The efficacy of earplugs and eye masks for delirium severity and sleep quality in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting in cardiac intensive care units: A single-blind, randomised controlled trial.

Background And Purpose: Delirium is a neuropsychiatric syndrome with a wide range of possible causes and multiple complications in patients admitted to intensive care units. It is, therefore, necessary to seek appropriate and safe strategies to prevent and manage delirium. This study is intended to examine the efficacy of eye masks and earplugs for delirium severity and sleep quality in patients with coronary artery bypass grafting in a cardiac intensive care unit.

The effect of melatonin on sleep quality and cognitive function of individuals undergoing hemodialysis.

Background: and purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effect of melatonin on sleep quality and cognitive function of individuals undergoing hemodialysis.

Materials And Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 102 eligible individuals were assigned to two equal intervention and control groups. The intervention group received melatonin 3 mg tablets half an hour before going to bed for six weeks, while the control group was given a placebo with similar conditions.

Depression and Sleep Quality among Iranian Women with Breast Cancer.

Background And Purpose: Breast cancer causes many psychological disorders such as sleep disturbances and depression. The current study was, therefore, intended to describe sleep quality and depression and to identify the association between these two psychological disorders among Iranian women with breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: This descriptive, analytical, cross-sectional study was carried out on 120 women with non-metastatic unilateral breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy in an outpatient chemotherapy unit of a major public hospital.

Nursing Students' Competency to Attend Disaster Situations: A Study in Western Iran.

Objective: The disaster preparedness of nurses is important as nurses are members of a health care team that needs to work systematically and collaboratively in all conditions. Although education and training naturally underpin effective practice, disaster nursing education is rarely provided to nurses in Iran. Because disaster situations, by definition, overwhelm health services, it is likely that nursing students will be required to join their colleagues in the response.

Development, Psychometric Testing, and Use of a Disaster Nursing Competency Scale in Iran: A Mixed Methods Study.

Nurses play an important role during disaster response and recovery. Few tools are available to assess the relative competence of nurses in disaster. This study aimed to develop, test, and evaluate a disaster nursing competency scale.

A Health Guidance App to Improve Motivation, Adherence to Lifestyle Changes and Indicators of Metabolic Disturbances among Japanese Civil Servants.

We investigated whether an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) application (app) motivated to increase adherence to lifestyle changes, and to improve indicators of metabolic disturbances among Japanese civil servants. A non-randomized, open-label, parallel-group study was conducted with 102 participants aged 20-65 years undergoing a health check during 2016-2017, having overweight and/or elevated glucose concentration. Among them, 63 participants chose Specific Health Guidance (SHG) and ongoing support incorporating the use of an app (ICT group) and 39 individuals chose only SHG (control group).

The impact of disasters on emergency department resources: review against the Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction 2015-2030.

Background: Emergency departments (EDs) are often first to feel the intra-hospital effects of disasters. Compromised care standards during disasters eventuate from increased demands on health resources; the facilities, supplies, equipment and manpower imperative for a functioning healthcare facility. Emergency departments must understand the effect of disasters on their health resources.

The association between social cohesion and community disaster resilience: A cross-sectional study.

A cross-sectional study design was created, using the Index of Perceived Community Resilience (IPCR) and Buckner's Index of Cohesion (BIC) to survey 386 flood evacuees from six communities in Kelantan, Malaysia, in 2015. The respondents were mostly female (54.7%); lived in basic housing (95.

Potential contaminants in rainwater after a bushfire.

Using roof harvested rainwater held in domestic rainwater tanks is a common practice in Australia, particularly in rural areas. This rainwater might become contaminated with ash and other contaminants during or after a bushfire. Current advice from Australian Health Departments can include the recommendation that landholders drain their tanks after a bushfire, which can cause additional distress to landholders who have already been through a traumatic event.

Existing Approaches to Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Education and Training for Health Professionals: Findings from an Integrative Literature Review.

Objectives: This review was conducted to explore the literature to determine the availability, content, and evaluation of existing chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) education programs for health professionals.

Methods: An integrative review of the international literature describing disaster education for CBRN (2004-2016) was conducted. The following relevant databases were searched: Proquest, Pubmed, Science Direct, Scopus, Journals @ OVID, Google Scholar, Medline, and Ichuschi ver.

Why a disaster is not just normal business ramped up: Disaster response among ED nurses.

Background: The emergency department (ED) is a familiar place for the emergency nurse who spends their working days inside it. A disaster threatens that familiarity and creates changes that make working in the ED during a disaster response different from the everyday experience of working in the ED.

Methods: This research reports on an aspect of the findings from a larger study about the experience of working as a nurse in the ED during a disaster response.

