Evaluation of soluble CD163 as a marker of inflammation in psoriasis.

A reliable biomarker of disease activity in psoriasis would be helpful for management, especially if this gave early information on treatment efficacy. This study investigated whether serum levels of soluble (s)CD163 correlated with psoriasis activity as assessed by the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI). CD163, a glycoprotein molecule expressed on macrophages and dendritic cells, is cleaved from the surface of these cells in some inflammatory diseases, and sCD163 levels have been shown to correlate with disease activity in other disorders.

The use of pressure and silicone in hypertrophic scar management in burns patients: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

This pilot study investigates whether pressure and silicone therapy used simultaneously are more effective in treating multiple characteristics of hypertrophic scars than pressure alone. A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted. Twenty-two participants with hypertrophic burn scars were randomized to receive Jobskin pressure garments and Mepiform silicone sheeting or Jobskin pressure garments alone.

Sclerodermatous chronic graft-versus-host disease--a report of four pediatric cases.

The sclerodermatous variant of chronic graft-versus-host disease postallogeneic bone marrow transplantation is rare. We present four pediatric cases of sclerodermatous variant of chronic graft-versus-host disease describing their clinical appearance, management, and outcomes. We compare the pharmacologic and supportive therapies administered to these patients with the management suggested in the current literature.

The clinical effect of topical phenytoin on wound healing: a systematic review.

Background: Oral phenytoin was first introduced as an antiseizure medication in 1937. Over 60 years investigators have shown an interest in how topical phenytoin may be used to promote wound healing in a variety of chronic wounds.

Objectives: Systematically to identify, summarize and critically appraise the clinical evidence available on the effects of topical phenytoin on wound healing.

Developing a qualitative approach to 360-degree feedback to aid understanding and development of clinical expertise.

Aim: This paper presents one aspect of a 5-year multicentre action research study to develop an accreditation process for clinical nursing expertise. Part of the process consisted of the exploration, critique and refinement of qualitative 360-degree feedback as a tool for peer review.

Background: Three hundred and sixty-degree feedback is widely used as a personal and professional development strategy.

An exploration of the factor structure of the nursing work index.

Rationale: The nurse shortage is increasing in the developed world. Organisational context is important in determining issues associated with nurse shortages, such as retention, recruitment, and job satisfaction. Recent research has utilised the Nursing Work Index-Revised (NWI-R) as a measure of organisational context traits.

Voriconazole-induced pseudoporphyria.

Pseudoporphyria is a bullous photosensitivity, the commonest aetiology being secondary to various ingested medications. Voriconazole is a relatively new second-generation triazole antifungal agent. There have only been two reports of pseudoporphyria secondary to voriconazole.

Development of a framework for person-centred nursing.

Unlabelled: This paper presents the development and content of a person-centred nursing framework.

Background And Rationale: Person-centred is a widely used concept in nursing and health care generally, and a range of literature articulates key components of person-centred nursing. This evidence base highlights the links between this approach and previous work on therapeutic caring.

Developing postoperative pain management: utilising the promoting action on research implementation in health services (PARIHS) framework.

Background: The development of acute pain services (APS), education programmes, and protocols assumed an expectation that health care professionals would integrate evidence into everyday practice. However, research evidence into pain management would suggest that this is not the case.

Approach: Through a review of the literature, the authors aim to (1) explore the factors that have a significant influence on getting evidence into practice (using the PARIHS model as a guide) and (2) examine the relevance of these factors to postoperative pain practices.

Management of blast injuries and shock lung.

Purpose Of Review: Blast injuries have always occurred both in civilian life and as acts of war or terrorism. Nowadays, the risk of being involved in an explosion has increased even for those living in countries with no previous experience of such events. It is our intention that this review is of assistance to those providing emergency/critical care to patients who have sustained blast injuries.

Determining factors that have an impact upon effective evidence-based pain management with older people, following colorectal surgery: an ethnographic study.

Aim: The aim of this project was to examine pain management practices with older people admitted to the colorectal unit of an acute hospital trust.

