'Towards a conceptualization of nurses' support of hospitalised patients' self-management-A modified Delphi study'.

Aim: To determine patients', nurses' and researchers' opinions on the appropriateness and completeness of the proposed conceptualization of nurses' support of hospitalised patients' self-management.

Design: A modified Delphi study.

Methods: We conducted a two-round Delphi survey.

How nurses support self-management of hospitalized patients through verbal communication: a qualitative study.

Background: Patients' self-management of the implications of their disease(s) is becoming increasingly important. Research shows that hospitalization disrupts established self-management routines. Nurses can play an important role in supporting patients' self-management.

'Nurses' self-management support to hospitalised patients: A scoping review.

Aims And Objectives: To review the current literature to map and explore the interventions that have been considered or used by nurses to support adult patients' self-management during hospitalisation.

Background: Nurses can play an important role in supporting patients' self-management. Currently, however, it is unclear how nurses perform this task during a patient's stay in hospital.

Family caregivers' perceived level of collaboration with hospital nurses: A cross-sectional study.

Aim: To describe the extent of perceived collaboration between family caregivers of older persons and hospital nurses.

Background: Collaboration between hospital nurses and family caregivers is of increasing importance in older patient's care. Research lacks a specific focus on family caregiver's collaboration with nurses.

The importance of families in nursing care: attitudes of nurses in the Netherlands.

Introduction: Positive attitudes towards family involvement in nursing care are essential for improving the involvement of and collaboration with patients' families. The aim of this study is to explore nurses' attitudes towards the importance of families in nursing care.

Method: Using a cross-sectional design, hospital and homecare nurses completed the Families Importance to Nursing Care (FINC-NA) scale, Dutch language version, consisting of four subscales.

Nurses' perceptions of self-management and self-management support of older patients during hospitalization.

Four focus group interviews were held with nurses, recruited from eight wards of two general hospitals, to explore nurses' perceptions of self-management and self-management support of older patients during hospitalization. A thematic analyze of the interview transcripts was conducted. Regarding nurses understanding of self-management two perceptions emerged namely 'being self-reliant' and 'being in control'.

Psychometric evaluation of a revised Family Collaboration Scale.

Measuring family caregivers' experiences of collaboration with nurses is important in the context of health care reforms that advocate an increased role of families in care. The Family Collaboration Scale (FCS) measures collaboration between nurses and family caregivers, however, the scale has a broad scope. Thus, the aim of this study was to construct a measure that is focused on collaboration only.

The association of collaboration between family caregivers and nurses in the hospital and their preparedness for caregiving at home.

Family caregivers of an older person who was recently hospitalized often feel unprepared for their new or expanded tasks. Quality and continuity of care for older people is expected to improve when nurses collaborate with family caregivers as partners in care. The aim of this study was to explore the unique contribution of collaboration between family caregivers of older patients and hospital nurses as a possible predictor for preparedness of caregiving after hospital discharge.

Older patients' motives of whether or not to perform self-management during a hospital stay and influencing factors.

Semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 12) were held to explore older patients' motives of whether or not to perform self-management while hospitalized and to identify factors influencing self-management during hospitalization. These interviews were analyzed using the Quacol method. Self-management during hospitalization is operationalized as: collaboration with the nursing staff, having a proactive role, and having control over personal care.

The effect of a multifaceted evidence-based practice programme for nurses on knowledge, skills, attitudes, and perceived barriers: A cohort study.

Background: The Dutch professional nursing standard of 2012 stipulates that Dutch nursing practices are to be evidence-based. Not all practicing nurses can satisfy these requirements, therefore, an educational programme about Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) was developed for a Dutch teaching hospital.

Objective: The aim of this study was to measure the effects of a six month in-house EBP programme on knowledge, skills, attitudes, and perceived barriers of nurses (four European Credits equals two US Credit Hours).

Health-Related Quality of Life in Relation to Obesity Grade, Type 2 Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Inflammation.

Background: Health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) may be compromised in obese individuals, depending on the presence of other complications. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of obesity-related conditions on HR-QoL. These conditions are i) grade of obesity with and without type 2 diabetes (T2D), ii) metabolic syndrome (MetS), and iii) level of inflammation.

Bilateral versus unilateral interlaminar approach for bilateral decompression in patients with single-level degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis: a multicenter retrospective study of 175 patients on postoperative pain, functional disability, and patient satisfaction.

Object: The bilateral and unilateral interlaminar techniques for bilateral decompression both demonstrate good results for the treatment of degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS). Although there is some discussion about which approach is more effective, studies that directly compare these two popular techniques are rare. To address this shortcoming, this study compares postoperative functional disability, pain, and patient satisfaction among patients with single-level DLSS who underwent bilateral decompression using either a bilateral or unilateral approach.

Fifteen-year follow-up of quality of life in type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Aim: To evaluate metabolic control and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) population.

Methods: As part of a prospective cohort study, 283 T1DM patients treated with various insulin treatment modalities including multiple daily injections (MDI) and continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) were examined annually. HRQOL was measured using the SF-36 and EuroQol questionnaires.

