Percent Of Nurses Research Articles

Prevencija bolničkih infekcija u formalnom i neformalnom obrazovanju medicinskih sestara

INTRODUCTION: The actuality and the significance of hospital-acquired infections (HAI) obliges nurses to know well and to consistently implement prevention measures HAI in everyday patient care activities. Nurses gain their elementary knowledge about hospital-acquired infections and preventive measures through teaching materials in secondary medical schools, which they significantly expand during their education in basic and specialist vocational studies. After being employed, through constant training ,nurses are enabled to follow news in the field of (HAI) prevention. GOAL: To perceive the representation of content about prevention of HAI in the process of formal and informal education of nurses. Material and methods: The research was conducted by using the cross-sectional study type, by interviewing 50 employed nurses at the internal department in the Community Hospital in Zrenjanin. The instrument of research was a questionnaire for nurses, designed for research purposes. RESULTS: The largest percentage of nurses (94%) have a secondary level of education. 2/3 nurses are interested in continuing their education. More than 1/2 of the nurses think that, beside sufficiently acquired knowledge about HI during schooling, training in this field is an indispensable segment of nurse practice. The desire for additional education was expressed by 70% of the respondents, while the others claimed , that they would attend education only if it was obligatory (24%) ,and 6% wouldn't even then do it, because they do not expect new knowledge. CONCLUSION: During the formal education of nurses, not enough knowledge about HAI and prevention measures is acquired, so there is need to increase the amount of hours in secondary schools ,dedicated to the contents of prevention of HAI ,as well as the need for obligatory continuous training of nurses in practice.

Associations of Nurse Staffing and Education With the Length of Stay of Surgical Patients

To examine the association of nurse staffing and education with the length of stay of surgical patients in acute care hospitals in South Korea. A cross-sectional survey design was used for a nurse survey in acute hospitals collected between 2008 and 2009. The survey data (N = 1,665) were linked with patient discharge data (N = 113,438) and hospital facility data from 58 hospitals with 100 or more beds in South Korea. The dependent variable was the length of stay, that is, the number of days a patient remained in the hospital. The independent variables were nurse staffing (number of patients per nurse) and nurses' education level (percentage of nurses with a bachelor of science in nursing [BSN] degree). A multilevel analysis was used to analyze the associations of nurse staffing and education level with the length of stay by controlling for both hospital and patient characteristics. The average proportion of nurses with a BSN in all the hospitals was 30.86%, while the average number of patients per nurse was 14.31. The median length of hospital stay for patients was about 7 days. The multilevel analysis showed that nurse staffing and nurse education level were significantly associated with the length of stay of surgical patients in acute care hospitals. A 10% increase in the average number of patients per nurse increased the length of stay by 0.284 days (p = .037). When the number of nurses with a BSN was increased by 1%, the length of stay decreased by 0.42 days (p = .025). Nurse staffing and nurses' education levels were significantly associated with the length of stay of surgical patients in South Korean hospitals. The findings from this study suggest that the South Korea healthcare system should develop appropriate strategies to improve the nurse staffing and education levels to ensure high-quality patient care in hospitals. Healthcare policymakers and nurse managers need to modify adequate nurse staffing and education levels in order to reduce the length of stay of patients.

Knowledge and practices of nurses regarding nosocomial infection control measures in private hospitals in Sana\u2019a City, Yemen

BackgroundIn the Yemeni healthcare setting, basic infection control measures are necessary to reduce the rates of hospital-associated infections.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from April to May 2016. A non-probability sample of 100 nurses working in the private hospitals located in the capital city of Yemen was selected as study participants. A 45-item questionnaire was used to assess knowledge and practices regarding nosocomial infection control measures among the study subjects. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS (version 22.0).ResultsThe highest percentage of nurses were males (61.2%) and aging between 25 and above (71.8%) and had 3 years nursing diploma (60%), less than 5 years of employment in the hospitals (56.5%), relatively high training course about nosocomial infections (NIs) (64.7%), and working experience in infection control (78.8%). Most of the nurses (87%) had a fair level of knowledge, while only 4% of them had a good level of knowledge of preventive measures of nosocomial infections. The results also revealed that the majority of the nurses (71%) had fair practices about nosocomial infections whereas 26% of them had good practices and only 3% of them had poor practices.ConclusionThe gaps in knowledge and practices regarding NI control measures indicate the need to establish a related health care policy regarding NIs and implement a regular training program to upgrade and refresh the nurses’ knowledge and practices regarding NI control measures.

