Care delays in patients with signs and symptoms of acute myocardial infarction.

Aim: More than six million patients with signs and symptoms suggestive of a heart attack present to emergency departments (EDs) in the US each year. Of those diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), one third die in the acute phase. Rapid ED triage can reduce the mortality rate, yet there are still delays in patient care.

Hospital pharmacy staffing levels in England: has anything changed in the last 5 years?

Objective: To undertake an analysis of hospital pharmacy staffing levels in England comparing national and regional averages for 2007/2008 and 2012/2013.

Methods: Individual hospital pharmacy staffing establishment data were extracted from the National Health Service (NHS) Pharmacy Education and Development Committee's National NHS Pharmacy Staffing Establishment and Vacancy Survey for 2007/2008 and 2012/2013. Hospital activity data for the 2 years were extracted from the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre website.

Accuracy in ED Triage for Symptoms of Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Unlabelled: More than 6 million people present to emergency departments across the United States annually with symptoms of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Of the 1 million patients with AMI, 350,000 die during the acute phase. Accurate ED triage can reduce mortality and morbidity, yet accuracy rates are low.

Making better decisions during triage.

Interactions between nurses and patients during triage are crucial if the urgency of patient need is to be assessed accurately. This article reports on the results of a study of emergency nurses' perspectives and experience of triage in the United States. Findings indicate that triage encounters are multifaceted and that emergency nurses require experience as well as knowledge to make good decisions.

Safety and efficacy of interrupted dabigatran for peri-procedural anticoagulation in catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aims: To examine the safety (defined as bleeding risk) and efficacy (defined as prevention of thromboembolic events) of interrupted dabigatran for peri-procedural anticoagulation in catheter ablation (CA) of atrial fibrillation (AF) in comparison with warfarin.

Methods And Results: Reviewers independently searched literature databases from January 2010 through April 2013 for studies comparing the safety and efficacy of dabigatran and warfarin in CA of AF and extracted pre-defined data. The Mantel-Haenszel method was used to pool data of bleeding and thromboembolism outcomes into random and fixed effect model meta-analyses, respectively.

Outcomes of national community organization cardiovascular prevention programs for high-risk women.

The purpose of this study was to reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in women by implementing a cardiovascular prevention health promotion program in faith- and community-based sites. The primary outcomes were reducing obesity and increasing physical activity. A longitudinal cohort of high-risk (age > 40, ethnic minority) women (n = 1,052) was enrolled at 32 sites across the USA.

Attitudes, practices, and concerns about child feeding and child weight status among socioeconomically diverse white, Hispanic, and African-American mothers.

Parents play an important role in the development of their children's eating behaviors. We conducted 12 focus groups (three white, three African-American, and three Hispanic-American low-income groups; three white middle-income groups) of mothers (N=101) of 2- to less than 5-year-old children to explore maternal attitudes, concerns, and practices related to child feeding and perceptions about child weight. We identified the following major themes from responses to our standardized focus group guide: 12 groups wanted to provide good nutrition, and most wanted children to avoid eating too many sweets and processed foods; 12 groups prepared foods their children liked, accommodated specific requests, and used bribes and rewards to accomplish their feeding goals (sweets were commonly used as bribes, rewards, or pacifiers); and 11 of 12 groups believed their children were prevaricating when they said they were full and mothers encouraged them to eat more.

A community-based intervention for siblings and parents of children with chronic illness or disability: the ISEE study.

Objective: Siblings of children with chronic illness or disability have been reported to have a 1.6 to 2.0 risk for behavioral and mental health problems.

Interrelationships among variables affecting well siblings and mothers in families of children with a chronic illness or disability.

A structural equation model (SEM) examined interrelationships among psychosocial variables known to affect the health and development of well siblings and parents when a child with a chronic illness or disability is a member of the family. Using dyads of 252 well children and parents, socioeconomic status (SES) and family cohesion were associated with the parent-reported behavior of the well sibling. SES also influenced the mood of the mother that in turn influenced family cohesion.