Medication beliefs, treatment complexity, and non-adherence to different drug classes in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: To assess the relationship of patients' medication beliefs and treatment complexity with unintentional and intentional non-adherence for three therapeutic groups commonly used by patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Survey data about adherence (Medication Adherence Report Scale) and beliefs about medicines (Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire) were combined with prescription data from the Groningen Initiative to ANalyse Type 2 diabetes Treatment (GIANTT) database. Patients were classified as being adherent, mainly unintentional non-adherent, or partly intentional non-adherent per therapeutic group (glucose-, blood pressure-, and lipid-lowering drugs).

Thyroid hormone status and health-related quality of life in the LifeLines Cohort Study.

Background: Thyroid disorders are prevalent in Western society, yet many subjects experience limited symptoms at diagnosis, especially in hypothyroidism. We hypothesize that health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) is more severely impaired in subjects with more abnormal thyroid hormone function tests.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of Dutch adults participating in the LifeLines Cohort Study between December 2009 and August 2010.

Sexual health of Dutch medical students: nothing to worry about.

Introduction: Little is known about the sexual lives and development of medical students because of relatively small sample sizes and, in particular, low response rates in research. Enhancing medical students' awareness and understanding of sexual behavior is imperative, as gaps in knowledge might impede effective sexual health consultations in their later professional practice.

Aim: The aim of this study was to provide insight into the sexual lives and development of medical students.

Randomized trial on the influence of the length of two insulin pen needles on glycemic control and patient preference in obese patients with diabetes.

Objective: This study determined the influence of needle length for insulin administration on metabolic control and patient preference in obese patients with diabetes mellitus.

Methods: In this multicenter, open-label crossover study, insulin pen needles of two different lengths (5 mm and 8 mm) were compared. A total of 130 insulin-treated type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients with a body mass index ≥30 kg/m(2) were randomized, and 126 patients completed the study.

Support behavior and relationship satisfaction in couples dealing with diabetes: main and moderating effects.

This study examined associations between support behavior, i.e. active engagement and protective buffering, and relationship satisfaction in both patients with diabetes and their partners.

Quality, quantity and harmony: the DataSHaPER approach to integrating data across bioclinical studies.

Background: Vast sample sizes are often essential in the quest to disentangle the complex interplay of the genetic, lifestyle, environmental and social factors that determine the aetiology and progression of chronic diseases. The pooling of information between studies is therefore of central importance to contemporary bioscience. However, there are many technical, ethico-legal and scientific challenges to be overcome if an effective, valid, pooled analysis is to be achieved.

The impact of social comparison information on motivation in patients with diabetes as a function of regulatory focus and self-efficacy.

Objective: Our aim was to determine whether the impact of upward and downward social comparison information on individuals' motivation to manage their diabetes is dependent on their regulatory focus (promotion or prevention focus) and self-efficacy.

Design: The hypotheses were examined in a cross-sectional study. Patients with diabetes (N = 234) read a fictitious interview with a fellow patient, either an upward or a downward target, and they filled out questionnaires.

The role of overprotection by the partner in coping with diabetes: a moderated mediation model.

This study examined whether diabetes-specific self-efficacy mediates the association between overprotection and distress and whether this mediation depends on glycemic control and gender. The research sample of 215 individuals with diabetes and their partners completed a measure of partners' overprotective behaviours towards the patient. Patients also completed measures of diabetes-specific self-efficacy and diabetes-related distress.

Radiotherapy is not associated with reduced quality of life and cognitive function in patients treated for nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma.

Purpose: To assess the influence of different treatment modalities on long-term health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and cognitive problems among patients who had been treated for nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma (NFA).

Methods And Materials: Eighty-one patients (49 men and 32 women, aged 55 +/- 10 years) with a minimal follow-up period of 1 year after treatment for NFA participated in this cross-sectional study. Sixty-two patients were initially treated by transsphenoidal surgery and 19 by craniotomy.

One-year follow-up effects of diabetes rehabilitation for patients with prolonged self-management difficulties.

The aim of this study is to determine effects and the role of facilitators of empowerment of a Multidisciplinary Intensive Education Programme (MIEP) for diabetic patients with prolonged self-management difficulties. Glycemic control (HbA1c), health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and facilitators of empowerment (health locus of control and coping) were measured in 99 participants of MIEP at baseline (T0), 3 (T1) and 12 months (T2) follow-up and in 231 non-referred consecutive outpatients. HbA1c improved at T2, although initial improvement was partially lost.

Diabetes rehabilitation: development and first results of a Multidisciplinary Intensive Education Program for patients with prolonged self-management difficulties.

For a number of diabetes patients regular care may be insufficient. A Multidisciplinary Intensive Education Program (MIEP), based on the empowerment approach, has been developed to help patients obtain their treatment goals (adequate self-management, glycemic control and quality of life). The aim of this pilot study is to determine the effects of MIEP and it's mechanisms of influence.