Publications by authors named "Antoinette Flannery"

Frailty is common among older hospital inpatients. While studies describe frailty prevalence in acute hospitals, it is usually based upon retrospective hospital-coded data or brief screening on admission rather than comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA). Further, little is known about differences between pre-admission and current frailty status.

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Early identification of frailty through targeted screening can facilitate the delivery of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) and may improve outcomes for older inpatients. As several instruments are available, we aimed to investigate which is the most accurate and reliable in the Emergency Department (ED). We compared the ability of three validated, short, frailty screening instruments to identify frailty in a large University Hospital ED.

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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths in most countries. It can frequently be mimicked by other nonmalignant pulmonary lesions; and therefore, in the case of radiologically localized lesions a pathological diagnosis is preferable before proceeding to surgical resection. Curvilinear probe endobronchial ultrasound is widely used to sample lymph nodes, but in this case, we report that it can be beneficial for sampling parenchymal lung lesions not accessible at bronchoscopy in the absence of lymphadenopathy.

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Background: Cervical lymph nodes are frequently involved in patients with lung cancer and indicate inoperability. Some guidelines recommend neck ultrasound (NUS) in patients with bulky mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Positron emission tomography (PET) is indicated for patients with potentially curable disease.

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Interventional pulmonology has grown significantly over the last 2 decades and is now seen as an essential component in thoracic oncology care. The rigid bronchoscope occupies a central role in this specialty and offers many important advantages over the flexible scope when performing therapeutic procedures on central airways. Although stenting practices have evolved, it is generally accepted that stents offer an important treatment option for selected patients with benign and malignant airway diseases.

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Objectives: This study aimed to collect and analyse examples of poor teamwork between junior doctors and nurses; identify the teamwork failures contributing to poor team function; and ascertain if particular teamwork failures are associated with higher levels of risk to patients.

Design: Critical Incident Technique interviews were carried out with junior doctors and nurses.

Setting: Two teaching hospitals in the Republic of Ireland.

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