Spinal injuries in an airplane crash: a description of incidence, morphology, and injury mechanism.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort.

Objective: Spinal injuries of the survivors of an airplane crash are described. On the basis of injury morphology and knowledge of the conditions of the accident, injury mechanisms are described and prevention measures are discussed.

Feasibility of a nursing intervention to prepare frail older patients for cardiac surgery: a mixed-methods study.

Background: Given the growing number of vulnerable, older cardiac surgery patients, the preadmission PREvention Decline in Older Cardiac Surgery patients (PREDOCS) programme was developed to reduce the incidence of postoperative complications. Before the clinical effects of such a complex multicomponent intervention can be evaluated, the feasibility needs to be determined to detect possible problems with the acceptability, compliance and delivery.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to test the PREDOCS programme on its feasibility and estimate theoretical cost savings.

Development of a nursing intervention to prepare frail older patients for cardiac surgery (the PREDOCS programme), following phase one of the guidelines of the Medical Research Council.

Background: In older patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery, the timely identification and preparation of patients at risk for frequent postoperative hospital complications provide opportunities to reduce the risk of these complications.

Aims: We developed an evidence-based, multi-component nursing intervention (Prevention of Decline in Older Cardiac Surgery Patients; the PREDOCS programme) for application in the preadmission period to improve patients' physical and psychosocial condition to reduce their risk of postoperative complications. This paper describes in detail the process used to design and develop this multi-component intervention.