Safe Care for Seizure Patients on an Epilepsy Monitoring Unit

Seizure patients admitted to an Epilepsy Monitoring Unit located within an academic tertiary medical center have a high potential to impact patient safety. As a result, a unit based team identified a need for a higher level of training for both their staff and float companions to ensure safe and standardized care for this group of patients. The goal of this quality improvement project was to create an educational tool that would assist 100% of staff in better recognizing and responding to seizures. Baseline metrics and root cause analysis demonstrated a lack of consistent information being taught, a poorly identified target audience as well as educators. Several countermeasures were instituted to include an educational video that standardized seizure and response education. Data collected post rollout demonstrated several positive outcomes to include zero safety events involving this patient population, meeting the goal of 100% of staff educated, and education being mandatory for new staff. Some of the next steps include expanding training to staff caring for pediatric epilepsy patients as well as a tele-sitters video monitoring system request for FY20 budget year

Testing the sensitivity, specificity and feasibility of four falls risk assessment tools in a clinical setting.

AIM: This paper reports on a study undertaken to test the sensitivity, specificity and feasibility of four fall risk assessment tools. BACKGROUND: Falls risk assessment tools have been developed based on literature and findings from empirical studies, but the instruments often lack further testing in the clinical setting. METHOD: Four falls risk assessment tools were tested simultaneously in this study. The data was collected in May-June 2006. All assessment tools were completed on a total of 1546 patients. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The use of the instruments was moderately consistent among registered nurses, but the education provided did not entirely eliminate problems with accuracy. The sensitivity of the instruments was 57.1-100% and specificity was 24.9-69.3%. CONCLUSION: The sensitivity and specificity of the instruments are important factors to consider when choosing an instrument. However, the strategies to educate staff and to intervene appropriately are equally important for an organization undertaking a proactive stance in mitigating the risk of falls. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: It is important for managers to test instruments in their own organizations and specific populations. It is also critical to carefully assess that the chosen instrument is easy and accurate in use

Falls and delirium in an acute care setting: A retrospective chart review before and after an organisation‐wide interprofessional education.

p \u3c .001). The confusion assessment method (CAM) identified the diagnosis of delirium at 76% accuracy. The length of stay decreased by 7.3 days. The fall rates in 2011 and 2012 were 3.01 and 2.82 falls per 1,000 patient days and in 2013 decreased to 2.16. Conclusion: The results indicate that improving delirium recognition and treatment through interprofessional education can reduce falls and length of stay. Relevance to clinical practice: The results demonstrate that when staff learn to prevent, identify, manage and document delirium more accurately the fall rate decreases. The practice change, including the use of CAM, was sustained by continuous auditing including re‐education, and the re‐enforcement of learning along with the implementation of a policy. } data-sheets-userformat= { 2 :33569153, 3 :{ 1 :0, 3 :1}, 10 :0, 11 :4, 14 :[null,2,0], 15 : Calibri , 16 :11, 28 :1} \u3eAim and objectives: To describe and compare identification of delirium, length of stay and discharge locations in two patient samples of falls, before and after an organisation‐wide interprofessional delirium education and practice change along with implementation of a policy. Background: Delirium is a common and severe problem for hospitalised patients, with occurrence ranging from 14%–56%, morbidity and mortality from 25%–33%. Recent studies report that 73%–96% of patients who fell during a hospital stay had symptoms of delirium; however, the delirium went undiagnosed and untreated in 75% of the cases. Design: A descriptive, retrospective observational study using a pre/postdesign. Methods: Two chart reviews were performed on patient falls as identified in the hospital safety reporting system in 2009–2010 (98 fallers) and 2012 (108 fallers). An organisation‐wide education was planned and implemented with monitoring of policy compliance. Results: After the education, documentation of the “diagnosis of delirium” and “no evidence of delirium” increased from 14.3%–29.5% and from 27.6%–44.4%. The documentation of “evidence of delirium” decreased significantly from 58.2%–25.9% (p \u3c .001). The confusion assessment method (CAM) identified the diagnosis of delirium at 76% accuracy. The length of stay decreased by 7.3 days. The fall rates in 2011 and 2012 were 3.01 and 2.82 falls per 1,000 patient days and in 2013 decreased to 2.16. Conclusion: The results indicate that improving delirium recognition and treatment through interprofessional education can reduce falls and length of stay. Relevance to clinical practice: The results demonstrate that when staff learn to prevent, identify, manage and document delirium more accurately the fall rate decreases. The practice change, including the use of CAM, was sustained by continuous auditing including re‐education, and the re‐enforcement of learning along with the implementation of a policy

Falls and delirium in an acute care setting: A retrospective chart review before and after an organisation-wide interprofessional education.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: To describe and compare identification of delirium, length of stay and discharge locations in two patient samples of falls, before and after an organisation-wide interprofessional delirium education and practice change along with implementation of a policy. BACKGROUND: Delirium is a common and severe problem for hospitalised patients, with occurrence ranging from 14%-56%, morbidity and mortality from 25%-33%. Recent studies report that 73%-96% of patients who fell during a hospital stay had symptoms of delirium; however, the delirium went undiagnosed and untreated in 75% of the cases. DESIGN: A descriptive, retrospective observational study using a pre/postdesign. METHODS: Two chart reviews were performed on patient falls as identified in the hospital safety reporting system in 2009-2010 (98 fallers) and 2012 (108 fallers). An organisation-wide education was planned and implemented with monitoring of policy compliance. RESULTS: After the education, documentation of the diagnosis of delirium and no evidence of delirium increased from 14.3%-29.5% and from 27.6%-44.4%. The documentation of evidence of delirium decreased significantly from 58.2%-25.9% (p \u3c .001). The confusion assessment method (CAM) identified the diagnosis of delirium at 76% accuracy. The length of stay decreased by 7.3 days. The fall rates in 2011 and 2012 were 3.01 and 2.82 falls per 1,000 patient days and in 2013 decreased to 2.16. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that improving delirium recognition and treatment through interprofessional education can reduce falls and length of stay. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The results demonstrate that when staff learn to prevent, identify, manage and document delirium more accurately the fall rate decreases. The practice change, including the use of CAM, was sustained by continuous auditing including re-education, and the re-enforcement of learning along with the implementation of a policy

Falls in A Tertiary Care Hospital-Association With Delirium: A Replication Study.