Assessment of injection safety in Ha Dong General Hospital, Hanoi, in 2012.

Background: Injection is one of the most frequently used medical methods to introduce drugs or other substances into the body for purposes of treatment or prevention. Unsafe injection can cause adverse outcomes, such as abscess and anaphylactic shock, and increases the risk of blood-borne transmission of viruses to patients and health care workers, as well as the community. Recognizing the importance of injection safety, in 2000 the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MOH) collaborated with the Vietnam Nurses Association to launch the "Safe injection" program throughout the country, including Hanoi. Methods: This cross-sectional study, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, was conducted from February to August 2012 in Ha Dong General Hospital using a structured questionnaire and observation checklist. The target population of the study was 109 nurses working in clinical departments and 436 injections were observed. Results: The percentage of nurses who are familiar with injection safety standards was found to be 82.6%. The proportion of practical injections that met the 23 standards of injection safety set by the MOH amounted to 22.2%. The factors related to safe injection practice of nurses who were younger age group (OR=3.1; p<0.05) and fewer number of years working as a nurse (OR=2.8; p<0.05). Conclusions: While nurses have high level of knowledge about safe injections but a small proportion actually practiced. Experience may not always guarantee safe practices. Injection safety training should be regularly imparted upon all categories of nurses.

Association of the Nurse Work Environment, Collective Efficacy, and Missed Care.

Missed nursing care is a significant threat to quality patient care. Promoting collective efficacy within nurse work environments could decrease missed care. The purpose was to understand how missed care is associated with nurse work environments and collective efficacy of hospital staff nurses. A cross-sectional, convenience sample was obtained through online surveys from registered nurses working at five southwestern U.S. hospitals. Descriptive, correlational, regression, and path analyses were conducted ( N = 233). The percentage of nurses who reported that at least one care activity was missed frequently or always was 94%. Mouth care (36.0% of nurses) and ambulation (35.3%) were missed frequently or always. Nurse work environments and collective efficacy were moderately, positively correlated. Nurse work environments and collective efficacy were associated with less missed care (χ2 = 10.714, p = .0054). Fostering collective efficacy in the nurse work environment could reduce missed care and improve patient outcomes.

Factors related to the development of health-promoting community activities in Spanish primary healthcare: two case–control studies

ObjectiveSpanish primary healthcare teams have the responsibility of performing health-promoting community activities (CAs), although such activities are not widespread. Our aim was to identify the factors related to participation in...

Assessment of injection safety in Ha Dong General Hospital, Hanoi, in 2012

Background: Injection is one of the most frequently used medical methods to introduce drugs or other substances into the body for purposes of treatment or prevention. Unsafe injection can cause adverse outcomes, such as abscess and anaphylactic shock, and increases the risk of blood-borne transmission of viruses to patients and health care workers, as well as the community. Recognizing the importance of injection safety, in 2000 the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MOH) collaborated with the Vietnam Nurses Association to launch the “Safe injection” program throughout the country, including Hanoi. Methods: This cross-sectional study, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, was conducted from February to August 2012 in Ha Dong General Hospital using a structured questionnaire and observation checklist. The target population of the study was 109 nurses working in clinical departments and 436 injections were observed. Results: The percentage of nurses who are familiar with injection safety standards was found to be 82.6%. The proportion of practical injections that met the 23 standards of injection safety set by the MOH amounted to 22.2%. The factors related to safe injection practice of nurses who are younger age group (OR=3.1; p&lt;0.05) and lower amount of working years (OR=2.8; p&lt;0.05). Conclusions: Despite the high level of knowledge about safety injection, a low proportion of nurses performed correct safety injection practice. Moreover, the results demonstrated that experience might not always guarantee better practice. The findings raise the need for further training about this issue, especially among older nurses.

