Nursing and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a COVID-19 world: The state of the science and a call for nursing to lead

The World Health Organization declared 2020 the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife well before the world was plunged into a pandemic response to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Worldwide, nurses are advancing critical research and policy efforts to achieve all 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nursing is best positioned to ask and answer how to achieve the SDGs over the next decade, and in this COVID-19 era. In this article, we summarize the state of the nursing and midwifery literature about the SDGs. Twenty-four publications met criteria for inclusion, with nearly half published in 2019. Findings emphasize a need for: (a) nursing curricula and training revisions to include SDG content and strengthen development of a future nursing workforce comprised of global citizens; (b) innovative and disruptive nursing research documenting advances toward achieving the SDG 2030 agenda; (c) nursing practice that operates within a SDG framework; and (d) responsive and proactive nursing policy development that foresees what is needed to achieve the SDGs. When the urgency of COVID-19 response subsides, the world will adjust to a new normal and nursing must be positioned to lead and contribute to micro- and macro-level efforts toward achieving the SDGs.     

The potential impact of bereavement grief on workers,work, careers,and the workplace

ABSTRACT

Bereavement grief is typically very painful and often highly consequential. People who are working could be significantly impacted by the death of someone they care about. A qualitative study sought an understanding of the lived experience of bereavement on the mourner’s ability to work and their work-related experiences following the death of a loved one. Three themes emerged: (a) grief is universal but individually impactful, (b) accommodation is needed to assist the return to work and to regain work abilities, and (c) there are many impediments to working again. These themes highlight the potential for bereavement grief to substantially effect mourners and thus their work, careers, and the workplace. Older workers could be particularly disadvantaged because of workplace ageism. Societal and other changes appear to be needed for the health and wellbeing of mourning workers, and to address related work and bereavement issues. Bereavement grief is highly relevant to the social work profession, given its involvement in providing information, developing supportive services, and making referrals.     

Addressing Gaps in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Education: Training Middle School Students in Hands‐Only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

BACKGROUND

Training middle school students to perform hands‐only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (HOCPR) is a potential method to increase overall rates of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). We aimed to examine the feasibility of teaching this population CPR using teacher‐implemented education sessions guided by American Heart Association (AHA) training kits and resources.

METHODS

We conducted a national HOCPR training campaign in middle schools during the 2014‐2015 school year. Participating schools utilized AHA CPR training kits to train seventh and eighth grade students. We assessed pretest/posttest knowledge and comfort in performing HOCPR.

RESULTS

We recruited 1131 schools and trained approximately 334,610 students in HOCPR. The average pretest score on knowledge questions was 50% and the average posttest score was 84%. Most students (76%) felt comfortable performing HOCPR after the education session. Overall, 98% of teachers said they would continue to implement CPR training in the future.

CONCLUSIONS

Large‐scale, teacher‐implemented CPR education sessions in the middle school setting are a successful approach to increase middle school student's knowledge and comfort in performing HOCPR and to increase overall bystander CPR rates.

     

The Relationship Between Dental Utilization and Preventive Participation Among a Well-elderly Sample

Previous studies have shown that dental utilization by older people is lower than for the general population. This study hypothesizes that an elder's tendency toward participating in preventive health activities may be an important factor in explaining the likelihood of accessing the dentist. Subjects included 1,911 older individuals who enrolled in the UCLA Medicare Screening and Health Promotion Trial. All were interviewed about their utilization of preventive health services and participation in preventive behaviors. A recent dental visit was positively associated with all sociodemographic variables examined except age and sex. It was also related to health status questions and utilization of the preventive health services and health behaviors studied. Logistic regression analysis showed that both summary preventive health behavior and preventive service utilization variables were important factors in explaining a recent dental visit (model chi-square/221.4, P=.001) along with income, not having a removable prosthesis, and perceiving the need for dental care. This study showed that dental utilization is related to older people's participation in other preventive activities. When in contact with older people, health care professionals should consider current oral and general preventive health status and encourage appropriate referral for preventive activities.     

Does abnormal interhemispheric inhibition play a role in mirror dystonia?

The presence of mirror dystonia (dystonic movement induced by a specific task performed by the unaffected hand) in the dominant hand of writer's cramp patients when the nondominant hand is moved suggests an abnormal interaction between the 2 hemispheres. In this study we compare the level of interhemispheric inhibition (IHI) in 2 groups of patients with writer's cramp, one with the presence of a mirror dystonia and the other without as well as a control group. The level of bidirectional IHI was measured in wrist muscles with dual‐site transcranial magnetic stimulation with a 10‐millisecond (short IHI) and a 40‐millisecond (long IHI) interstimulus interval during rest and while holding a pen in 9 patients with mirror dystonia 7 without mirror dystonia, and 13 controls. The group of patients without mirror dystonia did not differ from the controls in their IHI level. In contrast, IHI was significantly decreased in the group of patients with mirror dystonia in comparison with the group without mirror dystonia and the controls in both wrist muscles of both the dystonic and unaffected hand whatever the resting or active condition (P = 0.001). The decrease of IHI level in the group of patients with mirror dystonia was negatively correlated with the severity and the duration of the disease: the weaker the level of IHI, the more severe was the disease and the longer its duration. Interhemispheric inhibition disturbances are most likely involved in the occurrence of mirror dystonia. This bilateral deficient inhibition further suggests the involvement of the unaffected hemisphere in the pathophysiology of unilateral dystonia. © 2013 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society     

Electrical impedance myography for the in vivo and ex vivo assessment of muscular dystrophy (mdx) mouse muscle

Introduction: Sensitive, non‐invasive techniques are needed that can provide biomarkers of disease status and the effects of therapy in muscular dystrophy. Methods: We evaluated electrical impedance myography (EIM) to serve in this role by studying 2‐month‐old and 18‐month‐old mdx and wild‐type (WT) animals (10 animals in each of 4 groups). Results: Marked differences were observed in EIM values between mdx and WT animals; the differences were more pronounced between the older age groups (e.g., reactance of 92.6 ±4.3 Ω for mdx animals vs. 130 ± 4.1 Ω for WT animals, P < 0.001). In addition, in vivo EIM parameters correlated significantly with the extent of connective tissue deposition in the mdx animals. Conclusions: EIM has the potential to serve as a valuable non‐invasive method for evaluating muscular dystrophy. It can be a useful biomarker to assist with therapeutic testing in both pre‐clinical and clinical studies. Muscle Nerve 49 : 829–835, 2014     

F‐wave latencies in patients with diabetes mellitus

Introduction: To evaluate the sensitivity of electrophysiologic assessments, we compared F‐waves and motor and sensory nerve conduction studies (MNCS and SNCS) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods: We tested median, ulnar, tibial, and fibular nerves in 132 DM patients divided into those with and without clinical evidence of polyneuropathy. Results: Of 64 asymptomatic patients, 2 (3%) had MNCS or SNCS abnormalities, both of whom had F‐wave changes, whereas 21 (33%) had only delayed F‐waves, for a combined yield of 23 (36%). The corresponding values for 68 symptomatic patients consisted of 43 (63%), 14 (21%), and 57 (84%). In both groups, F‐wave latency had a higher (P < 0.05) frequency of abnormality than MNCS in all nerves. F‐wave study also surpassed SNCS in lower limb nerves. Conclusions: F‐waves of the tibial and fibular nerves are the most sensitive measure to detect subclinical or overt diabetic polyneuropathy. Muscle Nerve 49 : 804–808, 2014