BACKGROUND: Delirium has been previously implicated as a risk factor for patient falls. This is a replication study of a 2009 investigation examining the prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed delirium in patients who fell during their hospital stay. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of delirium at our institution and to examine the relationship of falls with delirium, advanced age, and hospital procedures. METHOD: Using the data collection tool developed for the 2009 study, the authors performed a retrospective review of records of 99 patients who fell during their inpatient stay. Similar information was gathered on patient demographics, fall date, fall location, hospital service type, discharge disposition, diagnosis of delirium (DD), synonyms used to describe delirium, metabolic derangements, and surgeries or procedures performed. Data were collected on the day of admission, day of the fall, and 2 days before the fall. RESULTS: Falls in the general hospital were associated with delirium (73% of subjects had evidence or a DD at the time of their fall), advanced age (64.5% were older than 70 years), and specific procedures and surgeries. CONCLUSION: As identified in the previous study, improving delirium recognition and treatment may reduce the number of patient falls and promote more favorable outcomes such as reduced length of stay, fewer discharges to intermediate care facilities, and prevention of fall injuries. A comprehensive fall risk assessment that includes a delirium detection tool would improve the sensitivity and specificity of these instruments to detect those at greatest risk

Soluble domains of telomerase reverse transcriptase identified by high-throughput screening

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex responsible for extending the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. Structural and biophysical studies of this enzyme have been limited by the inability to produce large amounts of recombinant protein. Here we perform a high-throughput screen to map regions of the Tetrahymena thermophila TERT (Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase) protein that are overexpressed in a soluble form in Escherichia coli using a GFP-fusion system. Many of the soluble protein domains identified do not coincide with domains inferred from multiple sequence alignment, so screening for fluorescent colonies provided information not otherwise readily obtained. The method revealed an essential, independently folded N-terminal domain that was expressed and purified with high yield and found to be suitable for structural analysis. These results provide a tool for future structural and biophysical studies of TERT

Falls and Delirium in an Acute Care Setting: A retrospective chart review before and after an organisation‐wide interprofessional education

Aim and objectives To describe and compare identification of delirium, length of stay and discharge locations in two patient samples of falls, before and after an organisation‐wide interprofessional delirium education and practice change along with implementation of a policy. Background Delirium is a common and severe problem for hospitalised patients, with occurrence ranging from 14%–56%, morbidity and mortality from 25%–33%. Recent studies report that 73%–96% of patients who fell during a hospital stay had symptoms of delirium; however, the delirium went undiagnosed and untreated in 75% of the cases. Design A descriptive, retrospective observational study using a pre/postdesign. Methods Two chart reviews were performed on patient falls as identified in the hospital safety reporting system in 2009–2010 (98 fallers) and 2012 (108 fallers). An organisation‐wide education was planned and implemented with monitoring of policy compliance. Results After the education, documentation of the “diagnosis of delirium” and “no evidence of delirium” increased from 14.3%–29.5% and from 27.6%–44.4%. The documentation of “evidence of delirium” decreased significantly from 58.2%–25.9% (p \u3c .001). The confusion assessment method (CAM) identified the diagnosis of delirium at 76% accuracy. The length of stay decreased by 7.3 days. The fall rates in 2011 and 2012 were 3.01 and 2.82 falls per 1,000 patient days and in 2013 decreased to 2.16. Conclusion The results indicate that improving delirium recognition and treatment through interprofessional education can reduce falls and length of stay. Relevance to clinical practice The results demonstrate that when staff learn to prevent, identify, manage and document delirium more accurately the fall rate decreases. The practice change, including the use of CAM, was sustained by continuous auditing including re‐education, and the re‐enforcement of learning along with the implementation of a policy

Falls in A Tertiary Care Hospital-Association With Delirium: A Replication Study

Background Delirium has been previously implicated as a risk factor for patient falls. This is a replication study of a 2009 investigation examining the prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed delirium in patients who fell during their hospital stay. Objective To determine the prevalence of delirium at our institution and to examine the relationship of falls with delirium, advanced age, and hospital procedures. Method Using the data collection tool developed for the 2009 study, the authors performed a retrospective review of records of 99 patients who fell during their inpatient stay. Similar information was gathered on patient demographics, fall date, fall location, hospital service type, discharge disposition, diagnosis of delirium (DD), synonyms used to describe delirium, metabolic derangements, and surgeries or procedures performed. Data were collected on the day of admission, day of the fall, and 2 days before the fall. Results Falls in the general hospital were associated with delirium (73% of subjects had evidence or a DD at the time of their fall), advanced age (64.5% were older than 70 years), and specific procedures and surgeries. Conclusion As identified in the previous study, improving delirium recognition and treatment may reduce the number of patient falls and promote more favorable outcomes such as reduced length of stay, fewer discharges to intermediate care facilities, and prevention of fall injuries. A comprehensive fall risk assessment that includes a delirium detection tool would improve the sensitivity and specificity of these instruments to detect those at greatest risk