Assessment of injection safety in Ha Dong General Hospital, Hanoi, in 2012

Background: Injection is one of the most frequently used medical methods to introduce drugs or other substances into the body for purposes of treatment or prevention. Unsafe injection can cause adverse outcomes, such as abscess and anaphylactic shock, and increases the risk of blood-borne transmission of viruses to patients and health care workers, as well as the community. Recognizing the importance of injection safety, in 2000 the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MOH) collaborated with the Vietnam Nurses Association to launch the “Safe injection” program throughout the country, including Hanoi. Methods: This cross-sectional study, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, was conducted from February to August 2012 in Ha Dong General Hospital using a structured questionnaire and observation checklist. The target population of the study was 109 nurses working in clinical departments and 436 injections were observed. Results: The percentage of nurses who are familiar with injection safety standards was found to be 82.6%. The proportion of practical injections that met the 23 standards of injection safety set by the MOH amounted to 22.2%. The factors related to safe injection practice of nurses who are younger age group (OR=3.1; p&lt;0.05) and lower amount of working years (OR=2.8; p&lt;0.05). Conclusions: Despite the high level of knowledge about safety injection, a low proportion of nurses performed correct safety injection practice. Moreover, the results demonstrated that experience might not always guarantee better practice. The findings raise the need for further training about this issue, especially among older nurses.

Assessment of injection safety in Ha Dong General Hospital, Hanoi, in 2012

Background: Injection is one of the most frequently used medical methods to introduce drugs or other substances into the body for purposes of treatment or prevention. Unsafe injection can cause adverse outcomes, such as abscess and anaphylactic shock, and increases the risk of blood-borne transmission of viruses to patients and health care workers, as well as the community. Recognizing the importance of injection safety, in 2000 the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MOH) collaborated with the Vietnam Nurses Association to launch the “Safe injection” program throughout the country, including Hanoi. Methods: This cross-sectional study, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, was conducted from February to August 2012 in Ha Dong General Hospital using a structured questionnaire and observation checklist. The target population of the study was 109 nurses working in clinical departments and 436 injections were observed. Results: The percentage of nurses who are familiar with injection safety standards was found to be 82.6%. The proportion of practical injections that met the 23 standards of injection safety set by the MOH amounted to 22.2%. The factors related to safe injection practice of nurses who were younger age group (OR=3.1; p<0.05) and fewer number of years working as a nurse (OR=2.8; p<0.05). Conclusions: While nurses have high level of knowledge about safe injections but a small proportion actually practiced. Experience may not always guarantee safe practices. Injection safety training should be regularly imparted upon all categories of nurses.

Impact of nursing work environment on the occurrence of nosocomial infections in ICU

Objective To explore the impact of nursing work environment on the occurrence of nosocomial infections in ICU. Methods The sample consisted of 1 890 nurses who provided direct care for patients in ICUs of level 2 and level 3 hospitals in mainland China. The nursing work environment of ICU was measured with a Chinese translation version of the Practice Environment Scale of Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI). Nurses were asked to estimate how frequently nosocomial infections occurred including surgical site infection, urinary tract infection, central line infection, and ventilator associated pneumonia. Results The composite score of PES-NWI of ICU nurse was 3.35(2.77, 3.81)points. The percentage of nurses who reported the 4 kinds of nosocomial infections in ICU happen were 60.4% (surgical site infection,1 122/1 858),68.0%(urinary tract infection,1 265/1 859),52.9%(central line infection, 981/1 856), and 66.0%(ventilator associated pneumonia, 1 229/1 861). Nurses who graded higher in PES-NWI would be less likely to report the 4 kinds of nosocomial infections had happen,OR: 0.591(surgical site infection), 0.664(urinary tract infection), 0.573(central line infection), 0.567(ventilator associated pneumonia), all P<0.01. Conclusions A better nursing work environment is significantly related to lower occurrence of nosocomial infections in ICU. Key words: Intensive care units; Nursing work environment; Nosocomial infection

