The evidence-base for stroke education in care homes

<b>Summary.</b> <b>Research questions:</b> 1. What are registered care home nurses’ educational priorities regarding stroke care? 2. What are senior care home assistants’ educational priorities regarding stroke care? 3. How do care home nurses conceive stroke care will be delivered in 2010? <b>Study design:</b> This was a 2-year study using focus groups, stroke guidelines, professional recommendations and stroke literature for the development of a questionnaire survey for data collection. Workshops provided study feedback to participants. Data were collected in 2005–2006. <b>Study site:</b> Greater Glasgow NHS Health Board. <b>Population and sample:</b> A stratified random selection of 16 private, 3 voluntary and 6 NHS continuing care homes from which a sample of 115 trained nurses and 19 senior care assistants was drawn. <b>Results:</b> The overall response rate for care home nurses was 64.3% and for senior care assistants, 73.6%. Both care home nurses and senior care assistants preferred accredited stroke education. Care home nurses wanted more training in stroke assessment, rehabilitation and acute interventions whereas senior care assistants wanted more in managing depression, general stroke information and communicating with dysphasic residents. Senior care assistants needed more information on multidisciplinary team working while care home nurses were more concerned with ethical decision-making, accountability and goal setting. <b>Conclusions:</b> Care home staff need and want more stroke training. They are clear that stroke education should be to the benefit of their resident population. Guidelines on stroke care should be developed for care homes and these should incorporate support for continuing professional learning in relation to the resident who has had a stroke

Stroke education for healthcare professionals: making it fit for purpose

<b>Research questions:</b> 1. What are healthcare professionals’ (HCPs) educational priorities regarding stroke care? 2. Do stroke care priorities vary across the primary and secondary sectors? 3. How do HCPs conceive stroke care will be delivered in 2010? <b>Study design:</b> This was a two-year study using focus groups and interviews for instrument development, questionnaires for data collection and workshops to provide study feedback. Data were collected in 2005–06. <b>Study site:</b> One Scottish health board. <b>Inclusion criteria:</b> All National Health Service healthcare professionals working wherever stroke care occurred. <b>Population and sample:</b> Participants were drawn from 4 university teaching hospitals, 2 community hospitals, 1 geriatric medicine day hospital, 48 general practices (GPs), 12 care homes and 15 community teams. The sample comprised 155 doctors, 313 nurses, 133 therapists (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists), and 29 ‘other HCPs’ (14 dieticians, 7 pharmacists, 2 podiatrists and 6 psychologists). <b>Results:</b> HCPs prefer face-to-face, accredited education but blended approaches are required that accommodate uni- and multidisciplinary demands. Doctors and nurses are more inclined towards discipline-specific training compared to therapists and other healthcare professionals (HCPs). HCPs in primary care and stroke units want more information on the social impact of stroke while those working in stroke units in particular are concerned with leadership in the multidisciplinary team. Nurses are the most interested in teaching patients and carers. <b>Conclusions</b> Stroke requires more specialist stroke staff, the upskilling of current staff and a national education pathway given that stroke care is most effectively managed by specialists with specific clinical skills. The current government push towards a flexible workforce is welcome but should be educationally-sound and recognise the career aspirations of healthcare professionals

Redescrição de duas espécies neotropicais de Empididae (Diptera) descritas por curran e revalidação do gênero Porphyrochroa

The two species described in the genus Axelempis Curran, 1931, junior synonym of Macrostomus Wiedemann, 1817, Axelempis fulvithorax Curran, 1931 and A. fasciventris Curran, 1931 are redescribed from the types. The first one remains in the genus Macrostomus and the second one is transferred to Porphyrochroa Melander, 1928, here revalidated

GaN and InN nanowires grown by MBE: a comparison

Morphological, optical and transport properties of GaN and InN nanowires grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) have been studied. The differences between the two materials in respect to growth parameters and optimization procedure was stressed. The nanowires crystalline quality has been investigated by means of their optical properties. A comparison of the transport characteristics was given. For each material a band schema was shown, which takes into account transport and optical features and is based on Fermi level pinning at the surface.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

A comparison of treatment with metformin and gliclazide in patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes

Twenty-seven obese non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients, treated with dietary carbohydrate restriction and metformin, were recruited from the diabetic outpatient clinic and entered into an open crossover study with gliclazide. Twenty-one patients completed the study. During three months observation on metformin, the mean weight of the group fell by 1.0 kg with 14 patients losing a mean of 1.8 kg with 14 patients losing a mean of 1.8 kg, 3 remaining unchanged and 4 gaining a mean weight of 1.1 kg. Over the subsequent three months on gliclazide, the mean weight of the group rose by 1.4 kg with 16 patients gaining a mean of 2.2 kg, two remaining unchanged and 3 losing a mean of 2.0 kg. In addition, 10 patients were heavier after gliclazide than at the time of recruitment (mean 2.6 kg), 3 were unchanged and 8 had lost weight since commencing the trial (mean 2.1 kg), mostly due to greater loss on metformin than gain on gliclazide. Glycaemic control did not improve significantly during the observed period on metformin but lower concentrations of fasting glucose and total glycosylated haemoglobin were achieved with gliclazide. Mean plasma insulin concentration was significantly higher and mean serum lactate was significantly lower during treatment with gliclazide. In conclusion, gliclazide does not support weight loss in obese non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients to the same extent as metformin but the difference between the two drugs is small. Gliclazide is a suitable oral hypoglycaemic agent for use in the obese diabetic who cannot be controlled by diet alone

Audit of resources required for a stroke unit in a district general hospital

SIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Follow-up audit after re-organisation of stroke care in a district general hospital

Audit Symposium 1995Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:6216.680(SO-CRAG-OP--74) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo