Article 1
Mogre, Ansah, Marfo, and Garti’s Assessing nurses’ knowledge levels in the nutritional management of diabetes (2015) is a cross-sectional study aiming to evaluate the degree and types of hospitalizations among prediabetics, undiagnosed diabetics, and diagnosed diabetics. The research was based on the background problem, which was that a few studies that included nutrition as a component of the knowledge questionnaire, hence, inadequately examined nurses’ knowledge in the nutritional management of diabetes. The lottery method was used to select three out of four hospitals located in Tamale, Ghana. It excluded student nurses and nurses without a license. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Tamale, Ghana. Furthermore, questionnaires were given to nurses that consented and voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. The questionnaire consisted of two sections evaluating the demographic characteristics and nutritional management of diabetes knowledge test. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation and student t-test were used to examine achieved knowledge scores and compare means. The Cronbach’s alpha test indicated that the reliability and internal consistency of the questionnaire were at 0.62.
A mean knowledge score of 44% suggests that the nurses’ knowledge on the nutritional management of diabetes was poor. Comparing the findings with other studies suggests that nurses’ knowledge of basic meal planning and daily macronutrient requirements for people with diabetes is deficient. Nonetheless, their knowledge regarding general concepts of diabetes, such as the relationship between diabetes and hypertension, and obesity, was commendable. The study concluded that nurses’ knowledge in the nutritional management of diabetes was poor. Thus, there is a need to revise the curricula and embrace continuing education through workshops. All in-text citations appeared in the references. Overall, the researchers presented information clearly and concisely; nonetheless, the lack of detailing the strengths and limitations of the study interferes with the strength of the study.
Article 2
Despotovic et al.’s Hospital-acquired infections in the adult intensive care unit -Epidemiology, antimicrobial resistance patterns, and risk factors for acquisition and mortality (2020), is a quantitative study utilizing a retrospective study design. The study aimed to evaluate hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in an adult intensive care unit and identify the risk factors to infection and associated mortality. The rationality behind the study was that no studies evaluating the overall epidemiology and risk factors of HAIs in Serbia had been performed. The research comprised 355 patients hospitalized for over two years. Data was obtained from patient medical records, and they constituted patient characteristics, antimicrobial resistance patterns, and predisposing factors to acquisition and predictors of mortality. Approval was obtained from the Ethics committee of the Clinical Centre of Serbia. All data that were included in the analysis had been previously anonymized.
Descriptive statistics, including the mean, standard deviation, median, and interquartile range was used to represent data. Additionally, the researchers performed univariate and multivariate analyses to determine the potential predisposing factors and predictors of HAI mortality. The results indicated that HAIs were prevalent in 32.7% of patients, and the condition exhibited an over 50% resistance rate with all antimicrobials except for linezolid (0%), colistin (9%), and tigecycline (14%). Risk factors of the acquisition were the use of invasive devices, such as urinary catheters and nasogastric tubes, and CNS infections. In regards to mortality, intubation and diabetes mellitus increased mortality.
The study outlined several potential limitations, which mainly revolved around the use of the retrospective study design. Overall, the study was clearly and concisely documented. Moreover, the authors used current sources, hence, strengthening the integration of the findings in this study in clinical practice. Nevertheless, the researchers failed to determine or justify the reliability and validity of their findings, therefore, this adversely impacts its quality.
Article 3
Alshammari et al.’s article on Falls among the elderly and its relation with their health problems and surrounding environmental factors in Riyadh aimed to estimate the prevalence of falls among the elderly and determine contributing factors. The study used a cross-sectional design, which is a type of quantitative study. The Institutional Review Board approved the study protocol at King Saud University (College of Medicine). Furthermore, informed consent and voluntary participation was required from the participants. Data was collected from 357 participants, constituting elderly individuals over the age of 60, residing in Riyadh. The “Morse Fall Scale” and the Missouri Alliance for Home Care (MAHC-10) fall risk assessment tool was used to collect data. The questionnaires evaluated the participant’s fall history, whether a secondary diagnosis had been obtained, and whether ambulatory aids or IV connection had been filled during convalescence. The authors did not measure the internal validity and reliability of the instruments used; nevertheless, they performed a pilot study.
The results indicated that 5.7% of the participants had a history of falls. Furthermore, there was a correlation between the number of falls, the age, sex of participants, conditions of impaired health, and exposure to environmental hazards. In conclusion, the study suggested that falls among the elderly are relatively common. Thus implicated the need to design and develop health awareness programs. The authors also listed the potential limitations of the study and made recommendations for future studies. Generally, the study was well-presented, and most references used were current. Therefore, this insinuates the applicability of its findings on clinical practice.
References
Alshammari, S. A., Alhassan, A. M., Aldawsari, M. A., Bazuhair, F. O., Alotaibi, F. K., Aldakhil, A. A., & Abdulfattah, F. W. (2018). Falls among elderly and its relation with their health problems and surrounding environmental factors in Riyadh. Journal of family & community medicine, 25(1), 29-34. Web.
Despotovic, A., Milosevic, B., Milosevic, I., Mitrovic, N., Cirkovic, A., Jovanovic, S., Stevanovic, G. (2020). Hospital-acquired infections in the adult intensive care unit -Epidemiology, antimicrobial resistance patterns, and risk factors for acquisition and mortality. American Journal of Infection Control, 48(10), 1211-1215. Web.
Mogre, V., Ansah, G., Marfo, D., & Garti, H. (2015). Assessing nurses’ knowledge levels in the nutritional management of diabetes. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 3, 40-43. Web.