Self management of haemodialysis for End Stage Renal Disease: a systematic review.

Background: Exploring self management in End Stage Renal Disease is extremely important for patients as they encounter several challenges including ongoing symptoms, complex treatments and restrictions, uncertainty about life and a dependency on technology, all of which impact upon their autonomy particularly after commencement of haemodialysis.

Objective: To summarise the effects of nursing interventions which effect selfmanagement of haemodialysis for patients with End Stage Renal Disease.

Search Strategy: Search terms were chosen after reviewing text words and MeSH terms in relevant articles and databases.

The effect of Personal Digital Assistants in supporting the development of clinical reasoning in undergraduate nursing students: a systematic review.

Background: The objective of this review was to determine whether the use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) would provide greater support in developing undergraduate nursing students' clinical reasoning, in comparison to more traditional resources such as textbooks.

Search Strategy: The search strategy sought to identify published data from five electronic databases: CINAHL, Medline, Cochrane Library, Meditext and Scopus. Unpublished literature was also sought in digital dissertations, conference proceedings, relevant scholarly websites and reference lists.

A qualitative systematic review on the experiences of self-management in community-dwelling older women living with chronic illnesses.

Background: With the risk of chronic conditions increasing with age, older women are likely to have co-morbid chronic conditions. In addition, they may have to contend with socioeconomic issues unique to their gender which can challenge their self-management.

Objective: The aim of the systematic review was to determine the best available evidence related to the experiences of self-management among community-dwelling older women with chronic conditions, specifically non-communicable illnesses which include cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes mellitus and arthritis.

Acute adverse reactions of rapid Rituximab infusion among adult patients with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

Background: Rapid Rituximab infusion has become increasingly popular globally. Although pharmaceutical manufacturers recommend second and subsequent infusions to run over 2-3 hours, many cancer centres have changed their clinical practice based on their own research and the results from other primary studies. Such research studies claim that it is safe to administer Rituximab rapidly among cancer patients especially in Non Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL).

The needs and experiences of people with a diagnosis of skin cancer: a systematic review.

Executive Summary: Background Skin cancer is the most common cancer in Caucasians and the incidence is increasing worldwide. There has been no qualitative systematic review looking at the needs and experiences of patients through the skin cancer journey.Objectives The main objective of this systematic review was to identify, appraise and synthesise the literature relating to the needs and experiences of people with a diagnosis of skin cancer.

Effectiveness of educational interventions to promote oral hypoglycaemic adherence in adults with Type 2 diabetes: a systematic review.

Executive Summary: Background As a chronic condition, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is increasing worldwide and adherence to oral medications, an essential component of self-management, has been shown to improve glycaemic control. However compliance with oral medication adherence remains poor. Educating people with Type 2 diabetes is an important strategy to enhance self-management ability, including medication-taking behaviour.

The effectiveness of interventions to reduce undernutrition and promote eating in older adults with dementia: A systematic review.

Background Older adults with dementia may have feeding difficulties for several reasons: they may experience deterioration in motor and cognitive skills making eating difficult, they may forget to eat, fail to recognise food or they may suffer from dysphagia. Food intake is often poor and malnutrition is common, leading to adverse health outcomes.This review specifically focussed on how best to promote and achieve 'normal' eating and feeding in older adults with dementia, in order that undernutrition and its consequences could be avoided.

A systematic review of the factors that impact nurses' performance of conscious level assessment.

Executive Summary: Background The ability to perform a conscious level assessment forms a vital part of a nurse's skill base. By accurately assessing a patient's conscious level, the nurse is able to detect neurological changes and initiate prompt action. The clinical implications of this are grave and assessment errors are serious and have potentially important clinical consequences.

The role of family and friends in providing social support towards enhancing the wellbeing of postpartum women: a comprehensive systematic review.

Background: Maternal postpartum health is a neglected area both in research and practice. This aspect warrants more attention as the health of postpartum mothers has a considerable influence on her infant and also other family members. Social support provided by family and friends has been identified as a buffer against the many stressors faced by the women.

Cognitive leisure activities and their role in preventing dementia: a systematic review.

Background: Dementia inflicts a tremendous burden on the healthcare system. Identifying protective factors or effective prevention strategies may lead to considerable benefits. One possible strategy mentioned in the literature relates to participation in cognitive leisure activities.

