Background: Hospital organisations based on the level of care intensity have clearly revealed a concept, that of care complexity, which has been widely used for decades in the healthcare field. Despite its wide use, this concept is still poorly defined and it is often confused with and replaced by similar concepts such as care intensity or workload. This study aims to describe the meaning of care complexity as perceived by nurses in their day-to-day experience of hospital clinical care, rehabilitation, home care, and organisation. Design and methods: Fifteen interviews were conducted with nurses belonging to clinical-care areas and to heterogeneous organisational areas. The interview was of an unstructured type. The participants were selected using a propositional methodology. Colaizzi's descriptive phenomenological method was chosen for the analysis of the interviews. Results: The nurses who were interviewed predominantly perceive the definition of care complexity as coinciding with that of workload. Nevertheless, the managerial perspective does not appear to be exclusive, as from the in-depth interviews three fundamental themes emerge that are associated with the concept of care complexity: the patient, the nurse and the organisation. Conclusions: The study highlights that care complexity consists of both quantitative and qualitative aspects that do not refer only to the organisational dimension. The use of the terminology employed today should be reconsidered: it appears to be inappropriate to talk of measurement of care complexity, as this concept also consists of qualitative – thus not entirely quantifiable – aspects referring to the person being cared for. In this sense, reference should instead be made to the evaluation of care complexity, which would also constitute a better and more complete basis for defining the nursing skills required in professional nursing practice.

The main aim is to describe the nursing profession image as it appears in one of the main national newspaper. A retrospective study has been conducted through the analysis of 2017 articles published between 1906 and 2005 on the national newspaper "La Stampa". 11 thematic clusters emerged from the analysis. The articles published with a higher frequency were those concerning "news and chronicle", with a relevant increase after the second half of the '80s, followed by "working conditions" with a maximum spread during the '90s. Instead the articles that rarely appeared on the newspaper were those concerning, "aesthetic" and "contests". More than half of the articles concerning "staff shortage" reported consequent disruptions. Almost all the articles concerning "malpractice" highlighted the inadequate care delivered from nurses and they have been published with constant trend starting from the a '50s. The articles concerning "staff shortage", "innovation", and "education", showed their maximum spread starting from the '90s. The analysis of the articles published in the newspaper "La Stampa" allowed to read the nursing profession story as troubled, made of professional achievements obtained from struggles, claims and countless educational and organizational changes though many of the analyzed articles did not contributed to show, and consequently to appreciate, the nursing profession for its real content and contributions to the population's health.

Introduction: In the field of intensive care, accurate measurement of perspiratio insensibilis, or insensible fluid loss, is crucial for managing fluid and electrolyte balance. While numerous studies have attempted to quantify this loss, the resulting formulas have varied widely. This inconsistency can significantly impact clinical decision-making regarding volume support and diuretic therapy. Aim: This systematic review aims to investigate the available literature regarding the calculation of perspiratio insensibilis in daily water balance assessments in intensive care units (ICUs) and to identify the gold standard for its measurement. Method: A systematic search of scientific databases including PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and Scopus was conducted from December 2023 to January 2024. Studies that involved adult ICU patients (≥ 18 years) and examined fluid balance with and without the inclusion of perspiratio insensibilis were included. Exclusion criteria encompassed pediatric studies, non-ICU settings, and non-research publications. Results: Five prospective observational studies published between 2004 and 2016 met the inclusion criteria, with sample sizes ranging from 15 to 151 patients. All studies primarily aimed to compare fluid-electrolyte balance data with changes in body weight, with only one study excluding perspiratio insensibilis from its calculations. Various formulas for estimating insensible losses were employed, revealing significant variability. Conclusions: While it is clear that perspiratio insensibilis should be included in ICU fluid balance calculations, the most reliable measurement method remains undetermined. Further research is necessary to establish a standardized approach to calculating insensible losses.

Aim of this article is to review the literature about the Progressive Patient Care Model, in particular its conceptual and practical characteristics, its implementation and effects on the current health care organization. Was conducted by an integrative-narrative literature review. The Progressive Patient Care is a model which aims at group patients according to their complexity in order to place patients in the most appropriate care setting. The original model consists on five care levels: intensive care, intermediate care, self-care, long term care, home care.In Italy the above mentioned model can be considered as a contextualization of Progressive Patient Care in the light of similarities both in terms of model purposes and care levels classification. The organization for intensive care levels is an opportunity for Italian healthcare facilities to reach continuity of care. This model emphazises care processes looking to patients' needs rather than a division according to criteria of specialties.