Assessment of injection safety in Ha Dong General Hospital, Hanoi, in 2012

Background: Injection is one of the most frequently used medical methods to introduce drugs or other substances into the body for purposes of treatment or prevention. Unsafe injection can cause adverse outcomes, such as abscess and anaphylactic shock, and increases the risk of blood-borne transmission of viruses to patients and health care workers, as well as the community. Recognizing the importance of injection safety, in 2000 the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MOH) collaborated with the Vietnam Nurses Association to launch the “Safe injection” program throughout the country, including Hanoi. Methods: This cross-sectional study, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, was conducted from February to August 2012 in Ha Dong General Hospital using a structured questionnaire and observation checklist. The target population of the study was 109 nurses working in clinical departments and 436 injections were observed. Results: The percentage of nurses who are familiar with injection safety standards was found to be 82.6%. The proportion of practical injections that met the 23 standards of injection safety set by the MOH amounted to 22.2%. The factors related to safe injection practice of nurses who are younger age group (OR=3.1; p&lt;0.05) and lower amount of working years (OR=2.8; p&lt;0.05). Conclusions: A low proportion of nurses performed correct safety injection practice, which raises the need for further training about this issue, especially among older nurses.

Understanding the factors associated with nonreporting of needlestick injuries in nurses at Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran 2016: A case study

Introduction: Needle in the body creates one of the potential problems which put people working in the health-care environment at risk of exposure to infection. The number of contaminated needlestick injuries among health-care workers as a result of underreporting of these injuries is unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate factors related to nurses reporting of needlestick in Imam Khomeini in Tehran. Materials and Methods: The present research method is a descriptive–analytic survey. The statistical population included all nurses in Tehran Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex consisting of three centers (Imam Khomeini Hospital, Vali-Asr, and Cancer Institute) in 2016. According to the Statistics center of Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Human Resources, on-duty nurses are 1100. Two hundred and eighty-five nurses stratified randomly sampling table and using Morgan were selected. To collect the data, in this study, a standard questionnaire reporting Azadi and Anoushe (2007) was used. Research data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using SPSS software. Results: The results of descriptive statistics showed that 61.5 percent of nurses had experienced a needlestick exposure, while fending off contaminated needles has been the most frequent (RF = 61.5). Inferential statistical findings showed that the average area of individual and organizational affecting the reporting of needlestick respectively was 2.14 and 2.26. Also, there was a significant difference between individual and organizational factors affecting the reporting of needlestick injury based on education and work experience. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that contaminated needlestick injuries and underreporting of injuries among nurses include a high rate and larger studies need to be done in this regard. Interventions such as a standard protocol as well as reporting, staff training, and postexposure prophylactic standard treatments can be effective in improving the reporting percentage of these injuries.

Nurses’ willingness and readiness to report for duty in a disaster

Inadequate healthcare workforce during a disaster affects the survival and health outcome of victims. During disaster strikes, nurses may face a dilemma regarding whether or not to report for duty, facing professional duty and their personal and/or family safety that may be at stake. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study. This study seeks for a better understanding of the factors affecting nurses' willingness and readiness to report for duty in a disaster. A total of 269 currently practicing registered nurses completed the questionnaire. Results showed that only 68.7 percent and 53.2 percent of nurses were willing to report to work during a disaster. Male nurses were more likely to report to work than females during disaster (p = 0.007) and infection outbreak (p = 0.002) situations. Nurses with young children were less likely to report to work during an infectious disease outbreak (34.5 percent vs 55.4 percent, p = 0.033). It is concluded that about one-third of nurses indicated that they would not report to work when a disaster strikes. This raises a warning signal for healthcare managers that they need to plan ahead to maintain an adequate workforce when disasters strike. Managers are urged to do more to understand the factors leading to nurses' unwillingness to report to work and to undertake realistic staffing planning to cope with the extra demand.

