Prehospital sepsis care in Ireland: an audit

Background: Sepsis is a life-threatening illness that requires early recognition and treatment. In Ireland, mortality, while improving, remains at 17% for adults and in a range of 2–4% in children aged under16 years. Prompt, accurate recognition of severe sepsis in the prehospital period could improve outcomes in patients with severe sepsis. Aim: This study aimed to audit the prehospital care of patients with sepsis against national Irish sepsis clinical practice guidelines and identify areas for improvement. Methods: A retrospective analysis of all Dublin Fire Brigade patient care reports over a 1-week period was carried out and patients with potential sepsis and potential severe sepsis were identified. Care was assessed against the national prehospital clinical practice guidelines. Call-taking and dispatch information were cross-checked. Findings: The incidence of potential sepsis was 3.7%. It is a condition of extremes of age; 8.5% of patients were aged less than 1 year and 58% were aged above 65 years. While 48% of calls were categorised as high priority, about one-third (32%) were put in a low-priority category, and 37% of the latter were potential cases of severe sepsis. The most common chief complaints at the call-taking stage were ‘breathing problems’ and ‘sick person’. Conclusion: Potential sepsis is not infrequent and call-taking information may not capture the potential or severity of sepsis. Education must emphasise the risk in old and young patients. To ensure patients receive timely advanced interventions, call-taking and dispatch systems should ensure that practitioners with the skills to identify and manage sepsis are dispatched to these patients.

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National consensus project for quality palliative care

Oxford Textbook of Palliative Nursing ◽

10.1093/med/9780199332342.003.0002 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 11-19 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Constance M. Dahlin

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Palliative Care ◽

Clinical Practice ◽

Clinical Practice Guidelines ◽

Practice Guidelines ◽

Quality Care ◽

Life Threatening ◽

National Consensus

The National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care’s Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Care is a significant resource that offers the nurse a framework for quality care in all settings. The Clinical Practice Guidelines are appropriate to a range of populations from neonates to children to adults and older adults; a range of chronic progressive and serious life-threatening illnesses, injuries, and trauma; and a range of vulnerable and underresourced populations. The Clinical Practice Guidelines are appropriate for any setting because they facilitate partnerships for caring for patients with debilitating and life-limiting illnesses and offer support for the nurse in delivering the care, particularly for long-term patients.

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Can Boys Have Turner Syndrome? More than a Question of Semantics

Sexual Development ◽

10.1159/000518092 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Michelle M. Knoll ◽

Julie Strickland ◽

Jill D. Jacobson

Keyword(s):

Clinical Practice ◽

Turner Syndrome ◽

Clinical Practice Guidelines ◽

Practice Guidelines ◽

Early Recognition ◽

Sex Development ◽

Differences Of Sex Development ◽

Z Scores ◽

The Mean ◽

Chromosome Material

Individuals with 45,X mosaicism with Y chromosome material raised as boys are not diagnosed with Turner syndrome, a label restricted to phenotypic females. We sought to determine if boys with 45,X mosaicism had features consistent with Turner syndrome. Twenty-two patients (14 girls, 8 boys) seen in our Differences of Sex Development (DSD) clinic were identified for review. Standardized height (z-scores) by sex of rearing and results of cardiology, renal, audiology, thyroid, and celiac screenings were recorded. All subjects had heights below the mean for sex. Z-scores were not significantly different between boys and girls (p = 0.185). There were no significant differences in the incidence of cardiac anomalies between boys and girls (p = 0.08). Girls were more likely to have additional screenings (p = 0.042), but there were no significant differences in the number of positive screenings between boys and girls (p = 0.332). Patients with 45,X mosaicism raised as boys appear to have features similar to patients with the same karyotype raised as girls. Routine screening of boys following the Turner Syndrome Clinical Practice Guidelines may allow early recognition of comorbidities. Additionally, obtaining karyotypes on boys with short stature or other features of Turner syndrome may identify unrecognized cases of 45,X mosaicism.

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Severe TBI in Military: Medical and Surgical Interventions

Neurotrauma ◽

10.1093/med/9780190279431.003.0002 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 13-20

Author(s):

Geoffrey S. F. Ling ◽

James M. Ecklund

Keyword(s):

Clinical Practice ◽

Clinical Practice Guidelines ◽

Practice Guidelines ◽

Medical Condition ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Surgical Interventions ◽

Military Healthcare ◽

Life Threatening ◽

Severe Tbi ◽

To Come

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common casualty of war. In Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, TBI was described as the “signature injury of these wars.” As in civilian practice, severe TBI is a serious life-threatening medical condition requiring treatment by expert medical providers. Military providers adapt existing civilian clinical practice guidelines (CPG) to manage these patients. Where civilian CPG are nonexistent or inadequate for war theater use, the DoD creates new ones. These CPG are published to enable critique and improvement. Two CPG for TBI to come from the war are the “Guidelines for the Field Management of Combat-Related Head Trauma” and the “VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Concussion/Mild TBI.” From these efforts, a new type of TBI, explosive blast TBI, was elucidated. Intracranial vasospasm was identified as a sequelae to this TBI. Treatments used by military healthcare providers include hemicraniectomy and endovascular techniques.

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High Flow Oxygen Therapy and the Pressure to Feed Infants With Acute Respiratory Illness

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/2020_persp-19-00158 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 1006-1010

Author(s):

Jennifer Raminick ◽

Hema Desai

Keyword(s):

Clinical Practice ◽

Clinical Practice Guidelines ◽

Practice Guidelines ◽

Oxygen Therapy ◽

Respiratory Illness ◽

High Flow ◽

Oral Feeding ◽

Respiratory Support ◽

Acute Respiratory Illness ◽

High Flow Oxygen

Purpose Infants hospitalized for an acute respiratory illness often require the use of noninvasive respiratory support during the initial stage to improve their breathing. High flow oxygen therapy (HFOT) is becoming a more popular means of noninvasive respiratory support, often used to treat respiratory syncytial virus/bronchiolitis. These infants present with tachypnea and coughing, resulting in difficulties in coordinating sucking and swallowing. However, they are often allowed to feed orally despite having high respiratory rate, increased work of breathing and on HFOT, placing them at risk for aspiration. Feeding therapists who work with these infants have raised concerns that HFOT creates an additional risk factor for swallowing dysfunction, especially with infants who have compromised airways or other comorbidities. There is emerging literature concluding changes in pharyngeal pressures with HFOT, as well as aspiration in preterm neonates who are on nasal continuous positive airway pressure. However, there is no existing research exploring the effect of HFOT on swallowing in infants with acute respiratory illness. This discussion will present findings from literature on HFOT, oral feeding in the acutely ill infant population, and present clinical practice guidelines for safe feeding during critical care admission for acute respiratory illness. Conclusion Guidelines for safety of oral feeds for infants with acute respiratory illness on HFOT do not exist. However, providers and parents continue to want to provide oral feeds despite clinical signs of respiratory distress and coughing. To address this challenge, we initiated a process change to use clinical bedside evaluation and a “cross-systems approach” to provide recommendations for safer oral feeds while on HFOT as the infant is recovering from illness. Use of standardized feeding evaluation and protocol have improved consistency of practice within our department. However, further research is still necessary to develop clinical practice guidelines for safe oral feeding for infants on HFOT.

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