Children's Health: How a raisin can predict a toddler's future academic ability ♦ Infants with blind parents pay less attention to eyes ♦ Link between breakfast quality and educational outcomes

Study provides strongest evidence yet of a link between breakfast quality and educational outcomes A new study of 5,000 9- to 11-year-olds demonstrates significant positive associations between breakfast consumption and educational outcomes.The research found that the odds of an above average Teacher Assessment score were up to twice as high for pupils who ate breakfast.

More than 8 percent of children with cancer have genetic predisposition, The most detailed analysis yet of the role germline mutations in genes associated with cancer predisposition play in the development of childhood cancer suggests that comprehensive genomic screening may be warranted on all pediatric cancer patients, not just those with a family history of cancer

How a raisin can predict a toddler's future academic ability A simple test using a raisin can predict how well a toddler will perform academically at age eight,.

Infants with blind parents pay less attention to eyes For parents of young children, there are few milestones more memorable than that first word. But people communicate an awful lot to each other without ever saying anything at all. So, how do infants learn to communicate with the people around them nonverbally, through eye contact? Researchers have some new insight into this silent form of communication from an unlikely source: the sighted children of blind parents

1/23/15 Health News: Antibiotic-Restistant Bacteria Spread Via Dust ♦ Food-Safety Education can Reduce Foodborne Illness ♦ Women’s pain ♦ Childhood adversity seen at cellular level

ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BACTERIA SPREAD THROUGH DUST

There have been many concerns raised in recent years about the overuse of antibiotics on farms, but the effect such uses have on human health is not fully understood. Researchers at Texas Tech University are now suggesting that airborne dust could be a pathway for antibiotic-resistance bacteria to travel from feedlots to human environments. Scientists... Continue Reading

INCREASING FOOD-SAFETY EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS COULD REDUCE FOODBORNE ILLNESS IN KIDS

There’s a lack of food-safety education in schools that, if addressed, could help reduce the high rates of foodborne illness among children. Each year, an estimated 48 million Americans contract a foodborne illness, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. Vulnerable populations, including children, seniors, pregnant and postpartum women, and those with compromised immune systems, are at... Continue Reading

Women’s pain: Common, treatable and often overlooked or mismanaged

Despite the variety of effective treatments, and physicians who specialize in treating pain, women often suffer unnecessarily from conditions ranging from backaches to pain after cancer surgery, and also treat their pain with medications that may be ineffective and possibly harmful, according to a review of research Continue Reading

Connection between childhood adversity, psychiatric disorders seen at cellular level

An association between biological changes on the cellular level and both childhood adversity and psychiatric disorders has been identified by researchers. These changes in the form of telomere shortening and alterations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), are important in the aging process. Continue Reading

Nurse Staffing and Education Linked to Reduced Patient Deaths

Hospitals in Europe where nursing staff care for fewer patients and have a higher proportion of bachelor’s degree-trained nurses had significantly fewer surgical patients die while hospitalized according to a new study. These findings underscore the potential risks to patients when nurse staffing is cut and suggests an increased emphasis on bachelor’s education for nurses could reduce hospital deaths.

The study, supported by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), part of the National Institutes of Health, is the largest and most detailed analysis to date of patient outcomes associated with nurse staffing and education in Europe. Known as Registered Nurses Forecasting (RN4CAST), the study estimated that an increase in hospital nurses’ workloads by one patient increases the likelihood of in hospital death by 7 percent. Also, a better educated nurse workforce was associated with fewer deaths. For every 10 percent increase in nurses with bachelor’s degrees, there was an associated drop in the likelihood of death by 7 percent.

“Building the scientific foundation for clinical practice has long been a crucial goal of nursing research and the work supported by NINR,” said NINR Director Dr. Patricia A. Grady. “This study emphasizes the role that nurses play in ensuring successful patient outcomes and underscores the need for a well-educated nursing workforce.”

For the RN4CAST study, a consortium of scientists led by Dr. Linda Aiken of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, and Dr. Walter Sermeus of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, reviewed hospital discharge data of nearly 500,000 patients from nine European countries who underwent common surgeries. They also surveyed over 26,500 nurses practicing in study hospitals to measure nurse staffing and education levels. The team analyzed the data and surveys to assess the effects of nursing factors on the likelihood of patients dying within 30 days of hospital admission.

Based on their analysis, the researchers estimated that patients in hospitals where 60 percent of nurses had bachelor’s degrees and cared for an average of six patients had a nearly one-third lower risk of dying in the hospital after surgery than patients in hospitals where only one-third of nurses had bachelor’s level education and cared for an average of eight patients each.

“Our study is the first to examine nursing workforce data across multiple European nations and analyze them in relation to objective clinical outcomes, rather than patient or nurse reports,” said Dr. Aiken. “Our findings complement studies in the U.S. linking improved hospital nurse staffing and higher education levels with decreased mortality.”

In the U.S., analysis of patient outcomes associated with nurse staffing practices has informed proposed or actual legislation in nearly 25 states. These types of analyses also informed the recommendation of the Institute of Medicine that 80 percent of nurses in the U.S. have a bachelor’s degree by 2020. Hospitals have responded to this recommendation with preferential hiring of bachelor’s degree-trained nurses.

The RN4CAST study was designed to provide scientific evidence for decision makers in Europe to guide planning for the nurse workforce for the future. The study’s findings provide evidence to guide important decisions about improving hospital care in the context of scarce resources and health care reforms.

“This study is another example of how nursing science can help inform policies that promote positive patient outcomes not only in the U.S., but around the world,” added Dr. Grady.