"It's not a pain you can fix": A qualitative exploration of working with vulnerably positioned current and bereaved carers across sectors of health and social care.

Caring for someone with a life-limiting illness is associated with complex psychosocial sequelae; amplified for carers experiencing structural vulnerability. Workers across sectors of health and social care provide support for vulnerably positioned carers, yet exploration of the impacts of this work has predominantly focused on health professionals directly engaged with death and dying. This qualitative study explored ways in which palliative care and welfare workers experience work with current and bereaved carers of people with life-limiting illness, in a region associated with socioeconomic disadvantage.

Evaluating the accuracy of an automatic counting system to detect dispensing of hand hygiene product.

Background: Hand hygiene (HH) is an essential element of infection prevention and control programs. Direct observation of adherence to the 5 moments for HH is considered the gold standard in compliance monitoring. However, as direct observation introduces potential bias, other strategies have been proposed to supplement HH compliance data in healthcare facilities.

Evaluating the Acceptability and Impact of an Online, Lifestyle-Based Mental Well-Being Initiative Targeting School Communities in New York State - Lifting the School Community Project.

Purpose: To determine the acceptability and impact of an online, lifestyle-based mental well-being initiative in a school-based setting.

Approach: A post-program evaluation survey was administered after the intervention.

Setting: Fifty-seven New York State school districts.

Air Purifiers and Acute Respiratory Infections in Residential Aged Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: The effectiveness of in-room air purification for the reduction of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in residential aged-care facilities (RACFs) is unknown.

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of in-room air purifiers with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)-14 filters in reducing the incidence of ARIs among residents of RACFs.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This randomized clinical trial used a multicenter, double-blind, 2-period, 2-treatment crossover design for 6 months from April 7 to October 26, 2023, in 3 RACFs with a bed capacity of 50 to 100 in New South Wales, Australia.

Knowledge and safe handling practices affecting the occupational exposure of nurses and midwives to hazardous drugs: A mixed methods systematic review.

Background: Hazardous drugs are inherently toxic and present a potential occupational exposure risk to nurses and midwives. Hazardous drugs require special handling to minimise the risk of exposure and adverse health effects. Although the use of hazardous drugs in oncology services is well recognised, they are also used in other healthcare areas where nurses and midwives may be unaware there is a risk.

The handling of hazardous medications by nurses and midwives: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Occupational exposure of healthcare workers to hazardous medications can be potentially harmful. Hazardous medications can be carcinogenic, developmentally toxic, reproductively toxic, genotoxic and/or toxic to organs at low doses. These hazardous medications can be used in many healthcare settings, but published research of occupational exposure has focused almost exclusively on cancer services.

Transforming researchers into writers through a series of semi-structured writing retreats: a mixed methods study.

Aim: To evaluate the experience and effectiveness of six semi-structured writing retreats on research publication quantity and quality for nursing and midwifery academics and research students.

Background: Research publications are necessary to develop a track record to gain competitive funding and for promotion. Publications also improve the standing of universities because their performance is measured in-part by research outputs.

Cleaning time and motion: an observational study on the time required to clean shared medical equipment in hospitals effectively.

Background: Despite the important role that cleaning plays in reducing the risk of healthcare-associated infections, no research has been undertaken to quantify the time required for effective cleaning and disinfection of different pieces of shared medical equipment commonly used in hospitals. This short report presents the results from a study that aimed to quantify the time required to clean common pieces of shared medical equipment effectively.

Methods: An observational time and motion study was conducted in a nursing simulation laboratory to determine the time required for effective cleaning and disinfection of 12 pieces of shared medical equipment commonly used in hospital.

Impact of central-line-associated bloodstream infections and catheter-related bloodstream infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Accurate effect estimates are needed to inform input parameters of health economic models. Central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) are different definitions used for central-line bloodstream infections and may represent dissimilar patients, but previous meta-analyses did not differentiate between CLABSIs/CRBSIs.

Aim: To determine outcome effect estimates in CLABSI and CRBSI patients, compared to uninfected patients.

Investigating the effect of enhanced cleaning and disinfection of shared medical equipment on health-care-associated infections in Australia (CLEEN): a stepped-wedge, cluster randomised, controlled trial.

Background: There is a paucity of high-quality evidence based on clinical endpoints for routine cleaning of shared medical equipment. We assessed the effect of enhanced cleaning and disinfection of shared medical equipment on health-care-associated infections (HAIs) in hospitalised patients.

Methods: We conducted a stepped-wedge, cluster randomised, controlled trial in ten wards of a single hospital located on the central coast of New South Wales, Australia.

Sustainability and novel technologies to improve environmental cleaning in healthcare - Implications and considerations.

