The aim of the current study was to identify risk factors for falls among older adult patients receiving care in an acute geriatric unit in a University hospital in Lithuania.

Materials and methods. The cross-sectional study was conducted in a 50-bed acute geriatric unit in a clinical hospital in Lithuania, data from 270 patients were collected. Data were extracted from an electronic patient record. Unconditional logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between different possible risk factors and falls in the last 12 months calculating the odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Models were adjusted for variables that differed significantly or suggestively between the groups.

Results. Compared to patients aged 60-74 years, those aged 75 years and older were more likely to report history of fall (50.2% vs. 34.5%) p = 0.038). History of fall were more common among female than male (respectively, 72.8% and 27.2% p = 0.055). Characteristics associated with an increased risk of falls in the last 12 months included patients with gastrointestinal disease (OR = 3.75, 95% CI = 1.08-12.97), faecal incontinence (OR = 5.28, 95% CI = 1.01-27.69), and
syncope syndrome (OR = 7.65, 95% CI = 1.91-30.54).

Conclusions. Identifying patients at risk for adverse outcome is only a first step in its prevention. Comprehensive geriatric assessment needed for older patients at time of admission in acute geriatric unit. It is important to identify history of falls and gait disorders association with risk other risk factors.

Methods. The study design was a cross-sectional quasi-experimental test. The setting was an educational setting in three nursing schools in Baltic countries and Finland. The sampling was purposive. The Medication Competence and Associated Factors tool was used. Students participating in the study answered the web-based questionnaire before and after the use of eMedication Passport. Finland participated only in the pre-survey as a reference school. The data were analysed statistically.

Results. Altogether, 288 students participated in the pre-survey and 109 students in the postsurvey. There was no significant change in the medication competence evaluated by the knowledge and medication calculation test, and patient vignettes between the evaluations. The students’ activeness and self-confidence in the studies related to medication management increased from the presurvey to post-survey in the Baltic countries when using eMedication Passport as a learning activity.

Principal conclusions. Learning activities are helpful, but students need support and help in the use of them.

Methods. A quantitative study with a cross-sectional survey design was conducted at 10 health care institutions where diabetes care for patients was provided. The Individualised Care Scale (the nurse version) was applied. In total, 126 nurses and physicians participated in the survey before the education and 70 of them responded after it.

Results. After the intervention, support and perception of individualized care among participants were rated differently (P = 0.029): after education, the overall score for perception was higher than for the support for individual care. Moreover, after intervention, nurses and physicians, as one group, rated the perception of individualized care on the personal life situation (P = 0.046) and decisional control over care (P = 0.037) subscales significantly higher than the support for care individuality on these two subscales. Physicians scored the perception of individuality during the decisional control over care significantly higher than before education (P = 0.040).

Conclusions. The education on patient-centered care for health care professionals revealed changes in professionals’ perception of individuality in care they provide for older persons with diabetes, particularly when dealing with patient’s personal life situation and decisional control over care. Health professionals need to pay more attention during diabetes care for discussing matters of patient’s personal life situation, their preferences, and decisions about family involvement into care.

Methods. A retrospective observational study design was applied. The study consisted of 100 patients who had been tested positive for COVID-19 infection and their vital signs were monitored. According to the collected data on patients’ physiological parameters and provided responses to the questions related to the infection, prognoses for the state of health were generated by the system. The accuracy of estimated predictions for the health condition was evaluated and compared with the real-time health status of patients.

Results. The results revealed that predictions provided by an algorithm for vital signs, including respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure, temperature and pulse, were quite accurate (> 90%). Oxygen saturation was the only physiological parameter with the lowest precision (72.82%). While comparing the real-time and predicted health condition of patients for today, 90.07% of all generated prognoses coincided with the actual state of health. Nevertheless, the accuracy of the prognosis decreased slightly (84.89%) for the patients’ status of health predictions for tomorrow.

Conclusions. This study indicates that the system for predicting the prospective vital signs and the state of health of a patient is precise and effective. Utilisation of this program could help to enhance the delivery of health care, improve the outcomes for patients in the hospital and ensure the well-being of patients at home.

Background. Mentors in healthcare professions have a major impact on quality nursing education during clinical practice, and mentorship training is one means of improving mentors’ understanding high-quality education.

