Oral hygiene of palliative patients in hospice wards: a best practice implementation project.

Introduction: Oral hygiene is crucial in palliative care, as it directly affects patient comfort and quality of life.

Aim: This study aimed to enhance oral hygiene practices in hospice wards by aligning them with evidence-based guidelines, evaluating current practices, identifying barriers, and implementing targeted interventions.

Methods: This study was conducted at Changhua Christian Hospital in Taiwan and involved 18 nurses and 30 unique patients.

Improving Medication-Related Safety for Residents in Nursing Homes: A Qualitative Study.

Purpose: To gain a better understanding of the perceptions of RNs on medication safety concerns and potential solutions for nursing home (NH) residents.

Method: This prospective, qualitative study used semi-structured phone interviews with a description approach. We used purposeful sampling to recruit 12 RNs employed at two NHs in the northeastern region of the United States.

Functional outcome prediction of ischemic stroke patients with atrial fibrillation accepting post-acute care training.

Background: Ischemic stroke poses a major threat to human health and represents the third leading cause of death worldwide and in Taiwan. Post-acute care (PAC) training has been reported to be beneficial for post-index stroke events. However, knowledge is still lacking on the outcome of stroke events with cardiac origin.

Diabetic Macular Edema Detection Using End-to-End Deep Fusion Model and Anatomical Landmark Visualization on an Edge Computing Device.

Purpose: Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a common cause of vision impairment and blindness in patients with diabetes. However, vision loss can be prevented by regular eye examinations during primary care. This study aimed to design an artificial intelligence (AI) system to facilitate ophthalmology referrals by physicians.

Deep Learning for Automated Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Fused With Heterogeneous Data From EHRs Can Lead to Earlier Referral Decisions.

Purpose: Fundus images are typically used as the sole training input for automated diabetic retinopathy (DR) classification. In this study, we considered several well-known DR risk factors and attempted to improve the accuracy of DR screening.

Metphods: Fusing nonimage data (e.

Leveraging Multimodal Deep Learning Architecture with Retina Lesion Information to Detect Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose: To improve disease severity classification from fundus images using a hybrid architecture with symptom awareness for diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Methods: We used 26,699 fundus images of 17,834 diabetic patients from three Taiwanese hospitals collected in 2007 to 2018 for DR severity classification. Thirty-seven ophthalmologists verified the images using lesion annotation and severity classification as the ground truth.

Quality of Work Life, Nurses' Intention to Leave the Profession, and Nurses Leaving the Profession: A One-Year Prospective Survey.

Purpose: To examine the associations among quality of work life, nurses' intention to leave the profession, and nurses leaving the profession.

Design: A prospective study design was used.

Methods: Participants were 1,283 hospital nurses with a purposive sampling in Taiwan.

Using Training Needs Assessment to Develop a Nurse Preceptor-Centered Training Program.

Background: Studies reveal that most nurse preceptor preparation programs do not meet nurse preceptors' training needs. This study thus developed a nurse preceptor-centered training program (NPCTP) in Taiwan.

Method: The ADDIE model was used for the instructional design.

Development and Validation of a Self-Report Measure of Mentalizing: The Reflective Functioning Questionnaire.

Reflective functioning or mentalizing is the capacity to interpret both the self and others in terms of internal mental states such as feelings, wishes, goals, desires, and attitudes. This paper is part of a series of papers outlining the development and psychometric features of a new self-report measure, the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ), designed to provide an easy to administer self-report measure of mentalizing. We describe the development and initial validation of the RFQ in three studies.

Psychometric properties of the Chinese-version Quality of Nursing Work Life Scale.

In this study, we developed and tested the psychometric properties of the Chinese-version Quality of Nursing Work Life Scale along seven subscales: supportive milieu with security and professional recognition, work arrangement and workload, work/home life balance, head nurse's/supervisor's management style, teamwork and communication, nursing staffing and patient care, and milieu of respect and autonomy. An instrument-development procedure with three phases was conducted in seven hospitals in 2010-2011. Phase I comprised translation and the cultural-adaptation process, phase II comprised a pilot study, and phase III comprised a field-testing process.

Quality of work life as a predictor of nurses' intention to leave units, organisations and the profession.

Aim: To examine the relationships between quality of work life (QWL) and nurses' intention to leave their unit (ITLunit), organisation (ITLorg) and profession (ITLpro).

Background: The high turnover rate among nurses presents a major challenge to health care systems across the globe. QWL plays a significant role in nurses' turnover.

Predicting quality of work life on nurses' intention to leave.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between quality of work life (QWL) and nurses' intention to leave their organization (ITLorg).

Design: A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was conducted using purposive sampling of 1,283 nurses at seven hospitals in Taiwan. Data were collected from March to June 2012.

Effect of platinum on the photocatalytic degradation of chlorinated organic compound.

TiO2 nanoparticles, doped with different Pt contents, were prepared by a modified photodeposition method using Degussa P-25 TiO2, H2PtCl6 6H2O and methanol as the solvents. The physicochemical properties of Pt/TiO2 were investigated by the nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherm measurement technique, X-ray diffraction analysis and photoluminescence spectra, respectively. Reaction rates from photocatalytic removal of dichloromethane over Degussa P-25 TiO2 and Pt/TiO2 were evaluated.

Individual differences in coping with criticism of one's physical appearance among Taiwanese students.

When someone is criticized for some failure or deficiency, he or she is faced with a dilemma about whether or how to respond. To date, most research on responses to criticism has adopted a communication approach and has focused on general social complaints. The present study instead adopted the perspective of stress and coping and aimed to delineate possible responses to criticism pertaining to one's physical appearance.

Nutrition knowledge, attitudes and dietary restriction behaviour of Taiwanese elderly.

The purpose of this study is to understand knowledge about and general attitudes towards nutrition, dietary restriction attitudes, and dietary restriction behavior in the Taiwanese elderly, and the relationship of these various components to each other. Data from the Elderly Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (1999-2000) were used for analysis and included 1937 elderly persons aged over 65. The results indicated that the elderly had poor nutrition knowledge, especially about the relationship between nutrition and disease.

Renaturation and interaction of ribonuclease A with AOT surfactant in reverse micelles.

This study extended works on effects of solute on the percolation of reverse micelles to the effects of interactions between protein and surfactants on protein refolding by reverse micelles. The changes in percolation behavior were identified and attributed to the position of solutes in the core aqueous phase and the interaction between the solute and the surfactants. The percolation behavior of reverse micelles with solutes was related to protein renaturation and the reverse micelle.