No abstract

Caring is a central focus of nursing, and patient satisfaction is a critical indicator of nursing care quality. The aim of this study was to determine the effects that a care workshop exerted on nurse caring behaviors as perceived by patients and reflected by patient satisfaction. A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design without a control group was applied. The intervention consisted of several facets: 1) formal educational sessions twice a week for six weeks, 2) an angel-master mentorship activity, and 3) posts of exemplary caring behavior and stories. A demographic questionnaire, the Modified Nurse Caring Behaviors Inventory, and the Hartford Hospital Satisfaction Survey were used in this study. Descriptive statistics were analyzed to evaluate participant demographic characteristics. Paired t tests were used to determine the effects of a care workshop on nurse caring behaviors as perceived by patients and reflected by patient satisfaction. Of the 236 patients enrolled, 49.6% were women and 57.2% were admitted to medical-surgical units. Female patients rated nurse caring behaviors higher and reported greater patient satisfaction than did male patients on the pretest (p < 0.05) and 6-week posttest (p < 0.01). Patient with medical-surgical admissions rated nurse caring behaviors higher and reported greater patient satisfaction than patients with emergency admissions did on the pretest and 6-week posttest (p < 0.01). Nurse caring behaviors and patient satisfaction were positively correlated on the pretest (p < 0.05) and 6-week posttest (p < 0.01). Patient satisfaction scores increased after the intervention compared with the pretest scores (p = 0.000). Caring educational programs for nurses are commonly regarded to be an essential strategy for promoting care knowledge and practice and improving patient satisfaction. According to the favorable results of this study, care workshops must be pro-* Corresponding author.H.-S. Chan et al. 90vides to nurses in other units or hospitals in future studies.

Loneliness is associated with depression, sleep disturbance, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and it is a global public health problem. Since physical and mental health have a great impact on loneliness, middle-aged and elderly people who are blind or visually impaired may be more affected by loneliness. Previous research has confirmed that effective social support can enhance physical and mental health and alleviate the negative effects of life stress. Therefore, in this study, we applied a cross-sectional design where data were collected using questionnaires completed in person, by phone, or online for a total of 456 middle-aged and elderly people with visual impairment. We found that the enrolled participants who were unemployed, lacked a stable source of income, lived alone, or were unable to move independently were prone to experiencing high levels of loneliness and low social support, which highlights the necessity of interventions such as counseling to alleviate the sense of loneliness in such groups. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social support measures to reduce the sense of loneliness should be highly encouraged to ensure that middle-aged and elderly people with visual impairment can continue to live independently, and social support seems to be an important factor.

This study investigated the effects of an 8-week horticultural activity intervention on attitudes toward aging, sense of hope, and hand–eye coordination in 88 older adults in residential care facilities. In the experimental group, the mean score for “attitudes toward aging” increased from 3.81 before the intervention to 4.74 points after the intervention (standard deviation SD = 0.24 and 0.27, respectively), and the control group dropped from 3.75 to 3.70 (standard deviations, respectively SD = 0.27 and 0.28). The mean score for “sense of hope” increased from 3.28 before the intervention to 3.81 points after the intervention (SD = 0.49 and 0.26, respectively). In contrast to the control group, the mean score gradually declined from 3.26 to 3.16 points (standard deviation SD = 0.54 and 0.48, respectively). In the test of hand–eye coordination, the time required to complete the cup stacking test significantly decreased from 33.56 to 25.38 s in the experimental group but did not significantly change in the control group. Generalized estimating equation analysis revealed a significant interaction between group and time (p < 0.001). The data trends revealed significant differences in outcomes between the experimental group and the control group. At 3 months after the end of the study, the effect size in the experimental group remained higher than that in the control group.

No abstract