Background: Although pain assessment and management are judged to be a priority, little research has examined the care older people receive in the acute surgical setting. Thus, pain in older people (65 years and over) can be under recognized and unrelieved.

Association of the G4 rotavirus genotype with gastroenteritis in adults.

Rotavirus is the most common etiological cause of acute viral gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide, yet its role in the adult population is less well understood. We have recently identified rotavirus as the causative agent of severe diarrhea in adults, specifically in two gastroenteritis outbreaks in separate care for the elderly homes. Strain typing has shown the continued presence of P[8]G1, the emergence of P[8]G9, and the reemergence of P[8]G4.

Imported malaria to Northern Ireland: improving surveillance for better intervention.

Malaria is a preventable disease, which is under notified in the U.K. This study sought to evaluate the current surveillance arrangements in Northern Ireland (NI), describe the epidemiology of malaria and make appropriate recommendations.

An evaluation of the role of the clinical education facilitator.

Aims And Objectives: The objective of the study was to identify whether clinical education facilitators made a difference to the learning experiences of nurses in a large teaching hospital.

Background: Strategies for enabling continuous professional development are well established in health care organizations as key components of approaches to lifelong learning. The benefits of continuous professional development include the maintenance of high standards of care, the improvement and development of services, ensuring the competency of all nursing staff and guaranteeing the accountability of nurses for their actions.

Plasma concentrations of glucagon-like peptide-2 in adult patients with treated and untreated coeliac disease.

Background: Coeliac disease is a common chronic inflammatory enteropathy characterized by villous atrophy and crypt hyperplasia in the small intestine. The mechanism of the intestinal damage in coeliac disease remains unclear. Glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-2 is an enterotrophic peptide that causes crypt hyperplasia and intestinal cell proliferation.

A qualitative study of the experiences of patients following transfer from intensive care.

In nursing literature much attention has been paid to patients' experiences while in intensive care. Extensive literature exists examining the longer-term effects of critical care [Jones C, Humphris GM, Griffiths RD. Psychological morbidity following critical illness - the rationale for care after intensive care.

A literature review exploring how healthcare professionals contribute to the assessment and control of postoperative pain in older people.

Little research has examined the care older people receive in the acute surgical setting. Although pain assessment and management are judged to be a priority in nursing, often pain, in older people, is undermanaged for a variety of reasons. Factors such as stoicism, communication and ageism can shape both the patients' and nurses' attitude towards the perception of pain which subsequently affects pain management.

Community psychiatric nursing: focus on effectiveness.

The focus for provision of mental health services is now the community in most developed countries. Different ways of organizing community mental health services are evident in the literature. Community psychiatric nurses (CPNs) have a key role to play in these services but the literature indicates that the CPN role varies from area to area within different models of service provision.

Optimum sedation and analgesia in critical illness: we need to keep trying.

Many studies have documented patients' distressing recollections of the intensive care unit (ICU). The study by van de Leur and colleagues, conducted in a group of surgical ICU patients with moderate severity of sickness, found that the frequency of such unpleasant memories was increased in those able to recall factual information about their stay in the ICU. The study did not include sedation scoring but it did use a simple tool to assess factual recall.

A touchdown nucleic acid amplification protocol as an alternative to culture backup for immunofluorescence in the routine diagnosis of acute viral respiratory tract infections.

Background: Immunofluorescence and virus culture are the main methods used to diagnose acute respiratory virus infections. Diagnosing these infections using nucleic acid amplification presents technical challenges, one of which is facilitating the different optimal annealing temperatures needed for each virus. To overcome this problem we developed a diagnostic molecular strip which combined a generic nested touchdown protocol with in-house primer master-mixes that could recognise 12 common respiratory viruses.

Person-centredness in gerontological nursing: an overview of the literature.

Person-centred practice is a recurring theme in gerontological nursing literature. While there are many descriptive accounts of attempts at developing person-centred practice, in reality, there are few studies that identify the benefits of this way of working. Thus far, systematic research into person-centred nursing practice is poorly developed.