Background/Objectives: Numerous studies have examined nursing students’ academic dishonesty; however, there is still a gap in understanding the predictors of such behavior. This study aimed to identify personal (intrapersonal and interpersonal) and contextual factors predicting nursing students’ dishonesty during clinical training. Methods: A two-phase, prospective, predictive study was conducted at a nursing faculty in Croatia. The validated “Mentor Support Evaluation Questionnaire” was used in the first phase to assess students’ evaluations of the quality of mentor support during clinical training. The validated instruments “Optimism/Pessimism Scale” and “Nursing Student Perceptions of Dishonesty Scale” were used in the second phase to examine self-reported dishonesty and its contributing factors. The second phase also investigated the students’ knowledge of the university’s ethical and disciplinary regulations. Results: Of 398 participants, 195 (48.9%) reported engaging in clinical dishonesty. Hierarchical regression analysis identified critical predictors of frequent clinical dishonesty: lack of fear of consequences (β = −0.072), positive attitudes toward dishonesty (β= −0.081), higher incidence of academic dishonesty in the classroom (β = 0.221), lack of knowledge of the university’s regulations (β = −0.349), and low quality of mentor support (β = −0.430). The final model explained 60.7% of the variance in participants’ clinical dishonesty (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The identified predictors indicate that interpersonal factors, i.e., the quality of mentor support, influence students’ clinical dishonesty more than intrapersonal factors (e.g., attitudes or knowledge). Contextual factors (healthcare employment and study overload) were unrelated to clinical dishonesty. This finding can help develop strategies to reduce nursing students’ dishonesty and improve patient safety.

Background: Clinical Chemistry is the backbone of medical treatment, diagnostics, and prevention. The laboratories are trying to improve the quality and to reduce diagnostic errors and processing time and safeguard traceability of all laboratory procedures to ensure patient safety. Six sigma belongs to statistical quality control and provides a new methodology for measuring and improving process performance in laboratory. Methods: Activities of AST, ALT, CK, LDH, Amy, and gamma-GT were determined by standard kinetic methods on a Vitros 5600 biochemistry analyzer. Two daily quality controls (Verifier I and Verifier II) were run over 60 days. Total percent CV was calculated from routine daily QC. Between-instrument bias was also calculated from daily QC. Results: The calculated sigma metrics for AST were 6.9 and 3.8; for ALT 9.3 and 5.6; for CK 6.6 and 5.3; LDH 5.2 and 5.2; for gamma-GT 4.9 and 2.7; and for amylase 8.7 and 7.1. Analytical performance for AST, ALT, CK, LDH, and Amylase is world class. On the other hand,gamma-GT analytical performance is poor. Conclusions: Six Sigma benefits from earlier quality management approaches that creates new challenges for medical laboratories.

The psychophysical preparation program for pregnant women includes physical exercises and theoretical lectures aimed at preparing the pregnant woman for childbirth and that the benefits far outweigh the risks. Exercise is an essential element of pregnancy, and OB-GYNs and other obstetric care providers should encourage their patients to continue or begin exercise. The aim of this work is to understand the impact of psychophysical preparation of pregnant women on health during and after pregnancy, birth outcomes and postpartum recovery. Twenty scientific research papers/articles including 5517 respondents were reviewed, based on databases: Web of Science, EBSCO, Scopus, Medline, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and others. Works published from 2017-2022 were reviewed. The results of this study show that pregnant women who attended the program of psychophysical preparation for childbirth had a chance to experience childbirth in a more beautiful light, to be prepared, so that they would go to the maternity hospital with less fear, how to use breathing techniques during childbirth, and how to have the easiest and most beautiful childbirth without the use of drugs and interventions. Pregnant women had significantly more positive outcomes of childbirth as well as postpartum recovery and mental health. Psychological support and education have positive outcomes on the mental health of pregnant women because they reduce fear of the unknown and reduce the risk of postpartum depression. Higher rates of intact perineum, reduction of episiotomy and less damage of perineal tears are recorded. The preparation itself significantly affects the outcome of the test subjects’ births, where vaginal births are much more common, and the rate of instrumental methods of birth and caesarean section is reduced. A positive outcome was recorded during postpartum recovery.

Background: The goal of this paper is to explore clinical characteristics and lifestyle habits in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and their association with poor glycemic control. Material and Methods: Total of 541 subjects of over 40 years of age with type 2 diabetes mellitus of both genders were included in the study. Anthropometric measurement, glucose level in plasma, HbA1c, triglycerides, AST, ALT, creatinine and eGFR were collected at the time of study entry and patients were asked to fill out the questionnaire on lifestyle habits. Results: Patients with elevated triglyceride and LDL cholesterol levels, alcohol consumers and smokers were more likely to have poorly controlled glycaemia. Conclusions: Our study showed a significant impact of patient characteristics to poor glycemic control. Physician activities to reduce cholesterol, triglyceride levels and improve lifestyle habits in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus will result in better glycemic control.

Proper nutrition plays an important role in shaping our thinking and behaviour, and influences how food intake affects our emotions. The aim of the work was to assess the dietary habits and mental health of students. The study is a quantitative, cross-sectional research with observational-analytical methods. Students were selected using the convenience sampling method. Out of the total number of participants who participated in the study N=805. More frequent consumption of cakes/biscuits, fresh fruits, salad/raw vegetables, lemonade/soft drinks, meat/sausages and fish/seafood positively correlates with positive mental health. The development of the participants’ sense of coherence directly positively correlates with more frequent consumption of fresh fruit, lemonade/soft drinks and meat/sausages. Participants who consume fresh fruit, salad/raw vegetable, and lemonade/soft drinks less frequently perceive higher levels of stress. Frequent consumption of lemonade/soft drinks is negatively associated with anxiety, and along with meat/sausages, with depressive symptoms. Mental health correlates with the food categories cakes/biscuits, fresh fruit, salad/raw vegetable, lemonade/soft drinks, meat/sausages, fish/seafood, and fast/canned food.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to determine the nitrites and nitrates content in fresh cow’s milk samples from milking machines, and to determine whether their amount is affected by the season of sampling (summer/winter). Methods: The methodology used was analytical transversal method at 2-time points. All milk samples were sampled at milk machines from the City of Zagreb and Zagreb County, during the summer and winter months in 2020. A total of 40 milk samples were sampled, with 20 samples in each monitored period (summer/winter). A high-performance liquid chromatography with a diode array detector was used to identify and quantify concentrations of the nitrate and the nitrite content. The results were processed using descriptive statistics and the statistics of differences. Results: The analysis determined the range of nitrate content from 1.28 mg/kg to 19.71 mg/kg and the range of nitrite content was from 0.49 mg/kg to 3.42 mg/kg in milk samples. The mean result of nitrates in fresh cow’s milk samples in the summer period was 9.12 mg/kg and in the winter period of 3.88 mg/kg. The mean value of nitrite in the summer was 1.23 mg/kg, while the mean value of nitrite in the winter period was 1.48 mg/kg. Conclusion: The research has shown that the nitrate and the nitrite levels in local fresh cow’s milk sampled in milk machines do not exceed the maximum allowable intake. The obtained results confirmed that the amounts of nitrates and nitrites in the milk samples differ significantly during the winter and summer periods and differences are depending on the location of the milk machine.