The Concomitant Use of Diuretics, Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, and Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors or Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (Triple Whammy), Extreme Heat, and In-Hospital Acute Kidney Injury in Older Medical Patients.

Introduction: We investigated whether the concomitant use of diuretics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (triple whammy, TW) predicts in-hospital acute kidney injury (AKI) and whether admission during recorded periods of extreme heat influences this association.

Methods: We retrospectively collected data on patient characteristics and use of TW/non-TW drugs on admission, AKI (increase in serum creatinine ≥ 27 µmol/l either within the first 48 h of admission or throughout hospitalization, primary outcome), length of stay (LOS), and mortality (secondary outcomes) in medical patients ≥65 years admitted (1) during five consecutive heat waves (HWs) between 2007 and 2009 (n = 382) or (2) either before or after each HW, matched for HW period, age, and admission day of the week (non-HW, controls, n = 1339).

Results: Number of TW and non-TW drugs, co-morbidities, number of daily admissions, incidence of in-hospital AKI, LOS, and mortality were similar in the HW and non-HW groups.

Psychotropics, Environmental Temperature, and Hospital Outcomes in Older Medical Patients.

Purpose: The authors investigated whether the use of psychotropics and environmental temperature on admission influence hospital length of stay (LOS) and mortality in older medical patients.

Methods: Clinical and demographic characteristics, Charlson Comorbidity Index, use of psychotropic and nonpsychotropic drugs, hospital LOS, and mortality were retrospectively collected in medical patients 65 years and older (n = 382) admitted to a metropolitan teaching hospital during 5 consecutive heat waves (HWs) between 2007 and 2009. Patients admitted either before or after each HW, matched for HW period, age, and admission day of the week, served as controls (non-HW, n = 1339).

Factors enabling women with pelvic organ prolapse to seek surgery at mobile surgical camps in two remote districts in Nepal: a qualitative study.

Background: Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a major reproductive health problem in Nepal, though many women delay seeking treatment. To address this, the Nepalese government has been providing free vaginal hysterectomies with pelvic floor repair to women in mobile surgical camps. Studies exploring factors that enable women to attend these camp settings are limited.

Perinatal outcomes among young Indigenous Australian mothers: A cross-sectional study and comparison with adult Indigenous mothers.

Background: The teenage pregnancy rate is high among Indigenous Australian women, yet little is known about their pregnancy outcomes. Moreover, against a background of extreme social disadvantage, the relative importance of age as a risk factor for adverse outcomes among Indigenous pregnancies is unclear. We compared perinatal outcomes for Indigenous teenagers (<20 years) with adult Indigenous women (20-34 years), and described outcomes in subgroups of teenagers.

Opportunities for general practitioners to enhance disaster preparedness among vulnerable patients.

Disasters occur frequently in Australia and will become more unpredictable and severe due to climate change. Some members of the Australian population, such as the elderly, the chronically ill and the socially isolated, are less likely to be prepared and more likely to be adversely affected by disasters. Although general practitioners (GPs) view the delivery of preventive health care as a priority, few preventive services focus on patients' resilience and ability to cope with unexpected stressors.

Heat Waves, Drugs with Anticholinergic Effects, and Outcomes in Older Hospitalized Adults.

Objectives: To determine whether heat waves (HWs) affect exposure to drugs with anticholinergic effects (DACEs) on admission and the effect of such on length of stay (LOS) and in-hospital mortality in older adults.

Design: Retrospective.

Setting: Metropolitan teaching hospital.

Nurses' Job satisfaction: an Italian study.

Background: The aim of the work presented was to assess job satisfaction of a number of nurses from different departments working in public hospitals in Italy. The assessment was carried out through the combined use of questionnaires, which measured different aspects of job satisfaction, such as coping abilities, stress level and optimism/pessimism. The literature supports the fact that nurses' job dissatisfaction is closely connected with high levels of stress, burnout and physical and mental exhaustion, together with high workload levels and the complexity of care.

Remote links: Redesigning maternity care for Aboriginal women from remote communities in Northern Australia - A comparative cohort study.

Objective: to compare the quality of care before and after the introduction of the new Midwifery Group Practice.

Design: a cohort study.

Setting: the health centers (HCs) in two of the largest remote Aboriginal communities (population 2200-2600) in the Top End of the Northern Territory (NT), each located approximately 500km from Darwin.

International Consensus on Key Concepts and Data Definitions for Mass-gathering Health: Process and Progress.

Mass gatherings (MGs) occur worldwide on any given day, yet mass-gathering health (MGH) is a relatively new field of scientific inquiry. As the science underpinning the study of MGH continues to develop, there will be increasing opportunities to improve health and safety of those attending events. The emerging body of MG literature demonstrates considerable variation in the collection and reporting of data.