Survey on KAP of blood glucose monitoring and management among non-diabetes specialized nurses in a tertiary hospital

Objective To investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of blood glucose monitoring and management among non-diabetes specialized nurses in a tertiary hospital of Xiamen, and provide basis for the late intervention. Methods With convenient sampling method, 409 non-diabetes specialized nurses from a tertiary hospital of Xiamen were selected as the research object, and they were investigated by self-designed blood sugar monitoring and nursing KAP questionnaire. Results The score of knowledge related to blood sugar monitoring management was (6.52±1.39) ; the score of attitude related to blood sugar monitoring management was (45.94±4.18) ; the score of practice related to blood sugar monitoring management was (56.16±6.37) ; the attitude related to blood glucose monitoring management of non-diabetes specialized nurses was positively correlated with their practice (r=0.119, P=0.016) ; and nurses′ practice was also positively correlated with their knowledge (r=0.190, P=0.027) . Among 409 nurses, the percentage of nurses′ self-rating mastery degree, general mastery degree, less familiar and unfamiliar in blood sugar management knowledge were 54.8%, 37.9%, 4.4 and 0.5% %, and only 2.4% of nurses thought they completely master the knowledge. 85.5% of nurses had received training, training organized by nursing department and training in department which includes diabetes link nurses were dominant, and they were 64.1% and 31.5%. The training method was single (72.6%) . Theoretical teaching in hospital was still the most popular way, and it accounted for 78.5%. By multiple linear regression analysis, service year was the influencing factors of blood sugar monitoring management. Conclusions The knowledge that non-diabetes specialist nurses master is not optimistic, and the level of KAP in blood sugar monitoring still needs to be improved, while full standardization and diversity training are effective methods. Key words: Nurses; Knowledge; Attitude; Practice; Blood glucose monitoring

Slaugytojų žinios apie tracheostomos vamzdelio manžetės priežiūrą prieš ir po mokymo

Tracheostomos vamzdelio manžetės priežiūra yra susijusi su didele rizika paciento sveikatai, todėl svarbu, kad slaugytojai turėtų mokslo įrodymais pagrįstų žinių apie manžetės priežiūrą. Jeigu slaugytojai turės pakankamai žinių ir gerus praktinius įgūdžius kokybiškai atlikti šią procedūrą, tai iki minimumo sumažins galimų nepageidaujamų įvykių dažnumą, užtikrins paciento saugumą. Darbo tikslas išanalizuoti slaugytojų žinias apie tracheostomos vamzdelio manžetės priežiūrą prieš ir po mokymo. Tyrimas vyko 2013 m. Kauno miesto ligoninių skyriuose, į kuriuos tracheostomuoti pacientai dažniausiai patenka iš Intensyviosios terapijos skyrių. Dalyvauti tyrime buvo pakviesti visi 111 tuose skyriuose dirbančių slaugytojų. Tyrimas buvo vykdomas etapais: 1) slaugytojų anketinė apklausa prieš mokymus; 2) slaugytojų mokymai; 3) slaugytojų apklausa po mokymų. Apklausoje prieš mokymus dalyvavo 93 slaugytojai, po mokymo – 81. Tyrimo duomenims rinkti buvo naudojama autorių sukurta Slaugytojų žinių nustatymo anketa. Rezultatai. Dauguma apklaustų slaugytojų teigė, jog manžetės slėgio specialiu manometru nematuoja (prieš mok. - 95,2 proc., po mok. - 98,3 proc.). Prieš ir po mokymų beveik pusė slaugytojų teigė, kad niekada nepripučia oro į tracheostomos vamzdelio manžetę (prieš mok. - 47,6 proc., po mok. - 45,8 proc.). Po mokymo statistiškai reikšmingai daugiau slaugytojų (44,4 proc.) nurodė, kad orą iš tracheostomos vamzdelio manžetės išleidžia kas tris – keturias val., o prieš mokymą taip darantys nurodė tik 20,1 proc. respondentų (χ²=12,162; lls=1; p=0,007). Prieš mokymą 60,9 proc. tiriamųjų nurodė, kad visai neišleidžia oro iš tracheostomos vamzdelio manžetės, o po mokymo taip teigė 40,3 proc. slaugytojų (χ²=12,162; lls=1; p=0,007). Po mokymo 50,6 proc. slaugytojų nurodė, kad manžetės slėgis turi būti mažesnis nei 20 cmH2O, nors prieš mokymą tokį slėgį nurodė 3,6 proc. respondentų (χ²=59,048; lls=3; p&amp;amp;lt;0,001). Po mokymo 21,0 proc. tiriamųjų manė, kad nesvarbu, koks slėgis tracheostomos vamzdelyje, svarbu kad būtų daug išpūsta, o prieš mokymą taip teigė 65,5 proc. apklausoje dalyvavusių slaugytojų (χ²=59,048; lls=3; p&amp;amp;lt;0,001). Didžioji dalis (79,6 proc.) slaugytojų, kurie išsimokslinimą įgijo medicinos mokykloje, po mokymo teigė, kad prieš išleidžiant orą iš tracheostomos vamzdelio manžetės išsiurbia sekretą iš burnos ir nosiaryklės, nors prieš mokymą taip teigė darantys 51,7 proc. respondentų (χ²=9,007; lls=1; p=0,003). Išvados. Po mokymo reikšmingai didesnė dalis slaugytojų teisingai nurodė, kad orą iš tracheostomos vamzdelio manžetės išleidžia kas tris – keturias val.; o manžetės slėgis turi būti ne mažesnis nei 20 cmH2O. Reikšmingai didesnė dalis slaugytojų, kurie išsimokslinimą įgijo medicinos mokykloje, po mokymo teigė, kad prieš išleidžiant orą iš tracheostomos vamzdelio manžetės išsiurbia sekretą iš burnos ir nosiaryklės. Prieš ir po mokymų dauguma apklaustųjų teigė, jog manžetės slėgio specialiu manometru nematuoja, o oro į vamzdelio manžetę pagal manometro rodiklius pripučia tik nedidelė dalis slaugytojų.

