There are many terms used to describe pressure ulcers: pressure sores, decubitus ulcers, bedsores, and pressure necrosis or ischaemic ulcers. Essentially they all describe damage to the patient's skin and underlying tissue. The nursing literature abounds with information about the risk, grading, prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers. These ulcers are a problem in hospital and long term care facilities, and are a major cause of morbidity. In the hospital setting they contribute to an extended length of stay and by doing so 'block' the bed for use by another patient. The ulcers are difficult to treat, are an ongoing cause for pain and discomfort for the patient and can be a strain on hospital finances. Pressure ulcers are not unique to modern times, as they have been discovered on the remains of an Egyptian mummified body (Armstrong & Bortz 2001). This would suggest that the problem dates back to the Pharoahs, and has continued to be a challenging problem throughout the centuries (Bridel 1992). The escalating costs of treating these ulcers today, has brought about an emphasis on the risk factors, prevention and the appropriate interventions, rather than an acceptance of these ulcers as a tolerable ondition (Bridel 1992). In the operating room, nurses are faced with unique challenges when caring for their patients. This is due to difficulty in caring for patients under the influence of the anaesthesia required for surgery, long periods of forced immobility and the inability of the patient to perceive pain and discomfort from the pressure of the hard surface of the operating room table. These problems are increased by nurses' inability to gain access to the patient because of the sterile drapes required to cover the patient for surgery. Armstrong and Bortz (2001) present information from one study in which it is stated that surgical patients have 90% greater chance of developing pressure ulcers than medical patients. One reason for this may be due to the limited information available in regard to the most effective support surface to place on top of the operating room table. This gap in information is problematic for operating room nurses as it limits their ability to select the most effective item of equipment, and determine if the chosen equipment reduces pressure on tissue intra- operatively. The most effective operating room table mattress used and the skills and knowledge of the operating room nurse about the aetiology and prevention of pressure ulcer prevention, are important aspects of nursing care and can influence patient outcomes. The potential for complications to occur may be dependent on single or combined factors such as the patient's age, disease processes, nutritional status and mobility. Preparatory and supportive nursing interventions for surgical procedures based on best available evidence, nursing experience and patient preference, can reduce the incidence of pressure ulcer development in the perioperative environment. This doctoral portfolio contains four separate sections related and linked together by a common theme - pressure ulcer prevention in the perioperative environment. This first section of the portfolio situates the topic and provides a brief overview of the portfolio. The second section is a critical review of the literature pertaining to the most commonly used operating room table mattresses, and the effectiveness of these mattresses in the prevention of pressure ulcer development. This review highlighted a lack of quality research in this area, and while many evaluations have been undertaken to determine the effectiveness of perating room table mattresses, the results are contradictory concerning the patients, exposures and interventions. Because of issues related to the methodological quality of published research in this area a systematic review using meta- analysis was not possible rather a critical review of the research literature is used. The third section of the portfolio reports on a hermeneutic ethnography of the perceived skills and knowledge of nurses in the prevention of pressure ulcer development in the perioperative environment. This study was designed to determine if pressure ulcer prevention forms an aspect of the everyday practice of perioperative nurses. This review has highlighted the need for operating room nurses to review practices when caring for patients in the perioperative environment particularly in respect of pressure ulcer prevention. The fourth and final section of the portfolio summarises the research and provides recommendations for nursing practice and further research in the area of pressure ulcer prevention in the perioperative environment. / Thesis (D.Nurs.)--Department of Clinical Nursing, 2004.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Clinical Nursing, 2003. / "September 2002" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 301-318).

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The problem of this study was to ascertain (a) the teaching practices of medical-surgical nursing teachers in the clinical laboratory of baccalaureate nursing schools in the State of Texas, and (b) some variables possibly associated with these practices.

