Education Programs for Invasive Procedures Involving Nurses: A Scoping Review

Background: Implementing invasive procedures is an important part of patient management by clinical nurses;however, there are gaps between nurses’ actual knowledge and skills and expected professional care capacity. Purpose: This scoping review aimed to map the existing literature related to recent institution-provided educational programs for invasive procedures involving clinical nurses. This study seeks to understand the contents of educational programs and the methods for assessing educational effects. Methods: This scoping review was completed using the following four databases: PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, Cochrane Library, and Emcare for the period 2000-2022. We included studies that used all forms of educational approaches (e.g., didactic lectures, hands-on training, or on-the-job training). This scoping review considered peer-reviewed publications published in English using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed approaches. A total of 83 studies underwent in the final analysis. Results and Conclusion: A combination of didactic lectures and hands-on training was provided as an educational program in most studies. Contrary to our prediction, educational interventions with advanced technologies such as VR are extremely rare, suggesting that the effectiveness of advanced technologies in learning invasive procedures should be examined to facilitate and retain educational effects more efficiently in future studies. Regarding the assessment of educational effects, nurses’ cognitive (i.e., theoretical knowledge about procedures), psychomotor (i.e., implementing procedures), and psychological aspects (e.g., confidence and self-efficacy in procedures) were evaluated using questionnaires and observational methods. While most studies used a one-group pretest-posttest design, the ratio of randomized controlled trials (RCT) was relatively low. Thus, an RCT design should be introduced in future studies to test the validity of the developed educational program more accurately.

Talking with Children about Cancer: A Content Analysis of Text in Children’s Picture Books

Introduction: To tell children that they are diagnosed with cancer is challenging for any healthcare professional and family. Pictures books are one of the communication tools for talking with children about severe diseases. However, little research is available about the contents of picture books about cancer for children. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the contents of children’s picture books about cancer and explore the advantages and disadvantages of using picture books to communicate with children about cancer. Methods: We searched the picture books about cancer written for children aged under ten years old on the Amazon.com Web site on 5 July 2019 and hand-searched on the cancer-related institutes’ Web site. We extracted the texts of relevant picture books and conducted a content analysis of them. Results: We identified 2555 picture books and included 30 of them. We identified three main contents, 1) cancer-related knowledge, 2) impacts of cancer, and 3) dealing with cancer. These contents were written with simple words and illustrations. Some of them included the essential contents, which might be misunderstood by children. Conclusions: Picture books might be helpful for children to understand about cancer. However, as these books do not include all contents, it is necessary to select and use multiple books depending on the content which is wanted to tell the child. Further research should evaluate the impacts of these books as a communication tool when talking with children diagnosed with cancer.

People-Centered Care: Concept Analysis

Purpose: This study aims to clarify the definition, attributes, antecedents, and consequences of the concept of people-centered care (PCC). Method: Rogers and Knafl’s evolutionary method was used to analyze the concept of People-centered care. The cords such as “Attributes,” “Antecedent,” and “Consequences” were extracted on the coding sheet. The extracted contents of each of the “Attributes,” “Antecedent,” and “Consequences” from the created coding sheets were summarized as codes, and similar codes were categorized. Result: We included 33 studies in the analysis. As a result of the analysis, we identified four attributes (the subject is people, approaches to improving and enhancing health issues, relationships as a basis for partnership building, and behavioral attitudes for building partnerships), four antecedents (changes in social conditions, increasing people’s ownership of their health, health issues in modern society, and care in a variety of settings), and three consequences (achieving goals set by the people themselves, self-transformations of both people and healthcare providers, and social transformations). Discussion: Based on the analysis results, PCC was defined as “an initiative in which people step forward and partner with health care providers to improve and enhance health issues in individuals and communities.” In various social and individual changes, the realization of PCC is expected to result in the achievement of goals set by the people themselves together with health care providers and the transformation of individuals and society.

Factors Affecting Disease Risk Perception and Self-Management Behaviors among Japanese Long-Term Overseas Volunteers

Introduction: Many overseas volunteers have worked in low and middle-income countries. However traveling abroad and staying in an unfamiliar environment with inadequate medical infrastructure exposes volunteers to a wide range of health risks. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationships among disease knowledge and symptoms, disease risk perception, and self-management skills. Methods: This was a questionnaire survey of 189 Japanese who were preparing to volunteer abroad. A factor analysis was conducted on 13 items (six general risk events and seven major diseases) of risk perception. Correlation analysis was performed between the identified risk perception factors and disease knowledge and symptoms. Risk perception scores by factors from the seven disease items were compared between the Self-management Score (SMS) group and disease knowledge and risk of symptoms group, using T-tests. St. Luke’s International University Ethics Committee (19-A092) approved this study. Results: Many participants expected to suffer from digestive diseases (69.3%) and dermatitis (55%) in the field. On the other hand, few expected high risk of malaria (26.5%) or dengue fever (36%). Factor analysis yielded robust factor loadings creating a “Dread” and an “Unknown” factor accounting for 62.2% of total variance. Strong correlation was not found between SMS and disease risk perception. A weak negative correlation was observed in dengue fever, digestive disorders, and dermatitis (r = −0.20 to −0.25, p < 0.001) on the “Unknown” factor. A high SMS score was associated with a lower “Unknown” factor score for malaria, diarrhea, dermatitis, and dental disorders. In addition, higher disease knowledge was significantly associated with higher “Dread” factor score for dental disorders. Conclusions: Self-management skills and disease knowledge will enable higher risk awareness of common diseases and high lethality diseases.