longitudinal study.

Background: The Conley Scale is one of the most widespread fall-risk screening tools in medical unit settings, despite the lack of data regarding its validity in patients currently admitted to these units.

Aims: Establishing the validity of the Conley Scale in identifying patients at risk of falling in an acute medical setting.

Methods: A 6-months longitudinal study in 12 acute medical units from September 2012 to March 2013, a total of 1464 patients with ≥65 years of age were consecutively enrolled and evaluated with the Conley Scale within 24 h of admission.

Missed nursing care and predicting factors in the Italian medical care setting.

Missed nursing care (MNC), such as nursing care omitted or delayed, has not been measured in the Italian context where several cost containment interventions affect the care offered in medical units. The aim of the study is to identify the amount, type, and reasons for MNC in the Italian medical care setting and to explore the factors that affect the occurrence of MNC. A 3-month longitudinal survey was carried out followed by a cross-sectional study design in 12 north eastern acute medical units.

Nursing effectiveness in Italy: findings from a grounded theory study.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to conceptualize the basic social process by which nursing intervention affects patient outcomes in Italian daily practice.

Background: Different frameworks explain the relationship between nursing care and patient outcomes. However, several authors have suggested the need to develop further theory in order to understand this relationship.

[Criteria for delegating the safe hospital administration of drug therapy via natural route to nurses aids in hospital].

Aim: To assess if and how many patients admitted to hospital could receive the drug therapy via natural route by specialized nurses aids (OSSc).

Methods: Focus group to identify the items of an assessment instrument to select patients eligible to receive drug therapy from OSSc, validation (face validity, test retest, interrater reliability and factorial analysis) and implementation on 227 patients admitted to medical and surgical wards.

Results: During admission 106/227 patients (46.

[Recommendations and Italian standards for setting safe staff nursing levels in hospitals: results of a consensus conference].

Nurse staffing levels have always been an issue and the optimal level and mix of nurses required to deliver quality care as cost-effectively as possible continues to be discussed at both national and international levels. In Italy, a network of experts rom ten local health and hospital authorities was set up in June 2010. The, main objectives of the network were to define, validate and approve a panel of relevant indicators, identify minimum standards of safety and develop recommendations to guide decision-making regarding hospital nurse staffing levels.

[Assessing the trend in the aging of the nursing staff at two hospitals of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region: application of a deterministic mathematical model].

Background: The aging of the nursing workforce is a phenomenon that several industrialized countries has been facing for at least a decade. In Italy, for the period between 2011 and 2021, the issue associated with the nursing workforce will not be one of shortage but rather one of aging.

Aims: The main objective of this study was to estimate the employed nurse population aging trends for the period 2009-2035 in two Teaching Hospitals (TH1 and TH2) located in the North of Italy.

[Validity and reliability of a questionnaire to assess patients' satisfaction for home care].

Aim: Specific instruments to measure patients satisfaction for home care are missing in Italy. A questionnaire was devised, based on two well known and validated instruments (La Monica-Oberst Patient Satisfaction Scale (LOPSS) and the The Patient Satisfaction With Health Care Provider Scale (PSHCPS) and validated.

Methods: The questionnaire was discussed with nurses and psychologists.

[Continuity of care: community care in Italy and Sweden. A comparison].

One of the objectives of the Health 21 document, approved by the World Health Association, European Region, is to create by the year 2010 an integrate sanitary system, where the population of the region count on a better access to the health services aimed at the family and the community. In accordance with the tendencies of the European nation, which are more and more open to confrontation, the research has, as main objective, the parallel analysis of the welfare continuity and integration of the Italian Nursing Home Care Service compared to the Swedish Health Care Service. The research has been structured from a sanitary accreditation project that the Veneto Region has started with the collaboration of the Ottawa Council On Health Services Accreditation (Cchsa).

[A double blind randomised clinical trial to assess the efficacy of the treatments of the superficial pressure sores].

In spite of the progresses of knowledge and care, pressure sores continue to be a clinically relevant problem. A double blind randomised controlled trial was organised to assess the efficacy of triticum vulgaris (Fitostimoline) vs placebo in the re-epithelisation of superficial pressure sores. Patients with stage NPUAP II or superficial pressure sores, with an expected survival of more than 3 months and eligible for a follow-up up to 8 weeks were included, over a period of 2 years in 46 clinical sites.

[A survey on working satisfaction of nurses].

A descriptive survey was performed in the home care service of Azienda ULSS 16 of Padova at a sample of nurses. The aim of this study was to identify working experience aspects which represent satisfaction or dissatisfaction factors. A questionnaire was administered to the 63 nurses of the service, in the same day.

[The integration process between nurses and support figures. Experience at the AULSS 16 in Padua].

In the last decade, Italian Nursing history had an important normative development that completely redesigned profile, responsibility, autonomy and education, giving a push to the professionalism process. The article discuss how introduce new support figures, what tasks to delegate and what procedure are necessary to better care.