Hospital employees' theoretical knowledge on what to do in an in-hospital cardiac arrest

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Guidelines recommend that all health care professionals should be able to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), including the use of an automated external defibrillator. Theoretical knowledge of CPR is then necessary.</p> <p>The aim of this study was to investigate how much theoretical knowledge in CPR would increase among all categories of health care professionals lacking training in CPR, in an intervention hospital, after a systematic standardised training. Their results were compared with the staff at a control hospital with an ongoing annual CPR training programme.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Health care professionals at two hospitals, with a total of 3144 employees, answered a multiple-choice questionnaire before and after training in CPR. Bootstrapped chi-square tests and Fisher's exact test were used for the statistical analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the intervention hospital, physicians had the highest knowledge pre-test, but other health care professionals including nurses and assistant nurses reached a relatively high level post-test. Improvement was inversely related to the level of previous knowledge and was thus most marked among other health care professionals and least marked among physicians.</p> <p>The staff at the control hospital had a significantly higher level of knowledge pre-test than the intervention hospital, whereas the opposite was found post-test.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Overall theoretical knowledge increased after systematic standardised training in CPR. The increase was more pronounced for those without previous training and for those staff categories with the least medical education.</p

The impact of CPR and AED training on healthcare professionals' self-perceived attitudes to performing resuscitation

Background: Healthcare professionals have shown concern about performing mouth-to-mouth ventilation due to the risks to themselves with the procedure. However, little is known about healthcare professionals' fears and attitudes to start CPR and the impact of training. Objective: To examine whether there were any changes in the attitudes among healthcare professionals to performing CPR from before to after training. Methods: Healthcare professionals from two Swedish hospitals were asked to answer a questionnaire before and after training. The questions were relating to physical and mental discomfort and attitudes to CPR. Statistical analysis used was generalized McNemar's test. Results: Overall, there was significant improvement in 10 of 11 items, reflecting various aspects of attitudes to CPR. All groups of health care professionals (physicians, nurses, assistant nurses, and "others" = physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social welfare officers, psychologists, biomedical analysts) felt more secure in CPR knowledge after education. In other aspects, such as anxiety prior to a possible cardiac arrest, only nurses and assistant nurses improved. The concern about being infected, when performing mouth to mouth ventilation, was reduced with the most marked reduction in physicians (75%; P &lt; 0.001). Conclusion: In this hospital-based setting, we found a positive outcome of education and training in CPR concerning healthcare professionals' attitudes to perform CPR. They felt more secure in their knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In some aspects of attitudes to resuscitation nurses and assistant nurses appeared to be the groups that were most markedly influenced. The concern of being infected by a disease was low

Occupational affiliation does not influence practical skills in cardiopulmonary resuscitation for in-hospital healthcare professionals

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>D-CPR (Defibrillator Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) is a technique for optimal basic life support during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Guidelines recommend that healthcare professionals can perform CPR with competence. How CPR training and provision is organized varies between hospitals, and it is our impression that in Sweden this has generally improved during the last 15-20 years. However, some hospitals still do not have any AED (Automated External Defibrillators). The aim was to investigate potential differences in practical skills between different healthcare professions before and after training in D-CPR.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Seventy-four healthcare professionals were video recorded and evaluated for adherence to a modified Cardiff Score. A Laerdal Resusci Anne manikin in connection to PC Skill reporting System was used to evaluate CPR quality. A simulated CPR situation was accomplished during a 5-10 min scenario of ventricular fibrillation. Paired and unpaired statistical methods were used to examine differences within and between occupations with respect to the intervention.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no differences in skills among the different healthcare professions, except for compressions per minute. In total, the number of compression per minute and depth improved for all groups (<it>P </it>< 0.001). In total, 41% of the participants used AED before and 96% of the participants used AED after the intervention (<it>P </it>< 0.001). Before intervention, it took a median time of 120 seconds until the AED was used; after the intervention, it took 82 seconds.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Nearly all healthcare professionals learned to use the AED. There were no differences in CPR skill performances among the different healthcare professionals.</p

Improved quality and efficiency after the introduction of physician-led team triage in an emergency department

Background: Overcrowding in the emergency department (ED) may negatively affect patient outcomes, so different triage models have been introduced to improve performance. Physician-led team triage obtains better results than other triage models. We compared efficiency and quality measures before and after reorganization of the triage model in the ED at our county hospital. Materials and methods: We retrospectively compared two study periods with different triage models: nurse triage in 2008 (baseline) and physician-led team triage in 2012 (follow-up). Physician-led team triage was in use during day-time and early evenings on weekdays. Data were collected from electronic medical charts and the National Mortality Register. Results: We included 20,073 attendances in 2008 and 23,765 in 2012. The time from registration to physician presentation decreased from 80 to 33 min (P <0.001), and the length of stay decreased from 219 to 185 min (P <0.001) from 2008 to 2012, respectively. All of the quality variables differed significantly between the two periods, with better results in 2012. The odds ratio for patients who left before being seen or before treatment was completed was 0.62 (95% confidence interval 0.54-0.72). The corresponding result for unscheduled returns was 0.36 (0.32-0.40), and for the mortality rates within 7 and 30 days 0.72 (0.59-0.88) and 0.84 (0.73-0.97), respectively. The admission rate was 37% at baseline and 32% at follow-up (P <0.001). Conclusion: Physician-led team triage improved the efficiency and quality in EDs.Peer reviewe

Is It Definitely Clear That Long-Term Survival after Breast Cancer Surgery Is Not Affected by Anaesthetics?

Retrospective studies indicate that cancer survival may be affected by the anaesthetic technique. Propofol seems to be a better choice than volatile anaesthetics, such as sevoflurane. The first two retrospective studies suggested better long-term survival with propofol, but not for breast cancer. Subsequent retrospective studies from Asia indicated the same. When data from seven Swedish hospitals were analysed, including 6305 breast cancer patients, different analyses gave different results, from a non-significant difference in survival to a remarkably large difference in favour of propofol, an illustration of the innate weakness in the retrospective design. The largest randomised clinical trial, registered on clinicaltrial.gov, with survival as an outcome is the Cancer and Anesthesia study. Patients are here randomised to propofol or sevoflurane. The inclusion of patients with breast cancer was completed in autumn 2017. Delayed by the pandemic, one-year survival data for the cohort were presented in November 2020. Due to the extremely good short-term survival for breast cancer, one-year survival is of less interest for this disease. As the inclusions took almost five years, there was also a trend to observe. Unsurprisingly, no difference was found in one-year survival between the two groups, and the trend indicated no difference either. Simple summary The choice of anaesthetic may affect long-term survival, as suggested in animal studies and in retrospective patient studies. Breast cancer seems to be an exception, according to results from retrospective patient studies. So far this has not been proven in randomised clinical trials. The current state of research is summarised in this overview. The conclusion is that today it seems that the choice of anaesthetic does not play a role in long-term survival after breast cancer surgery

Is It Definitely Clear That Long-Term Survival after Breast Cancer Surgery Is Not Affected by Anaesthetics?

Retrospective studies indicate that cancer survival may be affected by the anaesthetic technique. Propofol seems to be a better choice than volatile anaesthetics, such as sevoflurane. The first two retrospective studies suggested better long-term survival with propofol, but not for breast cancer. Subsequent retrospective studies from Asia indicated the same. When data from seven Swedish hospitals were analysed, including 6305 breast cancer patients, different analyses gave different results, from a non-significant difference in survival to a remarkably large difference in favour of propofol, an illustration of the innate weakness in the retrospective design. The largest randomised clinical trial, registered on clinicaltrial.gov, with survival as an outcome is the Cancer and Anesthesia study. Patients are here randomised to propofol or sevoflurane. The inclusion of patients with breast cancer was completed in autumn 2017. Delayed by the pandemic, one-year survival data for the cohort were presented in November 2020. Due to the extremely good short-term survival for breast cancer, one-year survival is of less interest for this disease. As the inclusions took almost five years, there was also a trend to observe. Unsurprisingly, no difference was found in one-year survival between the two groups, and the trend indicated no difference either

Post-tonsillectomy pain after using bipolar diathermy scissors or the harmonic scalpel : a randomised blinded study

