Development of a complex intervention to prevent delirium in older hospitalized patients by optimizing discharge and transfer processes and involving caregivers: A multi-method study.

Background: Delirium is a common yet challenging condition in older hospitalized patients, associated with various adverse outcomes. Environmental factors, such as room changes, may contribute to the development or severity of delirium. Most previous research has focused on preventing and reducing this condition by addressing risk factors and facilitating reorientation during hospital stay.

Validation of a telephone-based administration of the simplified nutritional appetite questionnaire.

Background: Anorexia of aging is characterized by an age-associated reduction of appetite, whose aetiology in most cases is multifactorial and which often triggers malnutrition. The Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ) is an established screening tool. This study aimed to investigate reliability, validity, and feasibility of its telephone administration (T-SNAQ) in German community-dwelling older adults.

Selecting a Bedside Cognitive Vital Sign to Monitor Cognition in Hospital: Feasibility, Reliability, and Responsiveness of Logical Memory.

Although there is a high prevalence of delirium and cognitive impairment among hospitalised older adults, short, reliable cognitive measures are rarely used to monitor cognition and potentially alert healthcare professionals to early changes that might signal delirium. We evaluated the reliability, responsiveness, and feasibility of logical memory (LM), immediate verbal recall of a short story, compared to brief tests of attention as a bedside "cognitive vital sign" (CVS). Trained nursing staff performed twice-daily cognitive assessments on 84 clinically stable inpatients in two geriatric units over 3-5 consecutive days using LM and short tests of attention and orientation including months of the year backwards.

Assessing suitability for sacubitril-valsartan therapy in an Irish cohort: challenges and opportunities.

Introduction: Sacubitril-valsartan has been shown by the PARADIGM-HF trial to decrease hospital admissions and improve mortality in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. The PARADIGM trial had stringent exclusion criteria. It is not known how applicable these trial criteria are to real-life practice.

Implementing an electronic clinical handover system in a university teaching hospital.

Introduction: Clinical handover is defined as inter-clinician communication occurring at care interfaces. In this study, we analyse the clinical outcomes and physician attitudes associated with the implementation of a electronic clinical handover system in our medical department.

Aim: The aim of this project was to introduce a reliable, standardised, reproducible method of communicating information regarding inpatients within our medical department.