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Leadership lessons from Sir Ernest Shackleton: A reflective analysis from a nursing perspective
Publication . Costa, Patricia; Gaspar, Filomena; Nunes, Elisabete; Lucas, Pedro
Background
Leadership has been a subject of sustained interest throughout human history and is recognised as a complex, multidimensional competence essential to the organisation and effectiveness of teams. In nursing, effective leadership plays a key role in ensuring the quality and safety of care and in maintaining favourable practice environments.
Aim
To conduct a reflective analysis of the leadership demonstrated by Sir Ernest Shackleton during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914–1917), commonly known as the Endurance expedition, exploring how his servant and transformational leadership behaviours, combined with emotional intelligence, can inform nursing leadership and contribute to team management in complex settings.
Methods
Theoretical and conceptual reflective analysis study.
Results
The analysis of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s leadership reveals a strong presence of characteristics associated with servant leadership, transformational leadership, and emotional intelligence. These attributes were critical in fostering group cohesion, motivation, and resilience, ultimately ensuring the survival of the entire team under extreme conditions.
Discussion
The integration of Shackleton’s leadership traits — drawing on servant leadership, transformational leadership, and emotional intelligence — offers an enriched perspective for nursing practice. It improves understanding of leadership dynamics in complex contexts and reinforces the relevance of training focused on developing effective nursing leaders.
Conclusion
Investing in emotional intelligence and leadership skills development is essential for creating supportive work environments and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe care. Historical examples such as Shackleton’s offer valuable pedagogical and reflective tools for cultivating leadership in nursing.
Mapping family nursing in undergraduate education at a national level: A cross-sectional study
Publication . Campos, Maria J.; Barbieri-Figueiredo, Maria C.; Rua, Marilia; Pestana, Cristina Bárbara; Galinha de Sá, Florinda; Santos, Maria L.; Gouveia, Maria C.; Leal, Rita; Lemos, Sara; Augusto, Cláudia; Fernandes, Carla
Background
Family is a vital unit of care and support, formed by interdependent individuals linked through biology, emotions, or social bonds. Its dynamics both shape and are shaped by members’ health, making it integral to nursing care. Nursing education should promote a positive attitude among nurses regarding the involvement of families in care. Knowing how family issues are valued in undergraduate nursing programmes is fundamental to consider family as a unit of care.
Objectives
The aim is to identify and describe the integration of family nursing knowledge within undergraduate nursing education nationally.
Design
Cross-sectional study.
Participants
Eighteen undergraduate nursing programs.
Methods
Phase I – National survey of undergraduate nursing programs (May–June 2020). Phase II – Content analysis of courses with a family approach (June 2020–January 2021).
Results
The nursing programs revealed 256 courses that fulfilled the inclusion criteria, ranging from four to thirty-five courses per program. Seven categories were identified. Four of these were defined a priori, based on theoretical foundations: Theoretical Approach of Family, Individual and Family Health Experience, Skills for Family Care, and Approaches to Family Nursing. The remaining three categories emerged a posteriori from data analysis: Education Context, Nursing Process of Family, and Ethical and Deontological Issues.
Conclusion
Family is taught in undergraduate nursing programs, mainly in clinical settings. The most frequent family approach depicted in the curriculum was family as context. The findings also point to a focus on different approaches to family nursing, including ‘family as a client’, ‘family as a system’, and ‘family as a component of society’, underlining the multidimensional nature of family nursing. Nursing education should emphasise the importance of exploring new strategies to teach family care, moving forward from a perspective of the family as a context to a perspective of the family as a client of care.