To compare the postoperative pain following bipolar diathermy scissors tonsillectomy (higher temperature dissection) with harmonic scalpel tonsillectomy (lower temperature dissection). Sixty patients aged 7-40 years planned for tonsillectomy with no other concurrent surgery were randomised to either bipolar diathermy scissors or harmonic scalpel as surgical technique. Blinded to the surgical technique, the patients recorded their pain scores (VAS, 0-10) at awakening and the worst pain level of the day in the postoperative period. All intake of pain medication was also recorded. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups regarding postoperative pain levels or consumption of pain medication. Usage of the harmonic scalpel does not render less postoperative pain following tonsillectomy when compared with usage of the bipolar diathermy scissors

Minimizing atelectasis formation during general anaesthesia-oxygen washout is a non-essential supplement to PEEP

Background: Following preoxygenation and induction of anaesthesia, most patients develop atelectasis. We hypothesized that an immediate restoration to a low oxygen level in the alveoli would prevent atelectasis formation and improve oxygenation during the ensuing anaesthesia. Methods: We randomly assigned 24 patients to either a control group (n=12) or an intervention group (n=12) receiving an oxygen washout procedure directly after intubation. Both groups were, depending on body mass index, ventilated with a positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) of 6-8 cmH(2)O during surgery. The atelectasis area was studied by computed tomography before emergence. Oxygenation levels were evaluated by measuring blood gases and calculating estimated venous admixture (EVA). Results: The atelectasis areas expressed as percentages of the total lung area were 2.0 (1.5-2.7) (median [interquartile range]) and 1.8 (1.4-3.3) in the intervention and control groups, respectively. The difference was non-significant, and also oxygenation was similar between the two groups. Compared to oxygenation before the start of anaesthesia, oxygenation at the end of surgery was improved in the intervention group, mean (SD) EVA from 7.6% (6.6%) to 3.9% (2.9%) (P=.019) and preserved in the control group, mean (SD) EVA from 5.0% (5.3%) to 5.6% (7.1%) (P=.59). .Conclusion: Although the oxygen washout restored a low pulmonary oxygen level within minutes, it did not further reduce atelectasis size. Both study groups had small atelectasis and good oxygenation. These results suggest that a moderate PEEP alone is sufficient to minimize atelectasis and maintain oxygenation in healthy patients

Toward Delicate Anomaly Detection of Energy Consumption for Buildings : Enhance the Performance From Two Levels

Buildings are highly energy-consuming and therefore are largely accountable for environmental degradation. Detecting anomalous energy consumption is one of the effective ways to reduce energy consumption. Besides, it can contribute to the safety and robustness of building systems since anomalies in the energy data are usually the reflection of malfunctions in building systems. As the most flexible and applicable type of anomaly detection approach, unsupervised anomaly detection has been implemented in several studies for building energy data. However, no studies have investigated the joint influence of data structures and algorithms’ mechanisms on the performance of unsupervised anomaly detection for building energy data. Thus, we put forward a novel workflow based on two levels, data structure level and algorithm mechanism level, to effectively detect the imperceptible anomalies in the energy consumption profiles of buildings. The proposed workflow was implemented in a case study for identifying the anomalies in three real-world energy consumption datasets from two types of commercial buildings. Two aims were achieved through the case study. First, it precisely detected the contextual anomalies concealed beneath the time variation of the energy consumption profiles of the three buildings. The performance in terms of areas under the precision-recall curves (AUC_PR) for the three given datasets were 0.989, 0.941, and 0.957, respectively. Second, more broadly, the joint effect of the two levels was examined. On the data level, all four detectors on the contextualized data were superior to their counterparts on the original data. On the algorithm level, there was a consistent ranking of detectors regarding their detecting performances on the contextualized data. The consistent ranking suggests that local approaches outperform global approaches in the scenarios where the goal is to detect the instances deviating from their contextual neighbors rather than the rest of the entire data

The patient safety culture as perceived by staff at two different emergency departments before and after introducing a flow-oriented working model with team triage and lean principles: a repeated cross-sectional study

Abstract Background: Patient safety is of the utmost importance in health care. The patient safety culture in an institution has great impact on patient safety. To enhance patient safety and to design strategies to reduce medical injuries, there is a current focus on measuring the patient safety culture. The aim of the present study was to describe the patient safety culture in an ED at two different hospitals before and after a Quality improvement (QI) project that was aimed to enhance patient safety