M.Cur. (Intensive General Nursing) / From the professional ethical perspective the professional nurse is responsible for the treatment and nursing of a patient in acute pain by effectively handling pain in the first 48 hours post-operative following serious surgery. The professional nurse can treat patients optimally only if she has the necessary knowledge and skills with regard to the different methods of handling pain. By making effective handling of pain available to the patient, including the advantages and disadvantages, the professional nurse contributes to maintaining, promoting and restoring health. In this way she facilitates the patient in reaching his objective of obtaining wholeness and she obtains her objective of quality nursing. The aim of this study is to determine which method of handling pain, namely the intermittent bolus dose analgesics and patient controlled analgesics, offers the most advantages to the patient and the professional nurse. A quantitative, contextually descriptive research design was followed in which a survey method and a retrospective analysis of nursing and medical records were completed in order to determine the total amount of analgesic used and to investigate the haemodynamic stability while using analgesics. An analysis was done of the information collected by means of a structured pain control list. Results indicate that those patients using patient controlled analgesics use larger doses of analgesics and are haemodynamically more stable while using analgesics than those patients using the method of intermittent bolus dose analgesics. Following on the conclusion, nursing guidelines were established for nursing practice and recommendations were made for nursing practice, nursing education and further research.

Millions of people in the United States are living with a serious mental illness or substance abuse disorder. These individuals suffer from a high rate of medical co-morbidities. Because of this, patients hospitalized on medical-surgical units for medical reasons often are living with psychiatric/substance abuse co-morbidities, which are not addressed during their medical hospital admission. These patients can be perceived as difficult and even dangerous by nurses who have not received training or education in mental health care. The purpose of this project is to measure medical-surgical nurse’s perceptions of their abilities to recognize psychiatric/substance abuse symptoms and their perception of self-competency to provide appropriate interventions. This project utilized the Behavioral Health Care Competency (BHCC) instrument to measure hospital nurse perceptions of behavioral healthcare competency to determine if additional education and training are needed. The BHCC tool was administered to 19 nurses working on two medical-surgical units in Southern Arizona. Findings support the need for educational intervention, especially in the areas of psychotropic medication recommendation and intervention for patients experiencing hallucinations.

Infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality during the post-operative phase of patients’ recovery. Wound infections are the second most commonly encountered type of nosocomial infection. Because wound infections can be introduced by not applying infection control measures and sterile technique principles in the operating room, the implementation of infection control principles is an imperative. The aim of this study was to explore and describe infection control practices related to the prevention of Surgical site infections in the operating rooms in a public health care sector in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. The findings were compared with practices, as indicated in an evidence-based guideline. The research design was quantitative, explorative, descriptive, comparative-descriptive and contextual in nature. The research sample consisted of all the professional nurses, in the operating room. The data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used to present the data in the form of tables and graphs. Based on the analysis of the data, some recommendations were made for the implementation of infection control practices, in order to prevent Surgical site infections in the operating room.

