Parsonage-Turner Syndrome rather than Zoster Neuritis?

We report the case of an 86-year-old man with acute left shoulder pain, followed by left limb monoparesis and a herpetic rash on the left upper limb and thoracic region. This situation presented a diagnostic challenge because of the simultaneity of symptoms attributable to Parsonage-Turner syndrome and herpes zoster neuropathy. A detailed clinical history, physical examination and electroneuromyography were essential to distinguish the neurological structures involved and to ascertain the diagnosis

The Role of Power in Health Care Conflict: Recommendations for Shifting Toward Constructive Approaches

Purpose The combination of power and conflict is frequently reported to have a detrimental impact on communication and on patient care, and it is avoided and perceived negatively by health care professionals. In view of recent recommendations to explicitly address power and conflict in health professions education, adopting more constructive approaches toward power and conflict may be helpful. Method The authors used social bases of power (positional, expert, informational, reward, coercive, referent) identified in the literature to examine the role of power in conflicts between health care professionals in different cultural settings. They drew upon semistructured interviews conducted from 2013 to 2016 with 249 health care professionals working at health centers in the United States, Switzerland, and Hungary, in which participants shared stories of conflict they had experienced with coworkers. The authors used a directed approach to content analysis to analyze the data. Results The social bases of power tended to be comparable across sites and included positional, expert, and coercive power. The rigid hierarchies that divide health care professionals, their professions, and their specialties contributed to negative experiences in conflicts. In addition, the presence of an audience, such as supervisors, coworkers, patients, and patients’ families, prevented health care professionals from addressing conflicts when they occurred, resulting in conflict escalation. Conclusions These findings suggest that fostering more positive approaches toward power and conflict could be achieved by using social bases of power such as referent power and by addressing conflicts in a more private, backstage, manner

Physicians’ perspective on potentially non-beneficial treatment when assessing patients with advanced disease for ICU admission: a qualitative study

Objective The use of intensive care at the end of life can be high, leading to inappropriate healthcare utilisation, and prolonged suffering for patients and families. The objective of the study was to determine which factors influence physicians’ admission decisions in situations of potentially non-beneficial intensive care.Design This is a secondary analysis of a qualitative study exploring the triage process. In-depth interviews were analysed using an inductive approach to thematic content analysis.Setting Data were collected in a Swiss tertiary care centre between March and June 2013.Participants 12 intensive care unit (ICU) physicians and 12 internists routinely involved in ICU admission decisions.Results Physicians struggled to understand the request for intensive care for patients with advanced disease and full code status. Physicians considered patients’ long-term vital and functional prognosis, but they also resorted to shortcuts, that is, a priori consensus about reasons for admitting a patient. Family pressure and unexpected critical events were determinants of admission to the ICU. Patient preferences, ICU physician’s expertise and collaborative decision making facilitated refusal. Physicians were willing to admit a patient with advanced disease for a limited amount of time to fulfil a personal need.Conclusions In situations of potentially non-beneficial intensive care, the influence of shortcuts or context-related factors suggests that practice variations and inappropriate admission decisions are likely to occur. Institutional guidelines and timely goals of care discussions with patients with advanced disease and their families could contribute to ensuring appropriate levels of care

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome after surgical correction of an aortic coarctation: a case report

Abstract Introduction We report a case of postural tachycardia syndrome occurring after the surgical correction of an aortic coarctation, and coexisting with upper airway resistance syndrome. Case presentation A 29-year-old Caucasian man complained of extreme fatigue, daytime sleepiness, shortness of breath on exertion, light-headedness and general weakness on standing. These symptoms began shortly after the surgical correction of an aortic coarctation and became progressively more debilitating, impairing any daily activity. An extensive work-up revealed postural tachycardia syndrome and a coexisting sleep-related breathing disorder, characterized as upper airway resistance syndrome. Conclusion This is the first reported case describing the occurrence of postural tachycardia syndrome after the surgical correction of an aortic coarctation. This case also provides evidence for the suggestion that this syndrome may coexist with upper airway resistance syndrome, although the exact nature of their relationship must still be better established.</p

Development and validity evidence for the intraprofessional conflict exercise: An assessment tool to support collaboration.

BackgroundEffective collaboration is the foundation for delivering safe, high quality patient care. Health sciences curricula often include interprofessional collaboration training but may neglect conflicts that occur within a profession (intraprofessional). We describe the development of and validity evidence for an assessment of intraprofessional conflict management.Methods and findingsWe designed a 22-item assessment, the Intraprofessional Conflict Exercise, to evaluate skills in managing intraprofessional conflicts based on a literature review of conflict management. Using Messick's validity framework, we collected evidence for content, response process, and internal structure during a simulated intraprofessional conflict from 2018 to 2019. We performed descriptive statistics, inter-rater reliability, Cronbach's alpha, generalizability theory, and factor analysis to gather validity evidence. Two trained faculty examiners rated 82 trainees resulting in 164 observations. Inter-rater reliability was fair, weighted kappa of 0.33 (SE = 0.03). Cronbach's alpha was 0.87. The generalizability study showed differentiation among trainees (19.7% person variance) and was highly reliable, G-coefficient 0.88, Phi-coefficient 0.88. The decision study predicted that using one rater would have high reliability, G-coefficient 0.80. Exploratory factor analysis demonstrated three factors: communication skills, recognition of limits, and demonstration of respect for others. Based on qualitative observations, we found all items to be applicable, highly relevant, and helpful in identifying how trainees managed intraprofessional conflict.ConclusionsThe Intraprofessional Conflict Exercise provides a useful and reliable way to evaluate intraprofessional conflict management skills. It provides meaningful and actionable feedback to trainees and may help health educators in preparing trainees to manage intraprofessional conflict

Diagnosis and management of clinical reasoning difficulties: Part I. Clinical reasoning supervision and educational diagnosis

<p>There are many obstacles to the timely identification of clinical reasoning difficulties in health professions education. This guide aims to provide readers with a framework for supervising clinical reasoning and identifying the potential difficulties as they may occur at each step of the reasoning process.</p

Diagnosis and management of clinical reasoning difficulties: Part II. Clinical reasoning difficulties: Management and remediation strategies^*

<p>Part II of this AMEE Guide provides a detailed overview of the main difficulties in clinical reasoning, including the cues to look out for in clinical supervision, the root causes of each difficulty and targeted remediation strategies. Specific challenges and issues related to the management of clinical reasoning difficulties will also be discussed.</p