Method. This was a quasi-experimental study involving non-randomized, pre- and postintervention measurements. Training comprised a blended method for the intervention group (n = 192) and an online-only method for the control group (n = 64) in two Finnish hospital districts.

Results. Mentors’ competence improved after training, and all but one area of mentorship competence (reflection during mentoring) showed a statistically significant difference. The blended training produced larger mean differences than the online-only training in the competence areas requiring mentor-student interaction.

Conclusion. Both training methods increased mentorship competence . Healthcare organizations must seriously consider implementing mentorship competence training using methods that are effective and facilitate more efficient allocation of limited available resources.

Methods. A descriptive comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in October through November, 2021. In total, 115 nursing students participated in a survey where 63 students were from the first year and 52 from the fourth year of a nursing program. The response rate was 83.3%. The questionnaire was developed by the authors. The approval of the Bioethics Center of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences was obtained (No. BEC–SL(N)–17).

Results. The first year students were more likely to take care of dementia patients than the fourth year students (28.6% and 11.6%, respectively). The fourth year nursing students more often than the first year students noted that they were not planning to work in the elderly units (28.8% and 9.5%, respectively, P = 0.007) and felt not having enough patience to provide such care (42.3% and 7.9%, respectively, P = 0.001). Last year nursing students reported being better prepared to work with dementia patients than the first year students (mean ranks 64.85 and 52.35, respectively, P = 0.016) and more often highlighted the high need of hygiene assurance for dementia patience (mean ranks 65.92 and 51.46, respectively, P = 0.007).

Conclusions. The fourth year nursing students are less likely to take care of dementia patients than the first year nursing students. Students see the care of dementia patients challenging because of older age and altered mental status of the patient that creates psychological difficulties and requires much more patience in care. Effective learning strategies alongside with the good mentorship relationship and positive clinical training experience of students may help to encourage and motivate nursing graduates to care for dementia patients during their professional career.

Methods. The data sources include Medline (PubMed), Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and PsycINFO along with reference lists of relevant reviews and involved articles. Study eligibility criteria were studies that assess the use of telehealth for implementation of assessments and/or early interventions for children aged 0–6 years with diagnosis of all types of neurodevelopmental disabilities. Narrative synthesis and tables of results of telehealth studies were developed.

Results. The services delivered included diagnostic assessment for autism spectrum disorder, speech and language screening, educational training, guidance, and supervision in the implementing interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder, behaviour problems, speech and language delays, hearing problems, preterm, developmental problems, and cerebral palsy.

Conclusions. Telehealth has a potential for autism spectrum disorder, speech, and language impairments identification. Also, telehealth is a promising model to deliver behaviour, communication, and speech and hearing targeted interventions. There is a lack of studies on using telehealth in early interventions for children with other types of neurodevelopmental disabilities (e.g., cerebral palsy).

Design. An integrative review of available Australian peer reviewed literature was conducted to understand the barriers to optimal health care for women, and to inform a model of nursing that would provide continuity of care for women with a diagnosed health condition, post release.

Methods. Using Whittemore and Knafl’s integrative review framework as a guide to data analysis and evaluation provided the wide range of concepts relating to barriers and enablers facing women leaving prison. Further, the framework provided the ability to review theories and provided evidence for policymakers to view women leaving prison as a vulnerable group who would benefit from transitional nursing care support.

Conclusion. Women released from prison are at high risk of preventative death and subsequent reincarceration due to cumulative disadvantage. The limited Australian literature evidenced the women’s unmet health needs and uncovered the barriers they face in maintaining their health and wellness after a period of incarceration. The review findings support the need for a Nurse Navigator model of care management to provide individualised care management, and promote health and systems literacy, specifically to this group of women.

Data and methods. This descriptive qualitative study was conducted across four Finnish higher education institutions. The data were collected through semi-structured thematic group interviews with 19 social and health care educators. The material was analyzed using inductive content analysis.

Results. The educators emphasized how important continuing education was to their professional development. When discussing the need for further education, the participants expressed a desire for continuing education that covers digital pedagogy and skills relevant to the modern working environment, i.e., entrepreneurial and management competence. However, the participants reported that both their employers and the institution responsible for education spent  insufficient resources on continuing education.

Discussion. Continuing education must cover relevant topics to be useful. This research provides new insight into how continuing education builds social and healthcare educators’ competence as well as which topics have not been covered  sufficiently.