Nursing Practice Today

Psychometric properties of the smartphone use and distraction questionnaire in Spanish and Portuguese nursing students

Isabel Jesus Oliveira — 2025-12-07

Background & Aim: Smartphone use in nursing education offers both learning benefits and risks of distraction, influenced by cultural and institutional norms. The Nursing Students’ Smartphone Use and Distraction Questionnaire, originally developed in Spanish but never psychometrically validated, was formally validated among Spanish nursing students and simultaneously translated, culturally adapted, and validated for Portuguese nursing students.
Methods & Materials: A psychometric study was conducted among 543 Portuguese and 480 Spanish nursing students enrolled in their second year or higher. The questionnaire was translated and culturally adapted into Portuguese following International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research guidelines. Psychometric evaluation included exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure, Bartlett’s test of sphericity, and internal consistency analysis using Cronbach’s alpha, conducted with IBM SPSS Statistics version 29.
Results: The analysis extracted 26 items across six factors: Clinical Practice Use, Regulatory Policy, Unprofessional Personal Use, Observed Unprofessional Use, Student’s Distraction, and Ethics, explaining 57.8% of the variance in Portugal and 61.8% in Spain. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin values were 0.747 and 0.818, with Bartlett’s test significant in both samples (p < 0.001). Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the total scale were 0.717 (Portugal) and 0.740 (Spain), with subscale values ranging from moderate to good reliability.
Conclusion: The Smartphone Use and Distraction Questionnaire showed valid structural properties and acceptable reliability in two distinct cultural settings. Its adaptability supports use across health professions and diverse countries and cultures, informing evidence-based policies that promote professional smartphone use and reduce distraction in clinical education.

Mapping the use of artificial intelligence for skin injury assessment and care in hospitalized patients: A scoping review

Angelo Antonio Paulino Martins Zanetti — 2025-12-02

Background & Aim: Skin injuries are frequent hospital complications, and the role of artificial intelligence in management remains unclear. This review aimed to identify, map, and analyze the evidence on the use of artificial intelligence in the assessment, monitoring, and management of skin injuries in hospitalized patients worldwide.
Methods & Materials: A scoping review was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute guidance and the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Searches were carried out in Embase, PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, SciELO, BVS, LILACS, and the CAPES thesis and dissertation catalog. Eligible sources included primary studies, technical notes, dissertations, and theses. All references were organized in EndNote Web and transferred to Rayyan to support duplicate removal and facilitate screening by reviewers.
Results: The search resulted in the identification of 1,240 studies, of which eight were included and published in English. Most studies are technological development studies with samples ranging from 10 to 5,729 images or participants. Studies have shown that artificial intelligence techniques applied to pressure injuries, including Convolutional Neural Networks, Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, and Extreme Gradient Boosting, improve detection, measurement, classification, risk prediction, and clinical decision support, potentially reducing workload and enhancing care safety.
Conclusion: The application of artificial intelligence in the domain of skin injuries revealed a variety of uses. However, it was predominantly focused on the specific context of pressure injuries in hospitalized individuals. Consequently, a noticeable gap in the literature was identified regarding alternative categories of injuries affecting this population segment.

High-performance team assessment instruments: A scoping review

Tânia Dionísia Ferreira Oliveira — 2025-11-25

Background & Aim: Assessing team performance is crucial in developing effective management strategies within healthcare. Therefore, identifying reliable tools that accurately measure team competencies is essential. This study aims to review the existing evidence on valid instruments to evaluate high-performance teams in healthcare.
Methods & Materials: A scoping review was conducted according to the methodology proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. The study was based on the PCC framework (Population, Concept, and Context), concentrating on healthcare teams (population), tools for evaluating high-performance teams (concept), and all areas of professional practice (context). The literature search included databases such as CINAHL Complete (EBSCO), LILACS (BVS), MEDLINE Complete (PubMed), PsycINFO (EBSCO), and Scopus. Grey literature was searched on WorldCat and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. Study selection took place in two stages: an initial screening of titles and abstracts to identify relevant studies, followed by a full-text review of the selected articles.
Results: Initially identified 1,104 articles and selected six for inclusion in this review. Four instruments were recognized for assessing high-performance teams in healthcare: the Mayo High Performance Teamwork Scale, the Ottawa Crisis Resource Management Global Rating Scale, the Trust, and the Team Performance Observation Tool.
Conclusion: The primary contribution of this study was the identification of tools that provide constructive feedback to facilitate the ongoing development of high-performance teams. The implementation of systematic, evidence-based strategies supported by these evaluation tools fosters a data-driven approach to clinical decision-making and enhances the overall quality of care.

Nursing as a transformative action

Younas Masih — 2025-11-25

In the current times, there is an increasing need to recognize the impact of social and structural factors impacting health care and care experiences of individuals. Increased structural vulnerabilities (e.g., structural stigma and discrimination) among individuals from underserved populations result in inequalities. The term health inequalities broadly refers to health differences and social structures, including health-damaging behaviors and unjust health conditions among underserved populations.

Predicting factors of complicated grief in Iranians after COVID-19 losses: A descriptive–correlational study

Azam Eshaghian Dorcheh — 2025-11-25

Background & Aim: Understanding the predicting factors that influence complicated grief (CG) among Iranians after COVID-19 losses is critical for developing targeted support and intervention strategies. The purpose of this research was to examine the predictors of complicated grief (CG) among Iranians who had lost a family member during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Materials & Methods: This descriptive–correlational study was undertaken between December 2022 and August 2023. A total of 150 relatives of COVID-19 victims were recruited using convenience sampling, in accordance with the study’s inclusion criteria. Data collection employed the Burdened by Grief and Loss questionnaire, the Inventory of Complicated Grief, the WHO-5 Well-being Index, and a measure of pandemic-related burden. Relationships between variables were analyzed via chi-square tests, Fisher's exact test, and multiple logistic regression. Data analysis was performed using SPSS v. 26 software.
Results: The likelihood of developing CG among women compared to men was 3.77 times higher (p<0.001, OR=3.77 (1.39, 10.27)), and the chance of CG in close family members compared to distant relatives was 4.55 times higher (p<0.001, OR=4.55 (1.73, 11.92)). An increase in psychological well-being score significantly lowered the likelihood of CG in bereaved companions (p<0.001, OR= 0.86 (0.80, 0.92)); however, an increase in being burdened by grief and loss scale significantly augmented the likelihood of CG in bereaved companions (p<0.001, OR=1.11(1.06, 1.16)). However, an increase in the Burdened by Grief and Loss score significantly increased the likelihood of complicated grief in bereaved companions (p<0.001, OR=1.11(1.06, 1.16)). The prevalence of CG in Iranian people who have lost their family members because of COVID-19 was higher compared to similar studies.
Conclusion: According to the results, female gender, close kinship with the deceased, and heavier psychological burden of loss elevated the likelihood of CG, while stronger mental health appeared to buffer against it. Given the key role of nurses in bereavement care and referral, there is a need for structured, supportive interventions and psychological services, ideally provided through clinical guidelines or service packages tailored for vulnerable groups.