Background Nurses are experiencing tremendous stress during the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, especially intensive care nurses. The pandemic of the disease is a tragedy, which may leave a catastrophic psychological imprint on nurses. Understanding nurses' mental distress can help when implementing interventions to mitigate psychological injuries to nurses. Aims and objectives To quantify the severity of nurses' post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and stress and explore the influencing factors of their psychological health when caring for patients with COVID‐19. Design A cross‐sectional survey. Methods The PTSD Checklist‐Civilian and the Perceived Stress Scale were administered from 11 to 18 March 2020, to 90 nurses selected from another city to go and help an intensive care unit (ICU) in Wuhan, China. These nurses were selected because of their high levels of clinical performance and resilience status. Results Nurses' average PTSD score was 24.62 ± 6.68, and five (5.6%) of the nurses reported a clinically significant level of PTSD symptoms (>38 points). Nurses' perceived stress averaged 19.33 ± 7, and 20 nurses (22.22%) scored positively >25 points. Nurses' stress and PTSD symptoms were positively correlated (P < .01). Major stress sources included working in an isolated environment, concerns about personal protective equipment shortage and usage, physical and emotional exhaustion, intensive workload, fear of being infected, and insufficient work experiences with COVID‐19. Conclusions This study showed that even relatively highly resilient nurses experienced some degree of mental distress, including PTSD symptoms and perceived stress. Our findings highlight the importance of helping nurses cultivate resilience and reduce stress. Relevance to clinical practice Recommendations for practice include providing adequate training and orientation before assigning nurses to ICU to help, offering disaster‐emergency‐preparedness training to keep nurses prepared, providing caring and authentic nursing leadership, offering ongoing psychological support to frontline nurses.

Background: Resilience is a characteristic and skill that nurses can learn. This study examined the current state and influencing factors of nurse resilience and nurse perceived job-related stressors. Method: This cross-sectional survey study was conducted at a university-affiliated hospital in China between May and August 2018. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale was used to measure nurse resilience. Results: A total of 2,981 nurses participated in the study, with an average resilience score of 61.35 ± 13.12. Nurse resilience was significantly correlated with age, years of employment, clinical rank, and education ( p < .05). Main job-related stressors included frequent inspections and examinations, heavy workload, mandatory overtime, and low wages. Conclusion: The participants had resilience scores that were lower than in the general public in the United States and China, as well as in nurses in developed countries. This study indicated a need for hospital leaders to find ways to reduce nurse work-related stress. Building nurse resilience should be an important focus for leaders. [ J Contin Educ Nurs . 2020;51(3):132–137.]

Chitosan, a polysaccharide isolated from shrimp and other crustacean shells, has been widely investigated for DNA and siRNA delivery. Despite substantial effort having been made to improve chitosan as a non-viral gene delivery vector, the application is severely limited by its poor solubility under physiological conditions. Hydroxybutyl chitosan (HBC), a modified chitosan, is soluble under neutral conditions. Tissue factor (TF) is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases by promoting thrombus formation and inducing the migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells. Targeting TF is an attractive therapeutic strategy for cardiovascular diseases. In the present study, the use of HBC for the transfer of TF-siRNAs into human umbilical vein smooth muscle cells (HUVSMCs) was investigated, and the effects of TF knockdown on cell proliferation and apoptosis were examined. HBC/siRNA nanoparticles were produced by mixing HBC and siRNA solutions with the assistance of tripolyphosphate buffer. The transfection efficiency with these nanoparticles was 74±2.5%, which was determined using a fluorescence-labeled siRNA under fluorescence microscopy. The delivery of HBC/TF-siRNA resulted in reductions in the production of cellular and soluble TF protein in HUVMSCs, which were measured using western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. TF knockdown led to inhibited cell proliferation, as assessed using a Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, and increased cell apoptosis, determined using Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate staining. These findings suggested that HBC may be a promising vector for siRNA delivery, and that in vivo HBC/siRNA nanoparticle delivery targeting TF may be a potential option for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, which warrants further investigation.

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Psychological problems have become a significant public health problem. Appropriate mental health care is crucial in promoting patient care quality. This study aimed to test the feasibility of a Psychological Nursing Quality Evaluation Index in hospitalized patients. This is a pilot study with patients hospitalized with myocardial infarction from July to September 2020 in China. The researchers used an observational approach to examine nurses′ psychological health care performance based on the Psychological Nursing Quality Evaluation Index. The results indicated high compliance rates of nurses′ psychological care performance, which provides references for evaluating and monitoring inpatient psychological nursing care.

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are involved in the neovascularization in traumatic and ischemic sites, but EPCs are “detained” in bone marrow under diabetic conditions, which results in reduction of the number of EPCs and their biological activity in peripheral blood. Based on our previous study to mobilize autologous bone marrow EPCs by administering AMD3100+G-CSF to realize the optimal effect, our present study is aimed at exploring the effects of transplanting EPCs locally in a wound model of diabetic mice. First, we prepared and identified EPCs, and the biological functions and molecular characteristics were compared between EPCs from DB/+ and DB/DB mice. Then, we performed full-thickness skin resection in DB/DB mice and tested the effect of local transplantation of EPCs on skin wound healing. The wound healing process was recorded using digital photographs. The animals were sacrificed on postoperative days 7, 14, and 17 for histological and molecular analysis. Our results showed that DB/+ EPCs were biologically more active than those of DB/DB EPCs. When compared with the control group, local transplantation of EPCs accelerated wound healing in DB/DB mice by promoting wound granulation tissue formation, angiogenesis, and collagen fiber deposition, but there was no significant difference in wound healing between DB/+ EPCs and DB/DB EPCs transplanted into the wound. Furthermore, local transplantation of EPCs promoted the expression of SDF-1, CXCR4, and VEGF. We speculated that EPC transplantation may promote wound healing through the SDF-1/CXCR4 axis. This point is worth exploring further. Present data are of considerable significance because they raise the possibility of promoting wound healing by isolating autologous EPCs from the patient, which provides a new approach for the clinical treatment of diabetic wounds in the future.

Evodia rutaecarpa has multiple pharmacological effects and is widely used in the prevention and treatment of migraine, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases; however, the pharmacological effects of its active compound evodiamine (Evo) have not been thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Evo on antiplatelet activation and thrombosis. We discovered that Evo effectively inhibited collagen-induced platelet activation but had no effect on platelet aggregation caused by activators such as thrombin, ADP, and U46619. Second, we found that Evo effectively inhibited the release of platelet granules induced by collagen. Finally, evodiamine inhibits the transduction of the SFKs/Syk/Akt/PLCγ2 activation pathway in platelets. According to in vivo studies, Evo significantly prolonged the mesenteric thromboembolism induced by ferric chloride and had no discernible effect on the coagulation function of mice. In conclusion, the antiplatelet and thrombotic effects of Evo discovered in this study provide an experimental basis for the investigation of the pharmacological mechanisms of Evo and the development of antiplatelet drugs.