Determinants of Prolonged Hospitalization in Children and Adolescents: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Introduction: Ensuring an appropriate length of stay (LOS) is a primary goal for hospitals, as prolonged LOS poses clinical risks and organizational challenges. Children and adolescents are particularly susceptible to prolonged LOS due to frequent hospitalizations and unique vulnerabilities, including developmental disabilities that may necessitate additional care and monitoring. This study aims to describe the LOS of children and adolescent patients and identify the sociodemographic, organizational, clinical, and nursing care factors contributing to prolonged LOS in this population.

Evaluation of a training program on hand hygiene for healthcare workers in a second-level hospital in southern Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Health care-associated infections (HAIs), albeit being the most frequent adverse event in health care, are mostly preventable through hand hygiene (HH). Given the extremely low HH compliance among healthcare workers (HCWs), educational initiatives aimed at this group are crucial. This study used an ultraviolet (UV)-based technology to assess the efficacy of an educational and training program on HH for HCWs in a second-level hospital in southern Italy.

Optimizing brain protection after cardiac arrest: advanced strategies and best practices.

Cardiac arrest (CA) is associated with high incidence and mortality rates. Among patients who survive the acute phase, brain injury stands out as a primary cause of death or disability. Effective intensive care management, including targeted temperature management, seizure treatment and maintenance of normal physiological parameters, plays a crucial role in improving survival and neurological outcomes.

Methodology and clinical utility of longitudinal UBA1 tracking in VEXAS syndrome.

Vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, autoinflammatory, somatic (VEXAS) is a haemato-inflammatory syndrome genetically defined by somatic mutations in the X-linked UBA1 gene, typically Val/Thr/Leu substitutions at the Met41 hotspot. Clinical manifestations are heterogeneous and refractory to most haemato-rheumatological treatments. To date, no guidelines exist for the management of VEXAS, and scarce is the evidence on methodology and clinical significance of longitudinal UBA1 clonal burden evaluation upon therapy.