Ting Chen

This study investigated the current status of palliative care needs among maintenance hemodialysis individuals and their correlation with spiritual well-being. In this cross-sectional study, 363 maintenance hemodialysis individuals at five hospital hemodialysis centers in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, were surveyed using the General Information Questionnaire, the Disease-Related Information Questionnaire, the Palliative Care Outcome Scale (POS), and the Assessment of Chronic Disease Therapeutic Function-Mental Health Scale (FACIT-Sp-12). While the FACIT-Sp-12 scale has certain limitations—particularly that its “peace” and “meaning” subscales predominantly reflect mental health rather than spiritual well-being, with only the “faith” subscale truly measuring spiritual well-being (thus requiring cautious interpretation)—it has demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity in Chinese patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. Hemodialysis individuals exhibited a moderate level of palliative care needs, and these needs were negatively correlated with their spiritual well-being. The dimensions of peace and faith in the FACIT-Sp-12 were part of the predictors of palliative care needs. Clinical healthcare professionals can enhance the spiritual well-being of individuals undergoing MHD by promoting inner peace and firm faith within them, reduce the need for palliative care, improve the quality of nursing services, and ultimately improve overall quality of life.

Summary: Background: To investigate the impact of goggles on their health and clinical practice during management of patients with COVID-19. Methods: 231 nurse practitioners were enrolled who worked in isolation region in designated hospitals to admit patients with COVID-19 in China. Demographic data, goggle-associated symptoms and underlying reasons, incidence of medical errors or exposures, the effects of fog in goggles on practice were all collected. Data were stratified and analyzed by age or working experience. Risk factors of goggle-associated medical errors were analyzed by multivariable logistical regression analysis. Findings: Goggle-associated symptoms and foggy goggles widely presented in nurses. The most common symptoms were headache, skin pressure injury and dizziness. Headache, vomit and nausea were significantly fewer reported in nurses with longer working experience while rash occurred higher in this group. The underlying reasons included tightness of goggles, unsuitable design and uncomfortable materials. The working status of nurses with more working experience was less impacted by goggles. 11.3% nurses occurred medical exposures in clinical practice while 19.5% nurses made medical errors on patients. The risk factors for medical errors were time interval before adapting to goggle-associated discomforts, adjusting goggles and headache. Interpretation: Goggle-associated symptoms and fog can highly impact the working status and contribute to medical errors during management of COVID-19. Increased the experience with working in PPE through adequate training and psychological education may benefit for relieving some symptoms and improving working status. Improvement of goggle design during productive process was strongly suggested to reduce incidence of discomforts and medical errors.