Dr.Nakka Surya Teja

https://doi.org/10.64823/ijmhs.2601003

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, necessitating precise diagnostic interventions. Ambulatory electrocardiography, specifically Holter monitoring, serves as a cornerstone for detecting transient cardiac arrhythmias, silent myocardial ischemia, and evaluating anti-arrhythmic therapies over prolonged periods. Staff nurses and nursing students are directly responsible for patient preparation, device initialization, lead placement, and patient education. Inadequate proficiency in managing these systems frequently compromises data validity, introducing artifacts and reducing patient compliance. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the baseline knowledge levels regarding the importance, technical application, troubleshooting, and patient instruction requirements of Holter monitoring systems among staff nurses and final-year nursing students. A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional design was executed. A sample of 150 participants was recruited via purposive sampling, evenly split between registered staff nurses (n = 75) working in critical/cardiac care areas and final-year nursing students (n = 75) from a selected tertiary care hospital and affiliated nursing college in Bengaluru, India. Data were collected using a validated 25-item Structured Knowledge Questionnaire covering key domains of Holter monitoring. Analysis was conducted via descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 26.0. The overall findings indicated that 48% of the total participants possessed moderate knowledge, 34% had inadequate knowledge, and only 18% demonstrated adequate knowledge. Staff nurses exhibited a significantly higher mean knowledge score of 16.4 (SD 3.2) compared to nursing students who scored 11.8 (SD 2.9), validated by an independent t-test (95% CI [3.62, 5.58]; t = 9.21, df = 148, p < 0.001). Notable systemic knowledge deficits were observed in both groups regarding skin preparation, artifact troubleshooting, and patient diary documentation rules. While clinical exposure provides staff nurses with an advantage, a profound deficit in comprehensive knowledge persists across both cohorts. Integrating dedicated ambulatory telemetry modules into nursing curricula and mandatory clinical workshops for staff is critical to optimizing diagnostic accuracy in cardiovascular care.

https://doi.org/10.64823/ijter.2604017

Background: Stress among elderly populations is a growing concern, particularly in rural communities where healthcare access is limited. Relaxation techniques are recognized as effective non-pharmacological interventions to reduce stress. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted among 60 elderly individuals in rural Guntur district. Structured teaching programmes on relaxation techniques were delivered, and stress levels were assessed using pre-test and post-test measures. Results: Pre-test findings showed 75% of participants had inadequate knowledge of relaxation techniques. Post-test results revealed significant improvement, with 91.7% demonstrating adequate knowledge. Mean stress scores improved from 9.62 (SD=4.65) to 26.30 (SD=2.96). Conclusion: Structured teaching programmes significantly enhanced knowledge and reduced stress among elderly participants. This approach is practical, cost-effective, and suitable for community health nursing interventions.

Existential distress is a pervasive yet frequently overlooked form of psychological suffering among newly diagnosed lung cancer patients, severely undermining their quality of life and treatment adherence. In high-volume public tertiary centers like the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology (KMIO) in Bangalore, dedicated psychiatric resources are often overextended, necessitating scalable, integrated psychosocial models. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a brief, 4-week nurse-delivered Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention (CBI) in reducing existential distress. A parallel-group randomized controlled trial was conducted with 240 newly diagnosed lung cancer patients assigned to either the nurse-led CBI group (n = 120) or a standard care control group (n = 120). The intervention consisted of four structured 15-minute sessions targeting cognitive reframing, emotional validation, and behavioral activation integrated into routine clinical workflows. Outcomes were measured using the validated Demoralization Scale-II (DS-II). A total of 218 participants completed the 4-week protocol (n = 110 intervention; n = 108 control). Post-intervention assessments at Week 4 demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in mean existential distress scores within the intervention group (Mean = 11.42, SD = 3.15) compared to the control group (Mean = 18.65, SD = 4.22; t(216) = -14.33, p < 0.001). The findings indicate that equipping oncology nurses with brief CBI protocols provides a highly scalable, clinically effective framework to mitigate existential suffering and optimize holistic care within busy public oncology settings.