Patients affected by gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) have a poor quality of life caused by several manifestations such as cough, asthma, laryngitis and dental erosion. The clinical conditions are highly disabling for patients and symptoms are difficult to manage. These conditions lead to many discomforts which contribute to an increase of the disease perception. For these reasons, it is important to improve the interventions on psychological aspects that ameliorate the patients' quality of life. The application of IARA model has proven useful to decrease GERD symptoms, distress and medication intake and to increase adherence to care, improving the patient's quality of life.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most deadly and costly chronic diseases in the world characterized by many breathing problems. The management of COPD and the prevention of exacerbations are a priority goals to improve the quality of life in patients affected by this illness. In addition, it is also crucial to improve the patients' adherence to care which, in turn, depends on their knowledge and understanding of some factors such as the prescribed medical treatment, changes in dailylife, and the process of breathing. In turn, the adherence to care leads to greater autonomy for the patient who is thus able to better manage his illness. Here we presented the application of the Model IARA in patients affected by COPD in order to achieve their autonomy in illness management which, in turn, leads to a better quality of life. IARA is an intervention program which improve the awareness and knowledge of patients with respect to both the disease and symptoms through health education. Moreover, through IARA the patients are encouraged to become more actively involved in COPD care process, also regarding drug therapy adherence. Using St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire combined with qualitative analysis, we demonstrated that IARA could be considered a useful approach in COPD management.

Current literature has paid increasing attention to the factors influencing career decisions; nevertheless, few studies have compared candidates that have chosen a nursing versus a non-nursing degree. A multicenter, cross-sectional study design was performed to explore whether or not certain individual variables and having inaccurate data about nursing as a profession influenced the choice of a non-nursing degree. Six non-nursing and three nursing degree programs offered by two public Italian universities were involved. A total of 507 students who had just enrolled in non-nursing degree programs and 202 in nursing degree programs were invited to complete a questionnaire comprising 12 closed items. Overall, from 40.0% to 57.1% of the variation in choosing a degree other than nursing was explained by variables such as age, and having inaccurate data on the nursing profession. For each year over 19 years of age, the likelihood that the student would decide to enroll in a nursing degree program increases. For each wrong answer reported on the questionnaire evaluating knowledge on nursing profession, there was a reduction of approximately six times in the likelihood that the student would enroll in a nursing degree program. Information regarding the nursing profession should be offered in early stages of life; in addition, offering accurate data on the profession is a key factor in evaluating the congruence of the career with the individual's personal motivations, aspirations, and talents.

What does this paper contribute to the wider global clinical community?• A significantly increased occurrence of injury exposure is reported by those students attending a mandatory preclinical education intervention.