Technology and Access to Healthcare with Different Scheduling Systems: A Scoping Review.

Objectives: Online consultation scheduling is increasingly common in health services across various countries. This paper reviews articles published in the past five years and reflects on the risks and benefits of this practice, linking it to a recent Portuguese pilot project.

Methods: A search for articles from Web of Science and Scopus published since 2018 was conducted using the terms "online scheduling," "online booking," and "consultations.

A randomised control trial protocol of MuST for vascular access cannulation in hemodialysis patients (MuST Study): contributions for a safe nursing intervention.

Background: The vascular access preservation and the maintenance of a complication-free fistula remains an Achilles' heel of hemodialysis in chronic kidney patients due to its substantial contribution to the morbidity and mortality. Systematic studies in the area of examining cannulation practices, achieving complication-free cannulation, and strategies to improve fistula survival are needed. For this reason, we consider it essential to create and investigate new methodologies for approaching fistula in patients on regular HD.

Safe Needling of Arteriovenous Fistulae in Patients on Hemodialysis: Literature Review and a New Approach.

Although buttonhole cannulation has some benefits compared to rope-ladder cannulation, the increase of infection rates represents a major obstacle to patient safety, and its use is questionable in routine clinic practice. On the other hand, rope-ladder cannulation is difficult to implement even with a prescribed protocol, leading the cannulator in daily practice to a possible use of the area technique. This article provides a reflection on the impact of cannulation technique on the safety of patients on regular hemodialysis treatment and describes a new approach for arteriovenous fistula cannulation, the Multiple Single Cannulation Technique (MuST).

The Stigma Experienced by Terminally Ill Patients: Evidence From a Portuguese Ethnographic Study.

The aim of this study was to offer an understanding of the ways in which terminally ill patients may face discrimination due to their visibly altered body. An ethnographic approach was adopted and fieldwork was conducted over 10 months in 2 inpatient hospice units in Portugal. Participant observation was complemented by 50 in-depth interviews with terminally ill patients, family members, and hospice staff.

In-patient hospice: A qualitative study with Portuguese patients, family and staff.

The present study aims to provide insights on the role of in-patient hospices, which are sometimes described as disconnecting spaces. Researchers complement participant observation with in-depth interviews with 10 hospice patients, 20 family members, and 20 members of hospice staff. The findings suggest that the hospice provides a space where patients could enjoy the company of their loved ones without concerns regarding the dying process.

Making sense of a changed physical body: why gender matters at end of life.

The bodily experience of patients near end of life has been presented within sociological literature as largely undifferentiated. The attempt of this paper is to overcome this gap by exploring how gender intersects with the loss of bodily autonomy experienced by hospice patients. The study was conducted in two in-patient hospice units located near Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.