Cytisine inhibits the anticonvulsant activity of phenytoin and lamotrigine in mice.

Background: Cytisine (CYT), the most commonly used drug for smoking cessation in Poland, was experimentally found to induce convulsions. There is a lack of studies on the influence of CYT on the anticonvulsant activity of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).

Methods: The effects of CYT on the anticonvulsant activity of six AEDs were examined in maximal electroshock (MES)-induced seizures in mice.

Glycated hemoglobin, diabetes treatment and cancer risk in type 2 diabetes. A case-control study.

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of some types of cancer. Diabetes treatment may also modify cancer risk.

Objective: The aim of this retrospective, case-control study was to assess whether HbA1c level and use of anti-diabetic drugs are associated with cancer development in a diabetic population.

What Polish hospital healthcare workers and lay persons know about counterfeit medicine products?

Aim: To report on Polish hospital health care workers' and lay persons' knowledge about counterfeit medicine products.

Materials And Methods: Cross-sectional design was used. Two types of questionnaire survey about counterfeit medicine, separate for health care professionals and lay persons were completed by 201 physicians and nurses, and 450 adult Polish residents between October 2008 and January 2009.

Concurrent evaluation of data quality, reliability and validity of the Australian/Canadian Osteoarthritis Hand Index and the Functional Index for Hand Osteoarthritis.

Objectives: Concurrent evaluation of data quality, internal consistency, test-retest reliability and validity of two patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for measuring functional impairment in hand OA (HOA); the Australian/Canadian Osteoarthritis Hand Index (AUSCAN; 15 items) and the Functional Index of HOA (FIHOA; 10 items).

Methods: Patients from an HOA cohort [n=128, mean age 68.6 (s.

The quality of home care nurses' documentation in new electronic patient records.

Aims: The present study explores how community nurses addressed patient care in the EPR and the comprehensiveness of their documentation.

Background: The need for comprehensive nursing documentation in home health care is considerable and quality is regarded as a prerequisite for continuity of care. Documentation according to the nursing process is considered to be of good quality due to its logical structure.

The role of nursing in the rehabilitation of stroke survivors: an extended theoretical account.

This article provides a critique and theoretical extension of a work that sought to describe the contribution of nurses to stroke rehabilitation. At the time, the role of nursing was considered important but therapeutically nonspecific. Stroke nursing research has increased significantly and so has research focusing on the patient experiences of the adjustment and rehabilitation processes following a stroke.

Pelvic girdle pain, clinical tests and disability in late pregnancy.

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to explore the associations between pain locations, responses to the posterior pelvic pain provocation (P4) test, responses to the active straight leg raise (ASLR) test and disability in late pregnancy. 283 women in gestation week 30 (mean age 31.3 years; 59% nullipara) completed a questionnaire (including pain drawing and Disability Rating Index, DRI).

Estimating the cost of professional developmental activities in health organizations.

Continuing professional development and a lifelong learning perspective are necessary as a consequence of ever-faster processes of development in nursing and medical knowledge, and changes in health care systems and strategies. The necessity to use time for professional development to secure and develop quality in care must be defended. As a consequence, there is a need for knowledge about the cost of professional development activities.

The complexity of the relationship between chronic pain and quality of life: a study of the general Norwegian population.

Purpose: The aims of this paper were to evaluate the relationship between chronic pain and global quality of life (GQOL) and to explore the effect of possible confounders, mediators, and moderators such as selected demographic variables, chronic illnesses, stress-related symptoms, fatigue, and subjective health of the relationship between chronic pain and GQOL.

Methods: We used a cross-sectional design, including 1,893 respondents from a population of 4,000 of Norwegian citizens, aged 19-81 years, who were randomly drawn from the National Register by Statistics Norway in November 2000 (48.5%).

Comprehensiveness of EPR documentation by home care nurses.

Nursing documentation of home health care was audited in a sample of 91 electronic patient records. The audit showed that documentation by home care nurses was unstructured and incomplete in terms of the nursing process. This supports similar findings from earlier research, and prompts questions about the feasibility of the nursing process as a framework for nursing documentation in practice.

Personal health notes: lessons learned.

The health care system is characterized by fragmentation and specialization which challenge the possibility for patients to be well-informed about and involved in their health care. The present study contributes to an in-depth understanding of how we can use patients' own personal health notes to learn about the health care information system and patients' experience of multiple encounters. The personal health note shows different aspects of the health care labyrinths considering the inconsistency as well as discontinuity of the information.

