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Although professional training or development opportunities can help university academics to expand their competences and implement high quality educational practices, academics differ in the extent to which they engage in such learning opportunities and their resulting learning gains. A theoretical explanation for these differences involves their motivations in the form of achievement goals. Accordingly, in the current study we investigated the effects of academics' achievement goals on their learning engagement and learning gains in professional development courses. Forty-eight German university academics completed assessments of achievement goals prior to course participation, their learning engagement during the course (three short assessments measuring: effort, learning intensity, risk-taking, elaboration, implementation, and persistence), and their learning gains afterwards. Latent growth curve modeling revealed a significant influence of achievement goals on the overall levels of learning engagement. Specifically, learning-approach goals led to more functional learning engagement while work-avoidance goals led to less functional learning engagement. Further analyses confirmed that academics' achievement goals were related to the amount they learned, mediated by their learning engagement. These findings highlight the importance of supporting academics' achievement goals to ensure quality learning experiences.

German nursing study programs from the students' perspective: First results of a nationwide longitudinal study Abstract. Background: The Nursing Professions Act establishes a concrete framework for academic nursing education in Germany for the first time. The primary qualifying nursing courses started in 2020 and will be accompanied by a systematic reporting of students' experiences over a period of three years. Aims: The article presents the results of the initial survey period (2021) on the students' point of view. Challenges and the need for further regulation of the primary qualifying nursing studies are analyzed and approaches to solutions are developed. Methods: The online survey is designed as a longitudinal cohort study with three measurement periods (2021, 2022, 2023). A descriptive analysis considers data of N = 57 students in the initial survey period. Results: The primary qualifying nursing study program is rated good overall (overall grade 2.32). However, one third (35.85%) are more critical in their assessments. Every second student perceives a need for adjustment in the financing of students. Learning in clinical placement settings often does not meet students' expectations. 86% of respondents report that nursing practice sites are insufficiently informed about students' qualification. Conclusions: Students' financing, and in particular the payment of assignments in the nursing practice, represents a regulatory gap with need for short-term solutions. For learning in nursing practice, there is a need for an enhanced practical placement guidance that is better geared to academic nursing education. This is accompanied by the need for a more specific definition of later professional fields and job profiles.

Students' perspective on generalized nursing education in Germany: Results of a nationwide online survey Abstract. Background: Generalized nursing education in Germany was introduced in 2020 as a reaction to changed care conditions. The reform's implementation is accompanied by a nationwide longitudinal survey with three surveys among students in generalized nursing education. Aims: We present results of the first survey round. The explorative approach provides data that allows insights into students' experiences and thus indicates adjustment opportunities. Method: The online survey used standardized questionnaires and was directed at students that had begun generalized nursing education in 2020. 1,267 students from 316 nursing schools in 15 German federal states participated in the first survey round. The survey recorded students' career choice motivations, learning experiences in nursing schools and practical placements, as well as contextual factors. Results: The students' career choice is mainly interest-driven (77.8%). The program is rated good to satisfactory (overall grade 2.45). Frequent and well-designed practical guidance and a transfer of information between nursing school and clinical placement appear important but insufficiently implemented. Data shows an increased need for support services. Conclusions: In addition to positive findings, the practical learning design and the dialogue between theory and practice appear challenging, while support services should be expanded.

Background: The application of image analysis technologies for the interpretation of microbiological cultures is evolving rapidly. The primary aim of this study was to establish whether the image analysis system named Automated Plate Assessment System (APAS; LBT Innovations Ltd., Australia) could be applied to screen urine cultures. A secondary aim was to evaluate differences between traditional plate reading (TPR) and the reading of cultures from images, or digital plate reading (DPR)., Methods: A total of 9,224 urine samples submitted for culture to three clinical laboratories, two in Australia and one in the USA, were included in the study. Cultures were prepared on sheep blood and MacConkey agar plates and read by panels of three microbiologists. The plates were then presented to APAS for image capture and analysis, and the images and results were stored for later review., Results: Image analysis of cultures using APAS produced a diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 99.0% and 84.5%, respectively. Colonies were detected by APAS on 99.0% of blood agar plates with growth and on 99.5% of MacConkey agar plates. DPR agreed with TPR for colony enumeration on 92.1% of the plates, with a sensitivity of 90.8% and specificity of 92.8% for case designation. However, several differences in the classification of colony morphologies using DPR were identified., Conclusions: APAS was shown to be a reliable screening system for urine cultures. The study also showed acceptable concordance between DPR and TPR for colony detection, enumeration, and case designation., Competing Interests: JG, SG, MS, and RH are employees of LBT Innovations., (© The Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine)

