Napping during breaks on night shift: critical care nurse managers' perceptions.

Background: Fatigue associated with shiftwork can threaten the safety and health of nurses and the patients in their care. Napping during night shift breaks has been shown to be an effective strategy to decrease fatigue and enhance performance in a variety of work environments, but appears to have mixed support within health care.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore critical care unit managers'perceptions of and experiences with their nursing staff's napping practices on night shift, including their perceptions of the benefits and barriers to napping/not napping in terms of patient safety and nurses'personal health and safety.

Benefits of napping on night shifts.

Many nurses deliver care when they are fatigued and sleep deprived, which may place them and patients at risk. A qualitative study found restorative napping on breaks during night shifts helped to improve energy, mood, decision-making and vigilance. This article looks at the benefits night napping can offer nurses doing shift work.

Napping during night shift: practices, preferences, and perceptions of critical care and emergency department nurses.

Background: Nurses working night shifts are at risk for sleep deprivation, which threatens patient and nurse safety. Little nursing research has addressed napping, an effective strategy to improve performance, reduce fatigue, and increase vigilance.

Objective: To explore nurses' perceptions, experiences, barriers, and safety issues related to napping/not napping during night shift.

Family presence during resuscitation: Canadian critical care nurses' perspectives.

Purpose: As part of a larger online survey examining the practices and preferences of Canadian critical care nurses regarding family presence during resuscitation (FPDR) of adult family members, the purpose of the study was to explicate salient issues about the practice of FPDR identified by nurses who responded to the qualitative portion of the survey.

Design: Descriptive, qualitative.

Methods: As part of an online survey, participants were given the opportunity to provide qualitative comments about their personal or professional experiences with FPDR.

Family presence during resuscitation: a survey of Canadian critical care nurses' practices and perceptions.

Background: The practice of allowing family members to be present at the bedside during cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a controversial one and represents a paradigm shift among health care providers. To date, no research has examined this issue from the perspective of Canadian critical care nurses.

Objectives: This research was undertaken to identify the practices and preferences of Canadian critical care nurses regarding family presence during resuscitation (FPDR), the extent to which formal FPDR policies exist in hospitals, and the level of awareness among members of the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses (CACCN) regarding CACCN's position statement on FPDR.

Are patients with hyperlipidemia undertreated? Study of patients admitted to hospital with coronary events.

Objective: To identify patients admitted to hospital with coronary events and to estimate their pre-admission coronary risk, including their lipid levels. Despite the available data and numerous guidelines, evidence indicates that many patients with hyperlipidemia are undertreated and are not achieving target lipid levels.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Client and responder perceptions of a personal emergency response system: Lifeline.

A mixed methodology mail survey was used to gauge level of customer satisfaction with, and identify issues that may help improve, personal emergency response system service delivery. A total of 1,236 surveys were mailed out to subscribers of Victoria Lifeline (Canada; n = 618) and their designated responders (n = 618). Overall response rate was 50%.

A multimethod approach to evaluate chemical dot thermometers for oral temperature measurement.

Limited research has explored the accuracy of chemical dot thermometers for oral temperature measurement in adults. This study was undertaken to assess the agreement between oral temperatures taken with an electronic thermometer and single-use chemical dot thermometers in healthy women undergoing surgical delivery. During operative delivery, oral temperatures taken every 15 minutes with both the reference electronic thermometer (ETT) and a Tempa.

Effectiveness of femoral nerve blockade for pain control after total knee arthroplasty.

Control of postoperative pain is a major concern for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The purpose of this study was to investigate pain control and opioid use, as well as length of stay, ambulation time, antiemetic use, and degree of mobilization for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, comparing those receiving femoral nerve block (FNB) to those receiving no femoral nerve block. Using retrospective patient record data, 133 subjects from an acute care community hospital in western Canada were split into three groups: no FNB (control group, n = 49), single-shot FNB (n = 33), and continuous FNB (n = 51).

Maternal and newborn outcomes related to maternal warming during cesarean delivery.

Objective: To compare two methods of maternal warming during cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia on maternal and newborn outcomes.

Design: Randomized control trial.

Setting: Two acute care hospitals in central Canada.

The effect of urine flow rate on urinary bladder temperature in critically ill adults.

Objective: This study determined the effect of urine flow rate on bladder temperature in critically ill adults.

Design: The design was pretest-posttest quasi-experimental.

Setting: The study took place at a tertiary care center in western Washington.

Monitoring bladder temperatures in the OR.

Temperature monitoring via the urinary bladder has become common in the OR, often replacing monitoring at the rectal site. A systematic, integrated review and synthesis of the literature was undertaken to assess the validity of using the urinary bladder as a site for temperature measurement in the OR. During steady thermal states, bladder temperature performed well, providing temperatures similar to those of core sites.

Monitoring urinary bladder temperature in the intensive care unit: state of the science.

Body temperature of patients in critical care units can be monitored with a variety of devices and at a variety of body sites. In recent years, monitoring of urinary bladder temperature has become more common. Temperature-sensing indwelling urinary catheters allow continuous drainage of urine and continuous measurement of body temperature.