Development and psychometric testing of the gender misconceptions of men in nursing (GEMINI) scale among nursing students

BACKGROUND

Misconceptions about men in nursing may influence recruitment and retention, further perpetuating the gender diversity imbalance in the nursing workforce. Identifying misconceptions and implementing early intervention strategies to address these deep-rooted stereotypes remain challenging but is considered critical to support students who are commencing a nursing career.

OBJECTIVE

To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the 'Gender Misconceptions of meN in nursIng (GEMINI) Scale.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey.

METHODS

Pre-registration nursing students enrolled in undergraduate nursing programs across 16 nursing institutions in Australia were surveyed from July to September 2021. The 17-item self-report GEMINI Scale measured the gender misconceptions of men in nursing.

RESULTS

Of the 1410 completed surveys, data from 683 (45%) women were used for exploratory factor analysis showing a one factor structure, while data from 727 men (47%) were used for confirmatory factor analysis of the 17-item GEMINI Scale, which showed a good model fit. The scale demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha of 0.892). Men were found to have higher gender misconceptions (p < 0.001) while respondents who: a) identified nursing as their first career choice (p = 0.002); b) were in their final year of program enrolment (p = 0.016); and c) engaged in health-related paid work (p = 0.002) had lower gender misconceptions.

CONCLUSION

The GEMINI Scale is a robust, valid, reliable, and easy to administer tool to assess misconceptions about men in nursing, which may potentially influence academic performance and retention. Identifying and addressing specific elements of misconceptions could inform targeted strategies to support retention and decrease attrition among these students.

IMPACT STATEMENT

Genderism harms nursing, as well as the men and women working in the profession. Recruitment and retention of men into nursing is needed to cultivate male role models and diversify the workforce, however this is impeded by negative portrayals in popular culture and misconceptions entrenched in society.

Abstract P4-11-14: Pulsed Reduced Dose-Rate Radiotherapy: A Re-Irradiation Strategy for Breast Cancer Patients with Brain and Spinal Cord Metastasis

Background: Radiotherapy delivered at reduced dose-rates has the potential to preferentially reduce normal tissue toxicity, while still yielding almost identical tumor cell kill due to the superior repair capacity of late responding normal tissue. In conventional radiotherapy a 2 Gy dose is delivered at a dose-rate of 4-6Gy/min. A reduced dose-rate can be obtained by dividing a standard treatment fraction into a number of sub-fractions delivered in a pulsed manner separated by a fixed time interval. This increases the overall treatment time, allowing normal tissue repair during these sessions. Radiobiological modeling shows that a 2 Gy fraction can be delivered in a series of 0.2 Gy pulses separated by 3-minute intervals, creating an effective dose-rate of 0.0667 Gy/min. We have termed this re-irradiation technique pulsed reduced dose-rate radiotherapy (PRDR).* Methods: Between November 2000 and April 2010, 21 previously irradiated and heavily pretreated patients (pts) with progressive metastatic breast cancer were re-irradiated with PRDR to the whole brain (WB) (15) or spinal cord (SC) (6). The mean prior RT dose to the whole brain was 34.5 Gy (range 30-40 Gy) and the spinal cord was 39.9 Gy (range 30-50 Gy). A mean PRDR dose to the WB of 27.8 Gy (range 18-36 Gy) and SC of 31.3 Gy (range 28-40 Gy) was delivered in 1.8 or 2.0 Gy per fraction. Results: Mean overall survival (OS) of pts treated to the WB was 5.9 months (M) (range 0.5-21.3 M) and for pts treated to the SC was 18.9 M (range 5.6-43 M); 2 pts remain alive as of this report. Treatment was well tolerated: no grade 4 or 5 acute toxicities or grade 3 or 4 late toxicities were observed. Despite a mean cumulative dose of 64.9 Gy (range 54-80 Gy), there was no clinical or radiographic evidence of radionecrosis and/or neurological sequela. There appeared to be a correlation between KPS and OS. Conclusions: PRDR is a well-tolerated and effective radio-therapeutic method for the treatment of breast cancer patients with progressive metastatic CNS disease that have received prior radiotherapy.

* Reirradiation of Large-Volume Recurrent Glioma with Pulsed Reduced-

Dose-Rate Radiotherapy. Adkison JB, Tome W, Seo S, Richards GM,

Robins HI, Rassmussen K, Welsh JS, Mahler PA, Howard SP.

Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2010 May 14. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:

20472350

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2010;70(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-11-14.

