The personal demands involved in caring for a chronically ill person can lead to emotional and physical exhaustion in caregivers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an online nursing intervention called “dialogue circles” designed to reduce caregiver overload and enhance positive mental health (PMH) in family caregivers. We used a pre-post design. The sample consisted of 86 family caregivers of patients with complex chronic conditions, randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 43) or the control group (n = 43). All participants completed the Zarit scale and the Positive Mental Health Questionnaire 15 days before starting the intervention and 30 days after its completion. Comparison of the post-test changes revealed statistically significant differences between the two groups in PMH and overload, with the intervention group showing greater positive changes in all dimensions of PMH after the intervention and lower scores on overload. In conclusion, the results suggest that incorporating dialogue circles as an online nursing intervention in the caregivers of patients with complex chronic conditions can enhance PMH and decrease caregiver overload, especially in settings where face-to-face encounters are not possible.

Introduction: Vascular access remains one of the most important challenges in all dialysis units due to the complications associated with its use and its significant impact most used types of vascular access are native arteriovenous fistula, graft or prosthetic arteriovenous fistula, and central venous catheter.Objective: To analyze and evaluate the current situation and incidence of complications related to different vascular accesses in hemodialysis.Methodology: A systematic review was conducted using the PubMed, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and SciELO databases. All original articles published within the last 5 years that aimed to analyze the prevalence or incidence of complications related to any vascular access in hemodialysis in the adult population were included.Results: A total of 15 articles were included for analysis. Among them, 14 were observational studies, and one was a multicenter clinical trial. Demographic data of the patients, the prevalence of complications across all vascular accesses, and the incidence of complications for native fistula/prosthetic fistula/central venous catheter were analyzed.Conclusions: Native arteriovenous fistula is the preferred vascular access due to its very low complication rates. Among the complications, thrombosis has the highest incidence. The use of central venous catheters is still common, despite having higher rates of complications such as infections and bacteremia, occurring in 10%-17% of the patients.

The exponential increase in the number of people suffering chronic illness has become a problem for which healthcare services need a response. The inclusion of self-care and positive mental health as part of a strategy to promote health offers an opportunity for a reorganization oriented towards community spaces and group interventions. This study undertook the assessment of an intervention designed to optimize the agency of and capacity for self-care and positive mental health by utilizing activities drawn from the Nursing Intervention Classification (NIC), specifically from Field 3 (Behavioral), and organized as a program called PIPsE. A quasi-experimental design was prepared with an intervention group (n = 22) and a control group (n = 22), in a primary care center in the Barcelona metropolitan area. The instruments used were two ad hoc questionnaires to collect sociodemographic and satisfaction information and two scales: the Appraisal of Self-care Agency Scale (ASA) and the Positive Mental Health Questionnaire (PMHQ). The results obtained showed a significant increase in self-care capacity and both overall positive mental health and mental health by factors in the intervention group.

Background: Informal caregivers are usually family members, which lead to dependence of the patient on the caregiver. This may result in disturbances to the caregivers' quality of life. Address the negative effects of informal caregiving, several types of interventions have been reported to be effective in reducing medical visits by both informal caregivers and the patients in their careAim: Examine the effectiveness of existing nursing interventions designed to reduce the overload of the informal caregiver of people with chronic illness.Methodology:Design: Systematic reviewData Sources: Databases including Pubmed (MEDLINE), Embase, The Cochrane Library and CINAHL were searched using keywords about nursing interventions in family caregivers. Articles published between 2014-2019 were retrieved and underwent data analysis and knowledge synthesis.Review method: Two reviewers independently selected studies. Quality appraisal was based on PRISMA statements appraisal checklist. Synthesis was narrative.Results: Ninety-five studies were examined in their entirety, with seventy-seven being discarded as not providing results or not related to reducing overload. The final count of articles included in this review was eighteen which were all randomised clinical trials. Seven were categorized as technology-based interventions; two as self-help manuals; one as a physical activity-based intervention; and eight as group or individual psychoeducational therapy.Conclusions: Analysis of the different studies shows effectiveness in reducing symptoms such as stress, anxiety, depression or even unmet needs. The interventions that were found to be most effective in reducing caregiver overload were home care visits and psychoeducational interventions, both individual and group. Introducción: Los cuidadores informales suelen ser miembros de la familia de un paciente, que conducen a la dependencia del paciente del cuidador. Esto puede resultar en perturbaciones en la calidad de vida de los cuidadores. Para abordar los efectos negativos de la atención informal, existen varios tipos de intervenciones eficaces para reducir las visitas médicas tanto de los cuidadores informales como de los pacientes a su cargo.Objetivo: Examinar la eficacia de las intervenciones de enfermería existentes diseñadas para reducir la sobrecarga del cuidador informal de personas con enfermedad crónica.Metodología:Diseño: Revisión sistemática.Fuentes de datos: Bases de datos como Pubmed (MEDLINE), Embase, The Cochrane Library y CINAHL fueron buscadas usando palabras clave sobre intervenciones de enfermería en cuidadores familiares. Los artículos publicados entre 2014-2019 fueron recuperados y sometidos a análisis de datos y síntesis de conocimientos Método de revisión: Dos revisores seleccionados de forma independiente. La evaluación de la calidad se basó en la lista de verificación de evaluación de declaraciones prisma. La síntesis es narrativa.Resultados: Noventa y cinco estudios fueron examinados en su totalidad, y setenta y siete fueron descartados por no proporcionar resultados adecuados. El recuento final de artículos incluidos en esta revisión fue de dieciocho que fueron todos ensayos clínicos aleatorizados.Conclusiones: El análisis de los diferentes estudios muestra eficacia en la reducción de síntomas como estrés, ansiedad, depresión o incluso necesidades insatisfechas. Las intervenciones más eficaces para reducir la carga del cuidador fueron las visitas domiciliarias y las intervenciones psicoeducacionales, tanto individuales como grupales.

Nutrition therapy in critically ill patients with liver disease represents a challenge for Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Nutritional status is correlated with the degree of hepatic dysfunction and the presence of malnutrition worsens outcomes in these patients. The nutritional risk that critically ill patients represent, together with the pathophysiological alterations of liver disease, especially in terms of nutrition intake and protein depletion, leads to malnutrition and sarcopenia. Nutrition therapy improves the survival of these patients; however, this is challenging since they more frequently experience difficulties with nutrition delivery. In consequence, both evaluation of nutritional status and an individualized approach seem mandatory for achieving nutrition objectives. The present narrative review discusses the importance of nutrition therapy, the recommendations of contemporary clinical practice guidelines, and a practical approach to provide the best possible nutrition therapy in patients with liver disease admitted to ICUs.