Os Sistemas de Informação Hospitalar podem ser definidos como uma rede integrada de informações, projetada para gerenciar aspectos assistenciais, administrativos e jurídicos em organizações de saúde. No contexto da busca pela melhoria da qualidade na assistência à saúde, proporcionada pelos avanços significativos das tecnologias da informação e comunicação, insere-se a necessidade da abordagem da sepse enquanto importante tema de saúde pública mundial. A sepse pode ser definida como síndrome de anormalidades fisiológicas, patológicas e bioquímicas induzidas por um processo infeccioso. A equipe multiprofissional de saúde deve atuar no reconhecimento precoce dos pacientes com quadro sugestivo de infecção e suas potenciais complicações, que podem culminar em síndrome séptica, estabelecendo medidas que garantam seu controle, manuseio precoce, intervenção eficaz e segura, por meio de uma assistência integral e contínua. O objetivo neste estudo foi verificar a contribuição dos Sistemas de Informação Hospitalar para a identificação precoce e o manejo da sepse em pacientes cirúrgicos de um hospital universitário. Trata-se de pesquisa com delineamento quantitativo, retrospectivo, descritivo e correlacional. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio dos Sistemas de Informação Hospitalar, mediante aprovação do Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa. A população foi composta de 28 pacientes que atenderam os critérios de inclusão da pesquisa. Na caracterização sociodemográfica desses pacientes, constatou-se predominância do sexo masculino (17; 60,7%), brancos (26; 92,9%), com 60 anos ou mais (21; 75,0%). Quanto à análise clínica do paciente, 11 apresentaram predominância do diagnóstico oncológico (39,3%) na admissão hospitalar, assim como 24 (85,7%) tiveram histórico de somente uma internação hospitalar no período. No final do período de internação (desfecho), predominantemente 20 pacientes (71,4%) evoluíram para óbito. Quanto ao tempo de internação, 13 pacientes (46,4%) permaneceram internados por tempo superior a 30 dias, com média de 30,5 (DP=25,0), a maioria dos pacientes (18; 64,8%) passou pelo procedimento cirúrgico até o quinto dia de internação, com média de 8,25 dias (DP=15,2). Da mesma forma, apresentaram predominância de desenvolvimento dos primeiros sinais de SIRS e de disfunção orgânica também até o quinto dia de internação 19 pacientes (67,8%), com média de 5,2 dias (DP=4,8), e 15 (53,6%), com média de 9,14 dias (DP=12,23), respectivamente. A confirmação ou hipótese do diagnóstico de sepse ocorreu até o décimo dia de internação com 15 pacientes (53,5%), com média de 11,6 (DP=13,4). Na análise da evolução dos pacientes para óbito, identificou-se significância estatística em relação à idade, à especialidade do diagnóstico na admissão e ao tempo de internação. O conteúdo dos registros realizados diariamente pela equipe multidisciplinar evidenciou que os primeiros sinais de SIRS foram identificados, predominantemente, no sistema de monitorização dos pacientes (26; 92,9%), enquanto os primeiros sinais de disfunção orgânica foram descritos nas evoluções da equipe de enfermagem (24; 85,7%). Os resultados evidenciam a importância da qualidade dos registros de enfermagem nos Sistemas de Informações Hospitalares, para identificação dos riscos, reconhecimento precoce e manejo adequado da sepse em pacientes submetidos a procedimentos cirúrgicos, enquanto integrantes da equipe multidisciplinar, visando o alcance de maior efetividade das ações de gerenciamento dos processos de assistência à saúde / Hospital information systems can be defined as an integrated network of information, designed to manage assistance, administrative and legal aspects in healthcare organizations. In the context of the quest for quality improvement in health care, provided by the significant advances of information and communication technologies, the need of sepsis as an important theme of global public health. Sepsis can be defined as abnormalities syndrome, pathological and physiological biochemical induced by an infectious process. The multidisciplinary team of health should act in the early recognition of patients with suggestive of infection and its potential complications, which can lead to septic syndrome, establishing measures to ensure the control, early intervention handling effective and safe, through a full and continuous assistance. The objective of this study was to verify the contribution of hospital information systems for early identification and management of sepsis in surgical patients in a university hospital. This is a quantitative, descriptive, retrospective and correlational research. The data collection was performed through hospital information systems, subject to the approval of the Research Ethics Committee. The population was composed of 28 patients who attended the inclusion criteria of the survey. In demographic characterization of these patients, there was a predominance of males (17; 60.7%), white (26; 92.9%), 60 years or older (21; 75.0%). For the clinical analysis of patient, 11 showed predominance of oncological diagnostics (39.3%) in hospital admission, as well as 24 (85.7%) had a history of only one hospitalization. At the end of the period of hospitalization (outcome), predominantly 20 patients (71.4%) evolved to death. Regarding length of stay 13 patients (46.4%) remained hospitalized for more than 30 days, with an average of 30.5 (SD = 25.0), most patients (18; 64.8%) passed the surgical procedure until the fifth day of hospitalization, averaging 8.25 days (SD = 15.2). Similarly, showed a predominance of development of the first signs of SIRS and organic dysfunction, too, until the fifth day of hospitalization 19 patients (67.8%), with an average of 5.2 days (DP = 4.8), and 15 (53.6%), with an average of 9.14 days (SD = 12.23), respectively. Confirmation or chance of diagnosis of sepsis occur until the tenth day of hospitalization with 15 patients (53.5%), with an average of 11.6 (SD = 13.4). In the analysis of the evolution of the patients to death, statistical significance was identified in relation to age, the speciality of the diagnosis on admission and length of stay. The contents of the records held daily by the multidisciplinary team showed that the first signs of SIRS were identified, predominantly, in the system of monitoring of the patients (92.9%), while 26; the first signs of organic dysfunction were described in the evolutions of the nursing staff (24; 85.7%). The results highlight the importance of the quality of nursing records in hospital information systems, to identify the risks, early recognition and appropriate management of sepsis in patients undergoing surgical procedures, while members of the multidisciplinary team, aiming at the achievement of greater effectiveness of the actions of management of care processes health

No description available.