Explore the vast range of titles available.

Background/Objectives: Shift work has profound effects on the health and dietary habits of registered nurses, especially in Hong Kong, where cultural and systematic barriers can pose a challenge. This study investigated the dietary habits of shift-working nurses in public hospitals, identifying barriers and facilitators to healthy eating using a mixed-methods approach. Methods: Nine subjects (five females and four males: mean = 35.6, SD = 8.4 yrs) filled out a validated food frequency questionnaire and a 3-day dietary record followed by photovoice and semi-structured interview. Results: The findings indicated that all participants reported insufficient dietary fiber intake and eight out of nine exceeded sodium intake recommendations. The key barriers included emotional eating triggered by work stress, inconsistent schedules, limited availability of nutritious foods, and workplace social dynamics. The facilitators included workplace support, positive peer influence, and family involvement in meal planning. Conclusions: This paper focuses on the necessity for health care institutions to create and implement nutritional instructions specific to shift workers, maintain appropriate meal breaks, and build a positive work environment. These interventions may be used to enhance nurses’ eating habits and well-being.

Background Teenagers are unprepared to face or to deal with an unexpected pregnancy. Adolescents do not necessarily possess the cognitive ability needed to clearly evaluate such a situation or to determine how to resolve their pregnancy. This study seeks to shed light on what pregnant adolescents consider when coming to a decision about what to do about their pregnancy. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted among a purposive sample of Hong Kong Chinese women recruited from a Maternal and Child Health Centre, who had a history of being pregnant in their teens and out of wedlock. Interviews were conducted to explore the considerations surrounding their decision on how to resolve their pregnancy. Results A total of nine women were interviewed. An analysis of the interview transcripts revealed that to arrive at a decision on what to do about their pregnancy, pregnant teens took into consideration their relationship with their boyfriend, their family’s advice or support, practical considerations, their personal values in life, and views on adoption. Conclusions The results of this study results highlighted that during this life-altering event for adolescents, an open discussion should take place among all of the parties concerned. A better understanding of each party’s perspective would allow for better decision making on the resolution of the pregnancy. Health professionals or social workers are there to help pregnant adolescents, romantic partners, and family members make informed choices on how to resolve the pregnancy.

Background Community-acquired respiratory infections are a prevalent cause of sepsis. Current animal models simulate peritoneal rather than respiratory sepsis. This study sought to appraise an influenza model for its ability to develop sepsis. Methods Twenty-four six-week-old male BALB/c mice were intranasally inoculated with H1N1 strain A/PR/8/34 virus at 3.7 × 10 − 1 , 3.7 × 10 0 , 3.7 × 10 1 , 3.7 × 10 2 , 3.7 × 10 3 , 3.7 × 10 4 median tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) to acquire different levels of clinical severity. Murine Sepsis Score (MSS) was recorded daily over 14 days. Platelets, serum bilirubin and creatinine levels were measured to reflect coagulopathy, liver and renal dysfunction. These three parameters are from the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score which is routinely used for monitoring human sepsis. The primary outcome is organ dysfunction. Results Out of 24 infected mice, seven (29%) did not survive beyond 9 days. MSS predicted mortality with an AUC of 0.989 (95%CI: 0.978-1.000; P  < 0.001). Liver and renal dysfunction were detected in one non-survived and six survived mice. Histological examination revealed inflammation in lung and liver but not kidney tissues. Conclusions This study demonstrates the potential of influenza to cause organ dysfunction, providing a basis for building a murine model specific for viral respiratory sepsis, and more closely simulating human viral sepsis.

BackgroundDespite its continued use in many low-volume emergency departments (EDs), 3-level triage systems have not been extensively studied, especially on live triage cases. We have modified from the Australasian Triage Scale and developed a 3-level triage scale, and sought to evaluate its validity, reliability, and over- and under-triage rates in real patient encounters in our setting.MethodThis was a cross-sectional study in a single ED with 24,000 attendances per year. At triage, each patient was simultaneously assessed by a triage nurse, an adjudicator (the “criterion standard”), and a study nurse independently. Predictive validity was determined by comparing clinical outcomes, such as hospitalization, across triage levels. The discriminating performance of the triage tool in identifying patients requiring earlier medical attention was determined. Inter-observer reliability between the triage nurse and criterion standard, and across providers were determined using kappa statistics.ResultsIn total, 453 triage ratings of 151 triage cases, involving 17 ED triage nurses and 57 nurse pairs, were analysed. The proportion of hospital admission significantly increased with a higher triage rating. The performance of the scale in identifying patients requiring earlier medical attention was as follows: sensitivity, 68.2% (95% CI 45.1–86.1%); specificity, 99.2% (95% CI 95.8–100%); positive predictive value, 93.8% (95% CI 67.6–99.1%); and negative predictive value, 94.8% (95% CI 90.8–97.1%). The over-triage and under-triage rates were 0.7% and 4.6%, respectively. Agreement between the triage nurse and criterion standard was substantial (quadratic-weighted kappa = 0.76, 95% CI, 0.60–0.92, p < 0.001), so was the agreement across nurses (quadratic-weighted kappa = 0.81, 95% CI 0.65–0.97, p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe 3-level triage system appears to have good validity and reasonable reliability in a low-volume ED setting. Further studies comparing 3-level and prevailing 5-level triage scales in live triage encounters and different ED settings are warranted.