10 research outputs found

    The Challenge of Infections in Frail Elderly : The Story of Mr. Nilsson

    No full text
    Signs and symptoms of infection in Nursing Home Residents (NHR) are often atypical with a lack of specific ones, causing a delay in diagnosis and treatment. The complexity of detecting infections in NHR can be explained by difficulties in understanding and interpreting non-specific signs and symptoms and co-existing chronic diseases that blur the clinical picture. The case of Mr. Nilsson illustrates the process from the first signs and symptoms of infection to diagnosis in an elderly person with severe cognitive decline and physical impairment. What we can learn from this case is to reflect on changed behavior from habitual status and/or non-specific symptoms as possible suspected infection, and to consider a rise from individual baseline temperature, so called DiffTemp™, instead of traditional decided cut-off values for fever

    Fever or not fever - that's the question : A cohort study of simultaneously measured rectal and ear temperatures in febrile patients with suspected infection

    No full text
    Objective: To study how ear and rectal body temperatures relate to each other over time in febrile patients. Methods: Descriptive cohort study with repeated measurements. The setting was a Unit for Infectious Diseases at a county hospital in Sweden. Patients, ≥ 18 years, admitted for suspected infection and with a rectal or ear temperature of ≥ 37.5°C were invited. 16 females and 24 men, 19 to 94 years were included. Ear and rectal temperature was measured simultaneously every two hours for one day. Results: Mean rectal temperature was higher, compared to both ear sites. Ninety-five percent of the differences between the rectal and ear sites were within 0.6°C to 1.1°C. Changes in rectal temperature were smaller and slower than in ear temperature, especially when patients were given temperature-lowering drugs. Conclusions: Adjustments from one temperature site to another is a risk of diagnostic error affecting clinical decision-making. Ear temperature reacts faster than the rectal site to body temperature changes and antipyretics, and is therefore more reliable in the assessment of the patient’s condition. Traditional paradigm for temperature measurement and assessment needs to be replaced with evidence-based science to improve patient safety

    What is best for Esther? Building improvement coaching capacity with and for users in health and social Care-A case study

    No full text
    While coaching and customer involvement can enhance the improvement of health and social care, many organizations struggle to develop their improvement capability; it is unclear how best to accomplish this. We examined one attempt at training improvement coaches. The program, set in the Esther Network for integrated care in rural Jonkoping County, Sweden, included eight 1-day sessions spanning 7 months in 2011. A senior citizen joined the faculty in all training sessions. Aiming to discern which elements in the program were essential for assuming the role of improvement coach, we used a case-study design with a qualitative approach. Our focus group interviews included 17 informants: 11 coaches, 3 faculty members, and 3 senior citizens. We performed manifest content analysis of the interview data. Creating will, ideas, execution, and sustainability emerged as crucial elements. These elements were promoted by customer focusembodied by the senior citizen trainershared values and a solution-focused approach, by the supportive coach network and by participants' expanded systems understanding. These elements emerged as more important than specific improvement tools and are worth considering also elsewhere when seeking to develop improvement capability in health and social care organizations

    The value of fever assessment in addition to the Early Detection Infection Scale (EDIS). A validation study in nursing home residents in Sweden

    No full text
    Abstract Background In order to improve detection of suspected infections in frail elderly there is an urgent need for development of decision support tools, that can be used in the daily work of all healthcare professionals for assessing non-specific and specific changes. The aim was to study non-specific signs and symptoms and fever temperature for early detection of ongoing infection in frail elderly, and how these correlates to provide the instrument, the Early Detection Infection Scale (EDIS), which is used to assess changes in health condition in frail elderly. Methods This was an explorative, prospective cohort study, including 45 nursing home residents, 76 to 99 years, in Sweden. Nursing assistants measured morning ear body temperature twice a week and used the EDIS to assess individual health condition daily for six months. The outcome comprised events of suspected infection, compiled from nursing and medical patient records. Factor analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to analyse data. Results Fifteen residents were diagnosed with at least one infection during the six-month follow-up and 189 observations related to 72 events of suspected infection were recorded. The first factor analysis revealed that the components, change in cognitive and physical function, general signs and symptoms of illness, increased tenderness, change in eye expression and food intake and change in emotions explained 61% of the variance. The second factor analysis, adding temperature assessed as fever to > 1.0 °C from individual normal, resulted in change in physical function and food intake, confusion and signs and symptoms from respiratory and urinary tract, general signs and symptoms of illness and fever and increased tenderness, explaining 59% of the variance. In the first regression analysis, increased tenderness and change in eye expression and food intake, and in the second change in physical function and food intake, general signs and symptoms of illness and fever (> 1.0 °C from individual normal) and increased tenderness were significantly associated with increased risk for ongoing infection. Conclusion No items in the EDIS should be removed at present, and assessment of fever as > 1.0 °C from individual normal is a valuable addition. The EDIS has the potential to make it easier for first line caregivers to systematically assess changes in health condition in fragile elderly people and helps observations to be communicated in a standardised way throughout the care process. The EDIS thus contributes to ensuring that the decisions not being taken at the wrong level of care