Survival and growth of Enterobacter sakazakii in infant rice cereal reconstituted with water, milk, liquid infant formula, or apple juice

AIMS

To determine survival and growth characteristics of Enterobacter sakazakii in infant rice cereal as affected by type of liquid used for reconstitution and storage temperature after reconstitution.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A commercially manufactured dry infant rice cereal was reconstituted with water, apple juice, milk, or liquid infant formula, inoculated with a 10-strain mixture of E. sakazakii at populations of 0.27, 0.93, and 9.3 CFU ml(-1), and incubated at 4, 12, 21 or 30 degrees C for up to 72 h. Growth did not occur in cereal reconstituted with apple juice, regardless of storage temperature, or in cereal reconstituted with water, milk, or formula and stored at 4 degrees C. The lag time for growth in cereal reconstituted with water, milk, or formula was decreased as the incubation temperature (12, 21 and 30 degrees C) was increased. Upon reaching maximum populations of 7-8 log10 CFU ml(-1), in some instances populations decreased to nondetectable levels during subsequent storage which was concurrent with decreases in pH.

CONCLUSIONS

Enterobacter sakazakii initially at very low populations can rapidly grow in infant rice cereal reconstituted with water, milk, or infant formula.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

Reconstituted infant rice cereal can support luxuriant growth of E. sakazakii. Reconstituted cereal that is not immediately consumed should be discarded or stored at a temperature at which E. sakazakii and other food-borne pathogens cannot grow.

Topical agents used in the management of hyperpigmentation

Disorders of hyperpigmentation are difficult to treat, particularly in dark-skinned individuals. The goal is to reduce the hyperpigmentation without causing undesirable hypopigmentation or irritation in the surrounding normally pigmented skin. The psychosocial impact caused by these disorders must be considered. Although there are many effective therapeutic modalities available, there are potentially significant side-effects associated with treatment. The most commonly used treatment is topical hydroquinone. There are other phenolic agents, such as N-acetyl-4-cystaminylphenol (NCAP), that are currently being studied and developed. The non-phenolic agents, which include tretinoin, adapalene, topical corticosteroids, azelaic acid, arbutin, kojic acid, and licorice extract, are also used for hyperpigmentation disorders.

Glomerular vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression in renal vasculitis

AIMS

To study the expression of cell adhesion molecules in the renal biopsy specimens of patients with systemic vasculitis and Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP); to correlate this with the severity of glomerular inflammation.

METHODS

Renal biopsy specimens obtained from eight patients with untreated systemic vasculitis (four with Wegener's granulomatosis and four with microscopic polyarteritis), eight with HSP and nine controls (four with normal histopathology and five with thin glomerular basement membrane disease) were stained using the alkaline phosphatase anti-alkaline phosphatase method with monoclonal antibodies directed against intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and E-selectin.

RESULTS

Biopsy specimens of normal kidneys expressed ICAM-1 in glomerular endocapillary cells, Bowman's capsule epithelium, interstitial cells and interstitial vascular endothelium, and VCAM-1 in Bowman's capsule epithelium, proximal tubular epithelium and interstitial vascular endothelium. No staining with antibody directed against E-selectin was seen in any of the biopsy specimens. Biopsy specimens of patients with a vasculitic glomerulonephritis (segmental necrotising glomerulonephritis) expressed VCAM-1 in glomerular endocapillary cells (four of eight patients with systemic vasculitis; two of eight patients with HSP). In patients with a systemic vasculitis glomerular VCAM-1 expression was associated with a more severe renal lesoin (44, 50, 60, and 65% of glomeruli involved) than in those not showing glomerular VCAM-1 expression (3, 3, 11, and 39% of glomeruli involved).

CONCLUSION

Expression of VCAM-1 by glomerular endocapillary cells in renal biopsy specimens raises the possibility that recruitment of VLA-4 bearing leucocytes may contribute to glomerular injury in Wegener's granulomatosis and microscopic polyarteritis.

Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) expression and function on cultured human glomerular epithelial cells

Glomerular epithelial cells are involved in extracapillary inflammation (crescents) but the mechanisms of this extracapillary accumulation of macrophages, epithelial cells and occasional lymphocytes are unknown. Human glomerular parietal epithelial cells express ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 on immunohistological stains of renal biopsies. We studied the expression of these cell adhesion molecules on cultured human glomerular epithelial cells (HGEC), their regulation by pro-inflammatory cytokines, and their role in mediating the adhesion of concanavalin A (Con A)-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Human glomerular epithelial cells in culture constitutively express ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. The expression of ICAM-1 was not significantly altered by tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) (P = 0.32), IL-1 beta (P = 0.24), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) (P = 0.66) or IL-4 (P = 0.85). VCAM-1 expression was increased by all four cytokines, but only significantly so by IL-4 (P = 0.0001). Con A-stimulated, monocyte-depleted peripheral blood lymphocytes bound to human glomerular epithelial cells, median 28.9% (range 14.5-37.9%). This adherence was significantly inhibited by anti-ICAM-1 (P = 0.03) and anti-LFA-1 (P = 0.02), but not by anti-VCAM-1 (P = 0.13) or by antibody to von Willebrand factor (P = NS). The interaction between ICAM-1 on HGEC and LFA-1 on mononuclear cells may be important in the pathogenesis of extracapillary inflammation in glomerulonephritis.