Severity of illness - implications for information management by patients.

As more and more people are living with chronic diseases, there is a greater need for patients to have access to accurate and reliable information about health in general and their own health care in particular. In this study we explored how patients suffering from chronic heart insufficiency who needed post-hospital home nursing care assessed their need for health information and their use of the health information they received. Fourteen patients were interviewed in their homes one week after their discharge.

Impact of finger rings on transmission of bacteria during hand contact.

Objective: To investigate the impact of finger rings on the transmission of bacteria from the hands of healthcare workers and the impact on the microflora on the hands of healthcare workers in clinical practice.

Design: Our study had a nonequivalent control group posttest-only design (pre-experimental). Healthcare workers who wore finger ring(s) on 1 hand and no ring on the other hand (n = 100) and a control group of healthcare workers who did not wear any rings (n = 100) exchanged standardized hand shakes with an investigator wearing sterile gloves.

Prognostic factors for recovery from postpartum pelvic girdle pain.

Pelvic girdle pain (PGP) has a high incidence during pregnancy and in some women pain will persist for years. Most studies have used pain as the outcome measure, and little attention is given to functioning or disability. A better understanding of prognostic factors for recovery seems important for clinical care and treatment.

Unfolding the invisible of the visible: gendered constructions of patient participation.

The article draws attention to the unexploited potentials in using visuals within nursing research and especially in using visuals as data. Initially, the authors give a brief description of what is meant by visual research methods and present a short overview of the different approaches that are possible. Visual methodologies are situated within different theoretical frames, often within a postmodern framework.

Patients' experiences of waiting for a liver transplantation.

Organ transplantation has increased worldwide while the number of organ donors have not increased similarly. Consequently, the waiting period for transplant candidates is prolonged. Patient narratives have uncovered physical and psychosocial suffering in the transplantation process.

Service quality in hospital wards with different nursing organization: nurses' ratings.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study to assess: (1) the relations between nursing organization models in hospital wards and nurses' perception of the quality of patient care and dimensions of the practice environment, and (2) if these relations were modified by variations in local conditions at the ward level.

Background: Previous literature is inconclusive concerning what model of nursing organization maximizes the quality of nursing services.

Method: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in a representative sample of Norwegian hospital wards in 2005.

The Norwegian teaching home program: developing a model for systematic practice development in the nursing home sector.

Background.  In the mid-1990s, there was persistent critique of the quality of care provided in residential aged care facilities in Norway, in line with similar concerns expressed in many other countries. Difficulties recruiting qualified staff and high turnover led to difficult working conditions.

I am almost like a fish: an investigation of how children with congenital heart disease experience and perform movement in daily life.

Background: Because of dramatic medical improvements, most children with congenital heart disease (CHD) survive into adulthood. Nevertheless, they remain in need of long-term health care. Living with CHD implies having diminished aerobic capacity.

Living with a fluctuating illness of ankylosing spondylitis: a qualitative study.

Objective: To examine the relationship between illness fluctuations and how people with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) adapt to everyday life situations.

Methods: Twelve respondents, 8 women and 4 men, age 30-59 years with an AS duration of 6 months to 40 years participated in qualitative interviews. They were asked to give examples of how they lived their everyday life during good and bad times of illness.

Development of parent-nurse relationships in neonatal intensive care units--from closeness to detachment.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study to explore the development of relationships between parents and nurses in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Background: As increasingly smaller premature babies survive, the prolonged hospitalization that follows makes relationships between parents and nurses crucial. A collaborative partnership in which all the family members' needs are acknowledged is suggested as the best approach.

Clinical significance of specific spinal mobilization for patients with ankylosing spondylitis evaluated by quantitative assessments and patient interviews.

Purpose: To assess individual responses to specific spinal mobilization (SSM) in terms of spinal mobility, perceived stiffness, pain and activities of daily living (ADL) in patients with Ankylosis Spondylitis (AS), and whether and how interviews supported or supplemented the quantitative results.

Methods: Spinal mobility was recorded by the fingertip-to-floor distance, the Modified Schober Test, myerinometer, and the chest expansion test. The measures corresponding to sites targeted by SSM was used as effect variables, and the other as control variables.

The significance of peer relationships to thriving in nursing homes.

Aim And Objective: The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe nursing home residents' perceptions of the significance of relationships with peer residents to their experience of thriving.

Background: Interactions between nursing home residents are limited. Knowledge about the importance of peer interactions to the residents' experiences of thriving is scarce.