    Advising parents when their child has a fever : a phenomenographic analysis of nurses’ perceptions when working at a telephone helpline, at primary care or at a paediatric emergency department in Sweden

    No full text
    Objectives To describe nurses’ perceptions of advising parents when their child has a fever. Design/method Inductive, descriptive study with a qualitative, phenomenographic approach. Participants and setting A purposive sampling was used. To be included, the 24 online interviewed nurses had to have experience advising parents of febrile children between birth and 5 years of age. They were recruited from three different parts of the healthcare system from four regions in the south of Sweden. Results The nurses described advising parents when their child has a fever as four different kinds of balancing acts: balancing between the parents’ story and objective assessment, balancing between listening and teaching, balancing between self-confidence and trust in the expert, and balancing between independence and having someone by one’s side. Conclusions Giving advice to parents when their child has a fever is a process where the nurse needs to listen, assess and give advice based on the situation. This requires a correct assessment that depends on the parents’ story. Creating a trusting relationship is perceived as necessary for parents to assimilate the advice that is provided. What dominates are the nurses’ perceptions of the inner qualities required to achieve a balance in the process, for example, the importance of experience and security in their professional role, while it is also necessary to get support from colleagues

    Use of temperature changes and pro-inflammatory biomarkers to diagnose bacterial infections in patients with severe cerebral trauma

    No full text
    BackgroundIn patients undergoing neurosurgeries, inflammation and infection are strongly related; however, inflammation can be present without infection. Midregional proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM) is a relatively new sepsis biomarker that is rarely used clinically. Recently, the concept of DiffTemp was introduced, that is, a >1°C rise from individual normal temperature accompanied by malaise, as a more accurate definition of temperature assessed as fever. The aim of the present study was to examine the importance of C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cells, procalcitonin, and MR-proADM levels and DiffTemp.MethodsThis prospective, comparative study had a quantitative approach. Forty-two patients, aged >18 years and presenting with severe cerebral trauma were included from a neurosurgical intensive care unit. The outcome variable was infection; group 0, no infection (n=11); group 1, suspected infection (n=15); and, group 2, confirmed infection (n=16). Group assignments were performed using biomarkers, medical records, bacterial cultures, and International Classification of Diseases-10, and by the clinical assessment of criteria for nosocomial infections by a neurosurgeon.ResultsOn comparing groups 1 and 2, MR-proADM and DiffTemp were associated with a higher risk of confirmed infection (odds ratio, 5.41 and 17.14, respectively). Additionally, DiffTemp had a 90.9% specificity in patients with no infection and a 93.8% sensitivity in patients with confirmed infections. CRP and procalcitonin levels were not associated with an increased risk of confirmed infection.ConclusionIncreased levels of MR-proADM were associated with a higher risk of confirmed infection. DiffTemp was associated with a higher risk of having a confirmed infection

    Variation in Normal Ear Temperature

    No full text
    Background: Variation in baseline ear temperature, taken in the unadjusted mode, has yet to be established in different age groups. Because normal body temperatures show large variations, the same may be expected for increased temperatures in fever. The aims were to study variations in normothermic body temperatures measured with an ear thermometer and to determine differences between actual and perceived body temperature during a febrile episode (referred to as difftemp) in apparently healthy children and adults. Methods: Ear temperature was measured once in 2,006 individuals (61.7% females): 683 children aged 2 and 4 years, 492 adolescents aged 10-18 years, 685 adults aged 19-65 years and 146 elderly aged 66-89 years. Difftemp was estimated as the difference between the individuals ear body temperature, measured in the present study, and the respondents reported temperature when feverish. Results: Mean ear temperature was 36.4 +/- 0.6 degrees C overall and in the child and adult groups. In adolescents, it was 36.5 +/- 0.5 degrees C, and in elderly, 36.1 +/- 0.5 degrees C. Temperature in men was 36.3 +/- 0.6 degrees C, and in women, 36.5 +/- 0.5 degrees C. Difftemp was 1.1 +/- 0.7 degrees C in adolescents, 1.5 +/- 0.7 degrees C in children and adults, and 1.6 +/- 0.7 degrees C in those amp;gt; 65 years. Conclusions: Ear body temperature is lower than traditionally reported and differs with age and sex. An individual difftemp of 1.0-1.5 degrees C along with malaise might indicate fever.Funding Agencies|Covidien/Medtronic (Boston, MA)</p
    corecore