The journal of nursing research : JNR
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Studies worldwide have shown that most patients with cancer prefer to die at home. Few studies have directly explored the determinants of preference for home death in patients with cancer living in Asia, and none has been conducted in Taiwan. ⋯ This study supports the argument that most terminally ill patients with cancer in Taiwan prefer to die at home. To achieve patient preferences for home death, healthcare professionals should provide prognostic information and initiate end-of-life care discussions among patients and their family to facilitate family understanding of their ill relative's place-of-death preference. Developing clinical interventions to alleviate physical symptoms and providing hospice homecare services for terminally ill patients with cancer, especially those with lung cancer and greater functional dependency, may facilitate a preference for and actualization of home death.
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Adequate nursing workforce is critical to ensure patient safety and reduce the incidence of adverse events. ⋯ Study results may provide a basis for better allocating nursing workforce in hospitals, setting formal standards for minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, and assessing nursing workforce needs at the national level.
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The 20-item Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) scale is widely used to measure diabetes-related emotional distress. The short-form PAID scale is helpful for the rapid screening of diabetes-related emotional distress in clinical settings. ⋯ The SF-PAID-C is a reliable and valid scale that can be used to screen for diabetes-related emotional problem in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in clinical settings.
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Nurses affect patient safety. Although studies have associated patient safety with nurse staffing levels, Taiwan's Department of Health does not yet support changing nurse workforce standards for medical institutions. ⋯ Nurse workforce and nurse-sensitive patient outcome indicators are positively correlated. The results of this study will help professional nursing groups define suitable nursing workforce standards for medical institutions.
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: The U.K. Department of Health recently proposed an international dementia strategy to enhance the quality of dementia care in acute hospital care settings. To implement such a strategy, it is necessary to first assess whether nurses have the knowledge and person-centered approach essential to enhancing hospital-based dementia care quality. ⋯ : Most participants had accurate dementia care knowledge and tended to use a reality-oriented approach. Nurse competency in differentiating delirium from dementia should be enhanced. This study provided initial insight into the dementia care situation at a single hospital in southern Taiwan. Future studies should further explore the relationship between dementia care quality and hospital nurses' knowledge and approaches, respectively.