The effectiveness of strategies for the management and/or prevention of hypothermia within the adult perioperative environment: systematic review.

Background: Inadvertent hypothermia is common in patient's undergoing surgical procedures. Hypothermia within the perioperative environment may have many undesired physiological effects that are associated with significant postoperative morbidity. Patient's temperature drops to below 35°C during the first hour of anaesthesia because of impaired thermoregulatory mechanism and patient getting cold in the operating theatre.

A systematic review of the management of short-term indwelling urethral catheters to prevent urinary tract infections.

Background: Indwelling urinary catheterisation is a relatively common procedure in hospital settings, associated with potential risk of infection. Around 80% of urinary tract infections (UTIs) are associated with urinary catheters and the risk of infection increases in patients who are acutely ill. The objective of this review was to present the best available critically appraised evidence related to preventing infections associated with the use of short-term indwelling urethral catheters.

A systematic review of the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions on quality of life (QoL) for adult vitiligo patients.

Background: Vitiligo is the most common pigmentation disorder. It is an acquired, progressive disorder, presenting with white macules that can appear anywhere on the skin. Presently, there is no cure for vitiligo.

Effectiveness of Tight Glycemic Control in the Medical Intensive Care Unit: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Intensive Insulin Therapy (IIT) as a means to achieve tight glycemic control (TGC) has become controversial in the medical intensive care unit (ICU) or mixed medical-surgical ICU. The question still remains as to the benefit of tight glycemic control in all patient populations and the optimal target blood glucose range. REVIEW QUESTIONS/OBJECTIVES: INCLUSION CRITERIA: This review included studies with patients 18 years of age and older, females and males, all types of conditions or diseases, and all stages of severity admitted to a critical care or intensive care unit that required hyperglycemia management and had not had a surgical procedure.

A systematic review on the effectiveness of music listening in reducing depressive symptoms in adults.

Background: The use of pharmacotherapy in the treatment of depressive symptoms has its disadvantages, therefore various complementary treatments have been sought and included to reduce depressive symptoms. The use of music as a healing intervention has been well documented throughout history. Even though there are many benefits to the use of music as a potential intervention, little is known about the efficacy of music listening in the mediation of depressive symptoms.

Identification and nursing management of dysphagia in individuals with acute neurological impairment (update).

Background: Dysphagia, or difficulty in swallowing, is a serious and life threatening medical condition that affects a significant number of individuals with neurological impairment. Nurses, who are available to patients 24 hours a day, are in the ideal position to identify individuals with swallowing difficulties and initiate interventions that may prevent further complications until a formal assessment can be undertaken. Appropriate assessment of swallowing function is essential to the accurate identification and diagnosis of deficits in swallowing and to the effective management of dysphagia.

A systematic review on the effectiveness of nurse-led cardiac clinics for adult patients with coronary heart disease.

Aim: Nurse-led clinics offer the possibility of patient education, support and continuity of care for patients with Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) to address and reduce risk factors. The objective of this review is to present the best available evidence related to nurse-led cardiac clinics for adults with CHD by updating an existing systematic review.

Methods: Twenty databases for published literature and 11 databases or websites for unpublished literature were searched for the period September 2002 to March 2008.

Roles and systems for routine medication administration to prevent medication errors in hospital-based, acute care settings: a systematic review.

Background: Levels of medication administration error have been reported as accounting for 38% of all adverse drug events and have been calculated as occurring in 3-8% of all administrations. The majority of these will occur as part of "routine" administration.

Objectives: To undertake a systematic review of roles and systems for preventing medication error during routine medication administration in hospital-based acute care settings and of perceptions of causes of error.

Self-monitoring of blood glucose in type 2 diabetes mellitus: systematic review of economic evidence.

Background: Self-monitoring of Blood Glucose (SMBG) is purported to improve glycaemic control, measured by glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c). The effectiveness of SMBG in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is well-documented though no systematic review of the economic evidence surrounding the use of SMBG in T2DM has been performed.

Objectives: To perform a systematic review of economic evaluations of SMBG in T2DM patients.

Effectiveness of nurse-led preoperative assessment services for elective surgery: a systematic review.

Background: The admission and assessment of patients for elective procedures is a task faced by all healthcare organisations that provide elective surgical services. Several different strategies have been used to facilitate the management of these tasks. Nurse-led preadmission clinics or services have been implemented in many health services as one of these management strategies; however their effectiveness has not been established.