Along with emerging technologies electrolysed water (EW) systems have been proposed for cleaning and/or disinfection in clinical areas. There is evidence for the use of EW in food-handling and the dairy industry however there is lack of evidence for EW as an effective cleaning and disinfecting agent in a clinical setting. Existing publications mostly are either laboratory based or from non-clinical settings.

Prospective Evaluation of Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Zinc Deficiencies in Patients with Active Foot Ulceration.

This prospective cohort study aimed to determine the relationship between serum vitamin C, D, and zinc on foot wound healing and compare time to healing in individuals who are deficient versus those who have adequate levels. One hundred adults with foot wounds were recruited from Blacktown high-risk foot service with a follow-up period of 12 months. Serum vitamin C, D, and zinc as well as routine baseline blood testing was undertaken.

Supporting Sustainable Health Behavior Change: The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts.

Behavior change is the foundation for effective lifestyle prescriptions, yet such change is individualized, nonlinear and typically requires ongoing support. Health and wellness coaching (HWC) is a behavior change intervention with rapidly accruing evidence of positive impact on health behaviors such as exercise, nutrition and stress management. Furthermore, HWC enhances prevention and mitigates exacerbation of chronic lifestyle diseases, at least in the short-term (up to 6 months post intervention).

Use of the supportive and palliative care indicators tool (SPICT™) for end-of-life discussions: a scoping review.

Background: In order to mitigate the distress associated with life limiting conditions it is essential for all health professionals not just palliative care specialists to identify people with deteriorating health and unmet palliative care needs and to plan care. The SPICT™ tool was designed to assist with this.

Aim: The aim was to examine the impact of the SPICT™ on advance care planning conversations and the extent of its use in advance care planning for adults with chronic life-limiting illness.

Oral care practices and hospital-acquired pneumonia prevention: A national survey of Australian nurses.

Background: Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) also known as non-ventilator associated pneumonia, is one of the most common infections acquired in hospitalised patients. Improving oral hygiene appears to reduce the incidence of HAP. This study aimed to describe current practices, barriers and facilitators, knowledge and educational preferences of registered nurses performing oral health care in the Australian hospital setting, with a focus on the prevention of HAP.

'How long do you think?' Unresponsive dying patients in a specialist palliative care service: A consecutive cohort study.

Background: Predicting length of time to death once the person is unresponsive and deemed to be dying remains uncertain. Knowing approximately how many hours or days dying loved ones have left is crucial for families and clinicians to guide decision-making and plan end-of-life care.

Aim: To determine the length of time between becoming unresponsive and death, and whether age, gender, diagnosis or location-of-care predicted length of time to death.

Chaplaincy and spiritual care in Australian ambulance services: an exploratory cross-sectional study.

Ambulance staff wellbeing programs aim to support the bio-psycho-social and sometimes spiritual needs of paramedics. While evidence demonstrates strong connections between spirituality and/or religion to wellbeing outcomes, little is known about spiritual care in ambulance services or its impact. The aim of this study was to investigate paramedics' perspectives on the role and value of Australian ambulance chaplains.

Academic dishonesty in university nursing students: A scoping review.

Objective: This review seeks to deepen our understanding of the factors contributing to nursing students' academic dishonesty and the repercussions of such behaviours on their learning in both classroom and clinical settings, and on the integrity of the nursing profession.

Design And Methods: It was a scoping review in which a five-stage methodological framework informed its process. Six databases were searched for relevant original studies.

How long do nosocomial pathogens persist on inanimate surfaces? A scoping review.

Healthcare hygiene plays a crucial role in the prevention of healthcare-associated infections. Patients admitted to a room where the previous occupant had a multi-drug-resistant bacterial infection are at an increased risk of colonization and infection with the same organism. A 2006 systematic review by Kramer et al.

National Health and Medical Research Council statement on electronic cigarettes: 2022 update.

Introduction: Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use in Australia has rapidly increased since the 2017 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) statement on e-cigarettes. The type of products available and the demographic characteristics of people using these products have changed. New evidence has been published and there is growing concern among public health professionals about the increased use, particularly among young people who do not currently smoke combustible cigarettes.

Assessing implementation fidelity of an on-site pharmacist intervention within Australian residential aged care facilities: A mixed methods study.

Background: An on-site pharmacist (OSP) intervention was implemented which sought to improve medication management within residential aged care facilities (RACFs) in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The objectives of this mixed methods study were to evaluate the implementation fidelity of the OSP intervention and to determine the moderating factors which influenced delivery of this intervention.

Methods: This convergent parallel mixed methods study was underpinned by Hasson's conceptual framework for implementation fidelity.