The authors review experience gained from developing and running a non-intensive stroke unit during the years 1983-91. The number of patients treated per year has increased from 65 to 149. The average length of stay in hospital has dropped from 21 to 15 days. About 87% of the patients had verified stroke, 7% had transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). Other intracranial diseases were found in 3.3%. The mortality rate was low (5%) 48% of the patients were transferred to a rehabilitation centre, 37% were discharged to their homes, with or without out-patient care, and 10% were discharged to nursing homes. Early and systematic investigations and multi-disciplinary rehabilitation in a specialized stroke unit increases the quality of care for patients suffering from stroke. A shorter stay in hospital gives a bonus in the form of reduced health expenditures.
Services for elderly, mentally ill people have developed in response to changing needs in society. In 1990 most of the 650 beds allocated to elderly patients in psychiatric hospitals were occupied by long-term care patients. Outpatient programmes hardly existed. In 1995 about 400 beds were allocated to geriatric psychiatry. They were served by 40 physicians and 20 psychologists. Out-patients' clinics were established. Most of the in-patients were short-term admissions. Nowadays, departments of geriatric psychiatry define themselves as diagnostic and short-term units. About a third of the in-patients suffer from dementia, a third from depression, and a third from various other psychiatric disorders. The authors recommend that a special unit for geriatric psychiatry should be established in every county in Norway. Funds should be allocated for professorships at all universities.
It is difficult to comply with the intention that the patient gives consent to participation in a clinical trial on the basis of complete information. Reasons for this are the doctor's defective knowledge about processes of communication and his desire to protect the patient, and sometimes also himself, from disagreeable information. Solution of these problems requires more knowledge about theories of communication and crises and improved planning in how to provide this information. The patient's possibility of understanding the information on which he can base an independent decision may be improved by offering several conversations, improved presentation of the written information, the presence of a relative at the informative conversation and supplying the patient with a contact person from the staff for further information. It is concluded that more structured informative procedures are necessary in the individual departments in order to ensure that the patient receives sufficient information before giving qualified consent.
To investigate allocation of nursing time, organisation of nursing activities and whether or not allocation and organisation have changed over time.
In a ward that changed to all-RN staffing, the nurses were encouraged to implement a patient-focused philosophy. The nurses perceived that they had difficulty in using the time available efficiently.
Non-participant observations were conducted with 2-year intervals. Ten consecutive weekdays were covered on two occasions. The study was carried out at a university hospital in Sweden.
Between observations, a significant change in the organization of the direct care had occurred, and the same tendency was found in patient administration and general management. The organization of work changed from a partly fragmented to a more coherent one. The time used for direct care and administrative activities increased between the two observations, while indirect care, personal and service activities decreased.
It can be suggested that the nurses used their time efficiently and, over time, they developed a more coherent way of organizing nursing activities.
To evaluate the efficacy of a decontamination station following exposure of volunteers to liquids with physical characteristics comparable to sarin and mustard gas.
Twenty-four volunteers participated in the experiment which was performed with all staff wearing personal protective equipment including respiratory protection. The clothes, skin, and hair of the volunteers were contaminated with the simulated liquid phase contaminants, ethyl lactate and methyl salicylate. Sulphur hexafluoride gas was used to confirm the ventilation efficacy. Decontamination followed guidelines using a two-stage procedure. In the first chamber, all volunteers received a 3-minute shower with water at 30 degrees C, and their clothes but not their respiratory masks were removed. In the second, they were twice washed thoroughly with soap and water. After decontamination, the volunteers entered a third chamber for first aid measures.
The air concentration of sulphur hexafluoride was reduced by 1:10,000 between the first and the third chambers. Ethyl lactate and methyl salicylate were measured in low concentrations in the third chamber. The capacity was 16 volunteers per hour with two-thirds on stretchers. After self-decontamination of the staff, the concentration of ethyl lactate increased significantly in the third chamber, consistent with residual ethyl lactate adsorbed by their underwear. This observation revealed a deficiency in the guidelines for self-decontamination.
The capacity of the decontamination unit was found to be 16 volunteers per hour. The ventilation system and guidelines of the decontamination unit were demonstrated to be effective under the conditions examined. The self-decontamination of the staff was not optimal.
Law and Mental Health Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 1001 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6J 1H4. Shirley_Pullan@CAMH.net
Source
J Psychosoc Nurs Ment Health Serv. 2001 Sep;39(9):18-25
1. The recruitment and retention of forensic psychiatric nurses in this highly competitive environment has been identified as a critical issue. 2. In response to the need to expand services, the development, implementation, and evaluation of an innovative model that has demonstrated success in the recruitment and retention of nurses for this highly specialized area of practice are described. 3. The successful recruitment and retention of forensic psychiatric nurses may be facilitated by developing and implementing strategies that integrate the goals and objectives of the organization with the needs of individual nurses.
Meta-analyses of randomised trials of acute stroke treated in specialised stroke units have yielded convincing evidence of benefits in terms of reduced mortality rates, as compared with treatment in a general ward. However, no studies had been performed to ascertain whether the promising results could be reproduced in routine clinical practice. Accordingly, a comparison of routine care of acute stroke patients in stroke units (SUs) with that in general wards (GWs) was made on the basis of data for the 14,300 cases of acute stroke from 87 units in 80 Swedish hospitals registered in 1996 at the Swedish national stroke registry, the first of its kind in the world. Among patients capable of independent daily life and fully conscious at admission, the mortality rate was lower in the SU than in the GW subgroup, both at discharge from hospital and three months after the stroke event; and three months after stroke, a greater proportion of SU patients had been discharged to their homes, and a smaller proportion were in long-term care. However, no such subgroup differences were found among patients with impaired consciousness at admission. Thus, the promising results of the randomised trials of SU treatment would appear to be reproducible in routine clinical practice, though the beneficial effect is smaller in magnitude.