Clinical indicators of acute deterioration in persons who reside in residential aged care facilities: A rapid review.

Purpose: To identify the clinical indicators of acute deterioration in residents and the factors that influence residential aged care facility staff's identification of these.

Design: Rapid review and narrative synthesis.

Methods: The WHO and Cochrane Rapid Review Methods Group recommendations guided the review processes.

The phenomenon of caring for older patients who are dying from traumatic injuries in the emergency department: An interpretive phenomenological study.

Purpose: To gain greater understanding of what it means to care for older patients dying from traumatic injuries in the emergency department.

Design: A Heideggerian phenomenological design using the methods of Van Manen.

Methods: In-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with five emergency nurses who worked in an emergency department in Australia.

Incontinence-associated dermatitis: who is affected?

Objective: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients possess multiple risk factors for developing loss of skin integrity, particularly incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD). IAD is an inflammatory skin condition resulting from repeated and prolonged contact with urine, faeces or both. This study aimed to measure the incidence and clinical characteristics of adult ICU patients with IAD.

Translating evidence-based nursing clinical handover practice in an acute care setting: A quasi-experimental study.

Effective transfer of information during the nursing handover contributes to patient safety. This study aimed to translate the best practice nursing shift handover recommendations in an acute care setting using the Ottawa Model for Research Use and to explore its effect on patient adverse outcomes (falls, pressure injuries, and medication errors). Using a quasi-experimental design, the study was conducted in four internal medicine wards in a major tertiary hospital.

Using a knowledge translation framework to identify barriers and supports to effective nursing handover: A focus group study.

The aims of this study were to systematically assess the barriers and facilitators to evidence-based nursing handover in a clinical environment, and to identify potential adopters and attributes of evidence-based nursing handover for translation into practice. The study was conducted in the medical wards of a major tertiary referral hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Participants comprised registered and enrolled nurses permanently employed in the participating wards for at least three months prior to the commencement of study.

The effectiveness of emergency nurse practitioner service in the management of patients presenting to rural hospitals with chest pain: a multisite prospective longitudinal nested cohort study.

Background: Health reforms in service improvement have included the use of nurse practitioners. In rural emergency departments, nurse practitioners work to the full scope of their expanded role across all patient acuities including those presenting with undifferentiated chest pain. Currently, there is a paucity of evidence regarding the effectiveness of emergency nurse practitioner service in rural emergency departments.

Creating an environment to implement and sustain evidence based practice: a developmental process.

Background: Elements of evidence based practice (EBP) are well described in the literature and achievement of EBP is frequently being cited as an organisational goal. Despite this, the practical processes and resources for achieving EBP are often not readily apparent, available or successful.

Purpose: To describe a multi-dimensional EBP program designed to incorporate evidence into practice to lead to sustainable improvement in patient care and ultimately patient outcome.

Diarrhoea risk factors in enterally tube fed critically ill patients: a retrospective audit.

Objective: Diarrhoea in the enterally tube fed (ETF) intensive care unit (ICU) patient is a multi-factorial problem. Diarrhoeal aetiologies in this patient cohort remain debatable; however, the consequences of diarrhoea have been well established and include electrolyte imbalance, dehydration, bacterial translocation, peri anal wound contamination and sleep deprivation. This study examined the incidence of diarrhoea and explored factors contributing to the development of diarrhoea in the ETF, critically ill, adult patient.

Probiotics and diarrhoea management in enterally tube fed critically ill patients--what is the evidence?

Objective: The aim of this literature review is to identify the role of probiotics in the management of enteral tube feeding (ETF) diarrhoea in critically ill patients.

Background: Diarrhoea is a common gastrointestinal problem seen in ETF patients. The incidence of diarrhoea in tube fed patients varies from 2% to 68% across all patients.