Survey zur Einbindung von Pflegefachpersonen mit Hochschulabschlüssen an deutschen Universitätskliniken - Stand 2015

IntroductionIn order to meet the requirements of the increasing complexity of patient care it is recommended to promote more differentiated nursing staff structures and to integrate academic nurses, which is international standard and recommended by the German Science Council. The implementation level is unclear. What is the percentage of nurses with an academic degree at German university hospitals, and what are their task profiles? MethodStandardised written survey by nursing directors of all 32 German university hospitals and medical universities in 2015. ResultsThe response rate was 75 %. The ratio of nurses with an academic degree amounted to 1.7 % overall, and to 1.0 % in direct patient care. The activities of nurses with an academic degree correspond to international Advanced Nursing Practice approaches including conceptual development (76 %), support of evidence-based care (72 %), practice projects (64 %) and patient counselling (56 %). There were significant variations among hospitals nationwide concerning pay rates with a current lack of reliable pay structures. DiscussionThis is the first national survey to determine the quota of nurses with an academic degree in direct patient care. The ratio of 1 % is well below the 10 to 20 % recommended by the German Science Council – hence the need for immediate action and comprehensive reforms. A follow-up survey is planned for 2017.

임상간호사의 직무 스트레스와 건강증진행위 및 건강상태의 관련성

Purpose: This study examined association of job stress with health-promoting behaviors and objective health status in 129 clinical nurses working at a university hospital. Methods: A cross- sectional and descriptive design was used. Job stress and health behaviors were measured with Korean Occupational Stress Scale and Heath Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II, respectively. Health status measured with afternoon plasma cortisol, C-peptide, and lipid profiles. Results: The level of job stress among clinical nurses was moderate with 51.41 on average. The mean for health-promoting behavior in the low stress group was significantly higher than that in the high or moderate stress groups (p<.001). The proportions of nurses with high C-peptide and cortisol levels, or low high-density lipoprotein levels, ranged from 14.0% to 35.7%. In particular, the percentage of nurses with high C-peptide levels was significantly higher in moderate and high stress groups than in the low stress group (24.1% versus 11.6%, p<.05). Conclusion: The study findings affirmed the associations of job stress with health-promoting behaviors as well as selected health status indicators such as C-peptide in clinical nurses. Job stress management intervention can help clinical nurses to improve their health-promoting behaviors and health status.

