High fatigue scores among older dutch nurse anesthetists

In the Netherlands, hospital care production pressure recently increased substantially, while the number of nurse anesthetists available did not match this rise. The longtime existing norm of no night shifts for nurses beyond the age of 55 years was increased to age 57 to meet the demand for more nurse anesthetists. In this pilot study, we aimed to determine the level of fatigue and its correlation with demographic items among this category of employees. A validated questionnaire was distributed to all Dutch nurse anesthetists above 50 years of age working in Dutch hospitals, which asked for their level of fatigue. The Checklist Individual Strength Questionnaire was used to measure fatigue. Overall, 105 of 115 potential participants completed the questionnaire (response rate, 91%). The mean scores (± standard deviation) were as follows: total fatigue, 81.3 ± 8.3; subjective fatigue, 31.4 ± 3.2; physical activity, 13.1 ± 2.2; motivation, 16.8 ± 2.6; and concentration, 20.0 ± 3.8. No correlation could be demonstrated between demographic characteristics and fatigue. Dutch nurse anesthetists above the age of 50 years show a high fatigue score and therefore need special attention to prevent them from harmful physical and psychological effects and to sustain maximal patient safety

Composition of the anaesthesia team: a European survey

Background and objective The anaesthesia workforce in Europe is understaffed and may not meet the growing demands of surgery. In many European countries where responsibilities can be identified and a varying degree of task substitution occurs, the anaesthesia service is provided by a team of physician and nonphysician anaesthesia members. This study assesses the availability, as well as the roles and functions, of nonphysician anaesthesia team members in European countries. Methods A survey was carried out to examine differences in anaesthesia practices and the strength of the anaesthesia workforce in Europe. A questionnaire, seeking information about perioperative anaesthesia input by nonphysician anaesthesia team members, was sent to all the national representatives of the Union of European Medical Specialists Anaesthesiology section and the International Federation of Nurse Anaesthetists. Results The responses to the questionnaire revealed that each European country has its own unique type of nonphysician anaesthesia team member and the roles of these vary substantially. Their levels of organisation vary from country to country and whereas nurse anaesthetists are often well organised, circulation nurses are not. Conclusion The present study demonstrated the heterogeneity and variety of anaesthesia practices throughout Europe. Standardisation of the training and practice of European nurse anaesthetists is desirable for patient safety and quality of care if they seek to work in more than one European country. Those countries that anticipate a shortfall in the supply of anaesthesiologists should examine working models from other countries that currently work with fewer physicians and more nurse anaesthetists

An evidence-based approach towards targeted patient education to improve bowel preparation for colonoscopy

Goals and Background: Quality of bowel preparation is an important factor influencing adenoma detection. Patient education is believed to improve the quality of bowel preparation but might be resource-intensive. We aimed to (a) identify risk factors for failed bowel preparations and (b) develop and test the efficacy of a screening tool that allows to prospectively identify and target patients at increased risk. Study: Part 1: 76 consecutive outpatients with poor bowel preparation were compared with 76 age-matched and gender-matched outpatients with good preparation from the same procedure lists. Sociodemographic and clinical data were obtained from centralized databases. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for poor bowel preparation. Part 2: on the basis of results of part 1, a screening tool for prospectively identifying patients at high risk was developed, and targeted education tested. Results: We identified the use of opioids or other constipating agents and low socioeconomic status as risk factors for poor bowel preparation [odds ratio (OR)=2.88; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.22-6.80 and OR=2.43; 95% CI: 1.25-4.72]. Diabetes, hypothyroidism, age, and gender were found to have no effect on quality. When education was provided only to patients at increased risk, the targeted approach did not negatively affect the proportion of poor preparation (OR=6.12%; 95% CI: 4.79%-7.78% vs. OR=5.73%; 95% CI: 4.61%-7.10%). Conclusions: Poor bowel preparation is associated with specific risk factors. Identifying and specifically targeting education at patients with these risk factors appears to facilitate more efficient use of education resources in endoscopy

An in vitro and clinical dose-finding study of antifoaming effects of simethicone during colonoscopy

Simethicone is an antifoaming agent frequently added to endoscopic rinse solutions but has recently been implicated as a risk factor for transmission of infections due to the formation of simethicone deposits within scope channels. Since the build-up of residue is likely dose-related, the smallest effective dose of simethicone should be used but there are no data available on the effective dose. Thus, we conducted a dose-finding study in an “in vitro bubble model” to determine the appropriate simethicone dose. Six 100-mL test tubes were filled with a 1% (v/v) solution of kitchen detergent (Fairy®, Procter & Gamble,\ua0London, England) in water for irrigation (Baxter®, Sydney, Australia). One test tube served as the control, while different doses of simethicone (Infacol®, Nice Pak, Melbourne, Australia) were added to the other five tubes (0.02, 0.2, 2.0, 20, and 200\ua0mg/100\ua0mL). Oxygen was streamed for 30\ua0s into the test tubes at a rate of 2\ua0L/min. After 10\ua0s, photographs were taken and the visible\ua0bubbles were semi-quantitatively rated by independent assessors blinded to the dosing of simethicone. Simethicone at doses of 2\ua0mg/100\ua0mL had no appreciable antifoaming effect, whereas concentrations ≥ 20\ua0mg/100\ua0mL were sufficient to suppress bubble formation. This is substantially lower compared with frequently used doses of up to 200\ua0mg/100\ua0mL. Subsequently, we tested the lower simethicone dose with previously used higher doses, in 1475 and 1340 patients, respectively. We found it to have no impact on polyp detection with a rate of 56.7% (54.2–59.3% [95% CI]) at the lower dose and 56.5% (53.8–59.1% [95% CI]) at the higher dose. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Correction to: An in vitro and clinical dose-finding study of antifoaming effects of simethicone during colonoscopy (Indian Journal of Gastroenterology, (2019), 38, 3, (268-272), 10.1007/s12664-019-00966-3)

In the above article, due to probable typo error with the picture and legend, the correct Fig. 1 and the Legend to the Fig. 1 are printed here: (Figure presented.)