Evaluation of the Norwegian version of the Mini Nutritional assessment (MNA®) among older nursing home patients

Artikkelen rapporterer en studie hvor hensikten var å oversette ernæringskartleggingsverktøyet The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) til norsk, samt å teste ut reliabilitet og validitet av den norske versjonen ved anvedelse på eldre pasienter i sykehjem.Background: The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA®) is a well-known clinical scale that is often used for nutritional screening of older peoplein different settings recommended by several international clinical and scientific organizations.Aims: The aims of this article were: 1) to translate the MNA® from English to Norwegian and 2) to test the Norwegian version of the instrumentfor reliability and validity in a small sample of older nursing home patients.Methods: The English version of the MNA® was translated according to recommended procedures. A convenience sample of 26 older nursinghome patients was screened with the MNA® by 10 registered nurses. Reliability and validity of the instrument were assessed.Results: Support for reliability and validity was shown in the study group.Conclusion: Positive support for sufficient quality of the Norwegian version of the MNA® was shown, but further testing of the instrument is needed

Emergency Department Triage Scales and Their Components: A Systematic Review of the Scientific Evidence

Emergency department (ED) triage is used to identify patients' level of urgency and treat them based on their triage level. The global advancement of triage scales in the past two decades has generated considerable research on the validity and reliability of these scales. This systematic review aims to investigate the scientific evidence for published ED triage scales. The following questions are addressed

Ionothermal synthesis of activated carbon from waste PET bottles as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles have become a significant post-consumer plastic waste with attendant environmental problems. Hence, ionothermal synthesis has been used to prepare activated carbon (AC) anode materials from waste PET for both high performance and sustainable lithium-ion batteries (LIB). Particularly, using choline chloride deep eutectic salts (CU-DES) does not require post-synthesis washing and thereby reduces the complexity of the process and produces materials with unique low-surface area, higher levels of graphitization/ordering, and high nitrogen doping in the obtained ACs. The results show that the AC produced using CU-DES (PET-CU-A-ITP2) gave good electrochemical performance. Even though the material possesses a low surface area (∼23 m2 g−1), it displays a gravimetric capacity (GC) of ∼460 mA h g−1 and a coulombic efficiency (CE) of ∼53% in the 1st cycle and very good cycling performance with a capacity retention of 98% from the 2nd to the 100th cycle. The superior electrochemical performance of the PET-CU-A-ITP2 anode was found to be due to its better graphitization/ordering and dense structure which results in higher capacity, formation of less solid electrolyte interphase, and higher CE. These results show that dense carbons can be exploited as high-performance anodes in LIBs. Also, this research presents both a pathway for waste PET management and a waste-energy approach that could offer cheaper and greener LIBs to meet the sustainable development goals

Garnet to hydrogarnet: effect of post synthesis treatment on cation substituted LLZO solid electrolyte and its effect on Li ion conductivity

We investigated why commercial Li$_7$La$_3$Zr$_2$O$_{12}$ (LLZO) with Nb- and Ta substitution shows very low mobility on a local scale, as observed with temperature-dependent NMR techniques, compared to Al and W substituted samples, although impedance spectroscopy on sintered pellets suggests something else: conductivity values do not show a strong dependence on the type of substituting cation. We observed that mechanical treatment of these materials causes a symmetry reduction from garnet to hydrogarnet structure. To understand the impact of this lower symmetric structure in detail and its effect on the Li ion conductivity, neutron powder diffraction and $^6$Li NMR were utilized. Despite the finding that, in some materials, disorder can be beneficial with respect to ionic conductivity, pulsed-field gradient NMR measurements of the long-range transport indicate a higher Li$^+$ diffusion barrier in the lower symmetric hydrogarnet structure. The symmetry reduction can be reversed back to the higher symmetric garnet structure by annealing at 1100 °C. This unintended phase transition and thus a reduction in conductivity is crucial for the processing of LLZO materials in the fabrication of all-solid state batteries

Effects of a computerized decision support system on care planning for pressure ulcers and malnutrition in nursing homes: An intervention study

Author's accepted version (post-print).Background: Nursing documentation is essential for facilitating the flow of information to guarantee continuity, quality and safety in care. High-quality nursing documentation is frequently lacking; the implementation of computerized decision support systems is expected to improve clinical practice and nursing documentation. Aim: The present study aimed at investigate the effects of a computerized decision support system and an educational program as intervention strategies for improved nursing documentation practice on pressure ulcers and malnutrition in nursing homes. Design, setting and participants: An intervention study with two intervention groups and one control group was used. Fifteen nursing homes in southern Norway were included. A convenience sample of electronic healthcare records from 46 units was included. Inclusion criteria were records with presence of pressure ulcers and/or malnutrition. The residents were assessed before and after an intervention of a computerized decision support system in the electronic healthcare records. Data were collected through a review of 150 records before (2007) and 141 records after the intervention (2009). Methods: The nurses in intervention group 1 were offered educational sessions and were trained to use the computerized decision support system, which they used for eight months in 2008 and 2009. The nurses in intervention group 2 were offered the same educational program but did not use the computerized decision support system. The nurses in the control group were not subject to any intervention. The resident records were examined for the completeness and comprehensiveness of the documentation of pressure ulcers and malnutrition with three data collection forms and the data were analyzed with non-parametric statistics. Results: The implementation of the computerized decision support system and the educational program resulted in a more complete and comprehensive documentation of pressure ulcer- and malnutrition-related nursing assessments and nursing interventions. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that the computerized decision support system and an educational program as implementation strategies had a positive influence on nursing documentation practice.acceptedVersio

Mapping registered nurse anaesthetists' intraoperative work: tasks, multitasking, interruptions and their causes, and interactions: a prospective observational study

Introduction Safe anaesthesia care is a fundamental part of healthcare. In a previous study, registered nurse anaesthetists (RNAs) had the highest task frequency, with the largest amount of multitasking and interruptions among all professionals working in a surgical team. There is a lack of knowledge on how these factors are distributed during the intraoperative anaesthesia care process, and what implications they might have on safety and quality of care. Objective To map the RNAs' work as done in practice, including tasks, multitasking, interruptions and their causes, and interactions, during all phases of the intraoperative anaesthesia work process. Methods Structured observations of RNAs (n=8) conducted during 30 procedures lasting a total of 73 hours in an operating department at a county hospital in Sweden, using the Work Observation Method By Activity Timing tool. Results High task intensity and multitasking were revealed during preparation for anaesthesia induction (79 tasks/hour, 61.9% of task time spent multitasking), anaesthesia induction (98 tasks/hour, 50.7%) and preparation for anaesthesia maintenance (86 tasks/hour, 80.2%). Frequent interruptions took place during preoperative preparation (4.7 /hour), anaesthesia induction (6.2 /hour) and preparation for anaesthesia maintenance (4.3 /hour). The interruptions were most often related to medication care (n=54, 19.8%), equipment issues (n=40, 14.7%) or the procedure itself (n=39, 14.3%). RNAs' work was conducted mostly independently (58.4%), but RNAs interacted with multiple professionals in and outside the operating room during anaesthesia. Conclusion The tasks, multitasking, interruptions and their causes, and interactions during different phases illustrated the RNAs' work as done, as part of a complex adaptive system. Management of safety in the most intense phases-preparing for anaesthesia induction, induction and preparing for anaesthesia maintenance-should be investigated further. The complexity and adaptivity of the nature of RNAs' work should be taken into consideration in future management, development, research and education.</p