Interaction of chicken heterophils and Eimeria tenella results in different phenotypes of heterophil extracellular traps (HETs)
Publication . Rentería-Solís, Zaida; Silva, Liliana M. R.; Grochow, Thomas; Zhang, Runhui; Nguyen-Ho-Bao, Tran; Daugschies, Arwid; Taubert, Anja; Conejeros, Iván; Hermosilla, Carlos
Chicken coccidiosis causes annual losses exceeding GBP 10 billion globally. The most pathogenic species for domestic fowls including Eimeria tenella, E. acervulina, and E. maxima, can lead to gastrointestinal issues ranging from mild to fatal. In this study, stages of E. tenella and freshly isolated chicken heterophils were co-cultured for 180 min. These interactions were analyzed using live 3D holotomographic and confocal microscopy. We observed that E. tenella stages were entrapped by heterophils and heterophil extracellular traps (HETs). Notably, different HET phenotypes, specifically sprHETs and aggHETs, were induced regardless of the stage. Furthermore, the quantification of extracellular DNA release from co-cultures of heterophils and sporozoites (ratio 1:1) for 180 min demonstrated a significantly higher release (p = 0.04) compared to negative controls. In conclusion, research on the chicken innate immune system, particularly fowl-derived HETs, remains limited. More detailed investigations are needed, such as exploring the time-dependent triggering of HETs, to establish a standard incubation time for this pathogen defense mechanism. This will enhance our understanding of its role in parasite survival or death during HET confrontation.
Insights into Candida colonization in intensive care unit patients : a prospective multicenter study
Publication . Nascimento, Teresa; Inácio, João; Guerreiro, Daniela; Patrício, Patrícia; Proença, Luís; Toscano, Cristina; Diaz, Priscila; Barroso, Helena
The skin mycobiota plays a significant role in infection risk, pathogen transmission, and personalized medicine approaches in intensive care settings. This prospective multicenter study aimed to enhance our understanding of intensive care units’ (ICUs’) Candida colonization dynamics, identify modifiable risk factors, and assess their impact on survival risk. Specimens were taken from 675, 203, and 110 patients at the admission (D1), 5th (D5), and 8th (D8) days of ICU stay, respectively. The patient’s demographic and clinical data were collected. Candida isolates were identified by conventional culture-based microbiology combined with molecular approaches. Overall, colonization was 184/675 (27.3%), 87/203 (42.8%), and 58/110 (52.7%) on D1, D5, and D8, respectively. Candida colonization dynamics were significantly associated with ICU type (odds ratio (OR) = 2.03, 95% CI 1.22–3.39, p = 0.007), respiratory infection (OR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.17–2.58, p = 0.006), hemodialysis (OR = 2.19, 95% CI 1.17–4.10, p = 0.014), COVID-19 (OR = 0.37, 95% CI 0.14–0.99, p = 0.048), and with a poor 3-month outcome (p = 0.008). Skin Candida spp. colonization can be an early warning tool to generate valuable insights into the epidemiology, risk factors, and survival rates of critically ill patients, and should be considered for epidemiological surveillance.
Influence of transducer pressure and examiner experience on muscle active shear modulus measured by shear wave elastography
Publication . Pimenta, R.; Coelho, F.; Correia, J. P.; Vaz, João R.
Introduction: This study examined the effects of ultrasound transducer pressure and examiner experience on the biceps femoris long head and semitendinosus muscle active shear modulus in healthy individuals (n = 28).
Methods: Active shear modulus was assessed using shear wave elastography at 20% of knee flexor maximal voluntary isometric contraction. Examiners with different experience levels measured the muscles' shear modulus with three pressure levels: mild, moderate, and hard.
Results: A main effect of transducer pressure was found for both biceps femoris long head (p < 0.001; η2p = 0.314) and semitendinosus muscles (p < 0.001; η2p = 0.280), whereas differences were found between mild-moderate (biceps femoris long head: p = 0.013, d = 0.23; semitendinosus: p = 0.024, d = 0.25), and mild-hard pressures (biceps femoris long head: p = 0.001, d = 0.47; semitendinosus: p = 0.002, d = 0.47). Examiners performed similar shear modulus measurements in the biceps femoris long head (p = 0.299; η2p = 0.041) and semitendinosus (p = 0.177; η2p = 0.066), although the experienced examiner showed a higher measurement repeatability (biceps femoris long head: ICC = 0.86–0.95, semitendinosus: ICC = 0.89–0.96; vs. biceps femoris long head: ICC = 0.78–0.87, semitendinosus: ICC = 0.66–0.87).
Conclusion: Transducer pressure influences the active shear modulus measurement between mild and moderate or hard pressures. Additionally, examiner experience seems to have no influence on muscle active shear modulus measurement when assessed at the same site (using casts).
Implications for practice: Future studies assessing active muscle shear modulus should use mild transducer pressure and having experienced examiners in order to improve measurement reliability.