Accurate assessment of the risk factors for colonization with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) among high-risk patients is often confounded by nosocomial VRE transmission. We undertook a 15-month prospective cohort study of adults admitted to high-risk units (hematology, renal, transplant, and intensive care) in three teaching hospitals that used identical strict infection control and isolation procedures for VRE to minimize nosocomial spread. Rectal swab specimens for culture were regularly obtained, and the results were compared with patient demographic factors and antibiotic exposure data. Compliance with screening was defined as "optimal" (100% compliance) or "acceptable" (minor protocol violations were allowed, but a negative rectal swab specimen culture was required within 1 week of becoming colonized with VRE). Colonization with VRE was detected in 1.56% (66 of 4,215) of admissions (0.45% at admission and 0.83% after admission; the acquisition time was uncertain for 0.28%), representing 1.91% of patients. No patients developed infection with VRE. The subsequent rate of new acquisition of VRE was 1.4/1,000 patient days. Renal units had the highest rate (3.23/1,000 patient days; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.54 to 6.77/1,000 patient days). vanB Enterococcus faecium was the most common species (71%), but other species included vanB Enterococcus faecalis (21%), vanA E. faecium (6%), and vanA E. faecalis (2%). The majority of isolates were nonclonal by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis. Multivariate analysis of risk factors in patients with an acceptable screening suggested that being managed by a renal unit (hazard ratio [HR] compared to the results for patients managed in an intensive care unit, 4.6; 95% CI, 1.2 to 17.0 [P = 0.02]) and recent administration of either ticarcillin-clavulanic acid (HR, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.1 to 11.6 [P = 0.03]) or carbapenems (HR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.0, 8.0 [P = 0.05]), but not vancomycin or broad-spectrum cephalosporins, were associated with acquisition of VRE. The relatively low rates of colonization with VRE, the polyclonal nature of most isolates, and the possible association with the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics are consistent with either the endogenous emergence of VRE or the amplification of previously undetectable colonization with VRE among high-risk patients managed under conditions in which the risk of nosocomial acquisition was minimized.

To assess the rate of fecal vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) colon ization in Austalia, we examined specimens from 1,085 healthy volunteers. VRE was cultured from 2(0.2%) of 1,085 specimens; both were vanB Enter ococcus faecium, identical by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, but with a pattern rare in Melbourne hospitals.

Setting: Public hospital, Victoria, Australia., Objective: To evaluate the effect of multidrug treatment and isoniazid (INH) chemoprophylaxis on the tuberculin interferon-y assay (QIFN) in 19 patients with culture-confirmed Mycobacterium tuberculosis and 119 health care workers (HCWs) with tuberculin skin tests (TST) > or =15 mm., Design: Patients with M. tuberculosis were treated with standard medication and tested with QIFN at diagnosis and at regular intervals over a 12-month period. All HCWs, 59 (50%) of whom were prescribed INH chemoprophylaxis, were tested with QIFN at baseline, 2, 4, 6 and 12 months., Results: QIFN results in patients with tuberculosis were consistent and reproducible. At the initial time point QIFN assays were positive for M. tuberculosis in 67%, and once positive, the QIFN assay remained so over the 12-month period. In the HCWS, initial QIFN assays were positive in 73 (61%). During the 12-month study, 91 HCWs had a QIFN assay on at least two occasions. The overall reproducibility between tests was fair (kappa statistic = 0.45), and was little affected by administration of INH., Conclusion: These data suggest that although the QIFN assay is generally positive in patients with proven tuberculosis, it does not provide clinically useful information during the first 12 months of treatment with multidrug chemotherapy or INH chemoprophylaxis.

