This study aimed to determine the effect of a single bout of resistance exercise at different intensities on the mobilization of circulating EPCs over 24 hours in women. In addition, the angiogenic factors stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α) and erythropoietin (EPO) were measured as potential mechanisms for exercise-induced EPCs mobilization. Thirty-eight women performed a resistance exercise session at an intensity of 60% (n = 13), 70% (n = 12) or 80% (n = 13) of one repetition maximum. Each session was comprised of three sets of 12 repetitions of four exercises: bench press, dumbbell curl, dumbbell squat, and standing dumbbell upright row. Blood was sampled at baseline and immediately, 6 hours, and 24 hours post-exercise. Circulating EPC and levels of VEGF, HIF-1α and EPO were significantly higher after exercise (P < 0.05). The change in EPCs from baseline was greatest in the 80% group (P < 0.05), reaching the highest at 6 hours post-exercise. The change in EPCs from baseline to 6 hours post-exercise was correlated with the change in VEGF (r = 0.492, P = 0.002) and HIF-1α (r = 0.388, P = 0.016). In general, a dose-response relationship was observed, with the highest exercise intensities promoting the highest increases in EPCs and angiogenic factors.

Nurses should use Braden Scale assessment and consider patients' characteristics and diagnoses to plan more focused preventive interventions and improve nursing care. This study could be the first step to create a preventive protocol based on institutional reality, patients' characteristics, level of risk and affected sub-scales.

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The introduction of non-technical skills during nursing education is crucial to prepare nurses for the clinical context and increase patient safety. We found no instrument developed for this purpose. Objectives:to construct, develop and validate a non-technical skills assessment scale in nursing. Method:methodological research. Based on the literature review and experience of researchers on non-technical skills in healthcare and the knowledge of the principles of crisis resource management, a list of 63 items with a five-point Likert scale was constructed. The scale was applied to 177 nursing undergraduate students. Descriptive statistics, correlations, internal consistency analysis and exploratory factor analysis were performed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scale. Results:scale items presented similar values for mean and median. The maximum and the minimum values presented a good distribution amongst all response options. Most items presented a significant and positive relationship. Cronbach alpha presented a good value (0.94), and most correlations were significant and positive. Exploratory factor analysis using the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test showed a value of 0.849, and the Bartlett’s test showed adequate sphericity values (χ2=6483.998; p=0.000). One-factor model explained 26% of the total variance. Conclusion:non-technical skills training and its measurement could be included in undergraduate or postgraduate courses in healthcare professions, or even be used to ascertain needs and improvements in healthcare contexts.

Objective: To describe the procedures followed for the validation and reliability analysis of the Portuguese version of the Needs of Parents Questionnaire in the context of pediatric hospitalization in Portugal.Methods: This is a descriptive study based on procedures for the cultural and linguistic adaptation of health measurement tools. The validation was performed on a sample of 870 parents of hospitalized children in pediatrics departments from four hospitals in Portugal, with ages ranging from 2 days to 18 years. Content validity was assured by two cognitive debriefing meetings, separately organized with parents and staff. The reliability of the Portuguese version was assessed through reproducibility tests and internal consistency computation.Results: Using Cronbach's alpha, results from the cognitive debriefing and internal consistency scores were similar to those obtained by the authors of the original version and good for the three subscales, allowing us to state that the questionnaire has the adequate psychometric properties to measure parents' needs. It was well accepted by parents, who valued all needs, especially the need to trust the care provided to their child when they are not present, as well as the need to be trusted and the need for information. Conclusions:The questionnaire proved to be a valid and reliable measurement instrument to assess the needs of parents during their pediatric hospitalizations. The Portuguese version of the Needs of Parents Questionnaire has been validated.

Until nowadays, formal training of nurses has focused predominantly on developing knowledge, clinical expertise and technical skills. These skills are necessary but not sufficient to promote and maintain high levels of patient care and safety. Therefore, although recent literature has highlighted the importance of introducing non-technical skills training and assessment within healthcare, nursing education has still to fully include these skills on the training process. International research has shown that many errors and adverse events are due to a lack of nontechnical skills rather than clinical knowledge (Dieckmann,