A quality improvement project to reduce intravenous catheter related infections in the neonatology unit of Kibogora hospital in Rwanda

In developing countries, intravenous (IV) catheter related infections (CRI) rate is generally high. Neonates are more susceptible to develop CRI. We examined the impact of a quality improvement project on IV CRI rates in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a district hospital in Rwanda. A pre- and post-intervention study was conducted from 2014 to 2016 to evaluate the IV CRI rate and nurses’ IV management technique. A written test was administered to evaluate their knowledge on the matter. The intervention had three components: First implementing an IV management policy. Secondly, training staff on the policy and finally, managers provided support and supervision during the change. We measured five indicators: (1) the IV CRI rate; (2) the percentage of nurses who tested 80% on IV management knowledge; (3) the percentage of IV devices changed following the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline; (4) IV management technique; and (5) the hospital length of stay (LOS). The IV CRI rate reduced from 32.1% to 14.5% (p &lt; .001). The hospital LOS reduced from 15.31 to 7.43 days (p &lt; .001). The compliance of changing IV following WHO guideline increased from 0% to 99% (p &lt; .001); proper IV management technique use increased from 43% to 96% (p &lt; .001); the mean rank of staff on IV management knowledge score significantly increased from 3.5 to 9.5 (p = .004). This project demonstrates that a quality improvement project can help address the IV CRI at very low cost in a resource-challenged setting.

Current status and change of nursing workforce in level 2 and level 3 general hospitals in Guangdong province

Objective To describe the current status and compare the changes of nursing workforce in level 2 and level 3 general hospitals in Guangdong province during 2009 to 2014. Methods Data was collected from 2066 nurses in 23 hospitalsin Guangdong province in 2014 by using the Nurse Questionnaire of the China Hospital Nursing Workforce Survey(CHNWS). The data was compared with that of 21 hospitals in Guangdong province derived from the CHNWS which was conducted in 2009. Results Compared with the data collected in 2009, the average age of nurses decreased, the percentages of nurses with higher educational degrees increased, and percentages of contract nursesand that of male nurses in ICUs also increased by 19%-27% and 9%-13% respectively(P 0.05). The majority of nurses were unsatisfied with salary and benefits. Conclusions The number of nurse in Guangdong Province significantly increased during 2009 to 2014, but the staffing levels were still inadequate in clinical settings. The nursing workforce was younger than 5 years ago, the entry level nursing education needed to upgrade, and attention needed to pay to the nurses' turnover issue and being unsatisfied with salary and benefits. Key words: Nurses; Workforce; Turnover; Staffing; Salary; Guangdong province

Need for radiation safety education for interventional cardiology staff, especially nurses

Objective Cardiac interventional radiology (IR) can cause radiation injury to the staff who administer it as well as to patients. Although education in the basic principles of radiation is required for nurses, their level of radiation safety knowledge is not known. The present study used a questionnaire protocol to assess the level of radiation safety knowledge among hospital nurses.Methods and results A questionnaire to assess the level of training and current understanding of radiation safety was administered to 305 nurses in 2008 and again to 359 nurses in 2010. Our study indicates that nurses had insufficient knowledge about radiation safety, and that a high percentage of nurses were concerned about the health hazards of radiation. Moreover, more than 80% of the nurses expressed an interest in attending periodic radiation safety seminars. Annual radiation protection training for hospital staff (including nurses) is important.Conclusions Our results suggest that nurses do not have sufficient knowledge of radiation safety and should receive appropriate radiation safety training. Many had a minimal understanding of radiation and thus had significant concerns about the safety of working with radiation. Periodic radiation safety education/training for nurses is essential.