QuantiFERON-TB (QIFN) (CSL Limited) is a whole-blood assay for the recognition of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. QIFN measures gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) production when purified protein derivatives (PPDs) of mycobacteria are incubated with venous blood samples. The specificity of QIFN in medical students before and after BCG immunization was assessed, and sensitivity in patients with tuberculosis was assessed. Antigens were PPD derived from M. tuberculosis and two M. tuberculosis-specific proteins, ESAT-6 and MPT-64. Of 60 medical students, all of whom had 0-mm tuberculin skin tests (TSTs) at study entry, 58 (97%) were initially classified as negative for M. tuberculosis infection by PPD QIFN. Five months after BCG immunization, 7 of 54 students (13%) had a TST result of >/=10 mm and 11 of 54 students (20%) tested positive by PPD QIFN. ESAT-6- and MPT-64-stimulated IFN-gamma responses in the medical students were negative prior to and after BCG immunization. For patients with active tuberculosis, 12 of 19 (63%) were positive by PPD QIFN, 11 of 19 (58%) were positive by ESAT-6 QIFN, and 0 of 12 were positive by MPT-64 QIFN. In conclusion, PPD QIFN was negative in 97% of a low-risk population who had not received BCG and who had negative TSTs. The specificities of both the TST and PPD QIFN were reduced following BCG immunization. PPD QIFN and ESAT-6 QIFN were of similar and moderate sensitivity in patients with active tuberculosis, but ESAT-6 QIFN is likely to be more specific because it is not influenced by past BCG exposure.

Objective: To screen for faecal colonisation with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) among potentially at-risk patients., Design: Infection control screening program., Setting: Monash Medical Centre (a tertiary care hospital), Melbourne, Victoria, in the seven months from June 1997., Patients: Patients in the Renal, Oncology and Intensive Care (ICU) Units., Main Outcome Measures: Presence of VRE in a rectal swab or faecal specimen taken at admission and at regular intervals during inpatient stay; presence of vancomycin-resistance genes (vanA, vanB and vanC) assessed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR); genetic clonality of isolates assessed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)., Results: 574 patients (356 renal, 134 ICU and 84 oncology) were screened; 12 were colonised with VRE--nine renal inpatients, two having peritoneal dialysis or incentre haemodialysis, and one ICU patient. Nine isolates were Enterococcus faecalis (seven positive for vanB and two negative for all three resistance genes) and three were Enterococcus faecium (all positive for vanB). Eight were high-level gentamicin resistant. PFGE suggested genetic clonality between the index isolate and five other isolates from renal patients. No specific clinical practice was associated with VRE colonisation. Attempts to clear rectal carriage with oral ampicillin/amoxycillin or bacitracin were of limited success. Although antibiotic prescribing in the Renal Unit was generally consistent with defined protocols, use of vancomycin and third-generation cephalosporins has been further restricted., Conclusions: Renal inpatients in our institution appear most at risk of VRE colonisation (4.6% overall) and therefore of VRE infection. Routine screening, especially of potentially high-risk patients, should be considered in major Australian hospitals.

Bacterial Cpn60 proteins (homologues to the Escherichia coli GroEL protein) are often examined for function by testing their ability to complement a temperature sensitive mutation in the E. coli groEL gene. Such tests suffer from two drawbacks: the Cpn600 protein may come from a strain with a lower optimum growth temperature than E. coli, and the requirements for successful complementation in E. coli are likely to be more stringent at 43 degrees C than at lower temperatures. Here we describe the construction of a strain of E. coli where the chromosomal gene for the essential molecular chaperone GroEL has been deleted, with GroEL being expressed from a tightly regulated plasmid borne copy of the gene. The deletion can be transduced into strains expressing heterologous Cpn60 proteins, to test for complementation at any temperature. We show that a Cpn60 protein from the bacterium Rhizobium leguminosarum can function to allow E. coli growth at 37 degrees C but not at 43 degrees C. By switching off the plasmid borne groEL gene, the effects of progressive depletion of GroEL protein from E. coli cells can also be monitored at any temperature.