A Mobile App for Wound and Symptom Surveillance After Colorectal Surgery: Protocol for a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the most common nosocomial infection and occur in 16.3% of patients undergoing colorectal surgery at our institution (The Ottawa Hospital), the majority of which are identified after discharge from hospital. Patients who suspect having an SSI generally present to the emergency department or surgery clinic.

Comparing physical assessment with administrative data for detecting pressure ulcers in a large Canadian academic health sciences centre.

Objective: This study aimed to compare classification of pressure ulcers from administrative data with a gold standard assessment, specifically; pressure ulcers confirmed by an independent physical assessment performed by trained nurse surveyors.

Setting: A retrospective analysis of pooled cross-sectional samples of inpatients assessed across 3 consecutive prevalence surveys in a large academic health sciences centre between 2012 and 2013.

Participants: There were 2001 patients for whom physical and chart assessments were completed, and for whom a discharge abstract was also available at the time of analysis.

Decision support: helping patients and families to find a balance at the end of life.

Terminally ill patients and their families face many decisions at the end of life that can sometimes be overwhelming. Nurses play a key role in providing decision support so that patients and their families can make timely decisions about their health care that reflect their individual needs and circumstances. The Ottawa Decision Support Framework can help nurses to assess patients' decision-making needs, provide tailored decision support and evaluate the effect of their interventions.