Potassium maldistribution revisited

Background: This study investigated maldistribution of concentrated 15% potassium chloride after injection into one-liter, flexible, Ringer’s lactate bags.Methods: Twenty milliliters of concentrated 15% potassium chloride was injected into suspended, flexible, liter bags of Ringer’s lactate. The potassium was injected by hand, over either four (“fast”) or twenty (“slow”) second periods. The effect of two successive bag inversions on maldistribution was also investigated. A simulated infusion at 600 ml per hour was controlled using a volumetric pump. Sampling occurred at 5-minute intervals for the first 20 minutes and at 10-minute intervals thereafter until 90 minutes. Potassium concentrations were measured using an accurate, calibrated wide range analyzer not requiring specimen dilution. This experiment was repeated once. A duplicate set of experiments was performed with Bonney’s blue dye added to the potassium concentrate. Bonney’s blue distribution was evaluated visually.Results: Significant maldistribution occurred. Maldistribution was not dependent on the injection rate. After 20 to 30 minutes of commencing the infusion, maldistribution resulted in delivery of up to 64 to 85% respectively of the available potassium. Two bag inversions effectively homogenised the solution. The distribution of Bonney’s blue stained concentrated potassium was inconsistent with measured potassium concentrations.Conclusions: In cardiac and other surgery, point of care potassium supplementation is frequently required. Anaesthetists should be cognisant of eliminating not only errors of substitution, but also maldistribution of concentrated potassium. Potassium infusion rates should be controlled, preferably using an electronic infusion controller.Keywords: potassium, hyperkalemia, anaesthesia related death, drug error, maldistribution, layering, complication, preventable, mixing, homogenization, mortality, magnesium, dye, indicator, mistak

Eating, drinking and physical activity in Faculty of Health Science students compared to other students at a South African university

Objectives: Students studying towards a qualification in Health Sciences should have more knowledge of a healthy lifestyle than other university students. However, it has been questioned whether or not these students apply such knowledge. While studies have been conducted on the lifestyle habits of students in general, few have compared the practices of Health Science students with those of other students. The objectives of this study were to compare the eating patterns, alcohol consumption and physical activity of Health Science students with those of other students.Design: A cross-sectional study design that utilised an electronic self-administered survey was applied. Data were analysed using SPSS® and Pearson’s chi-square test (p-value < 0.050).Subjects and setting: A convenience sample (n = 619), consisting of registered students at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, participated, after providing informed consent.Outcomes measures: Dietary patterns and frequency of intake, alcohol consumption and physical activity were measured.Results: A statistical difference was not reported between the eating patterns, alcohol consumption and physical activity of Health Science students and those of other students. Most of the students exhibited poor dietary behaviour. For example, 65% of Health Science students and 67% of students in other faculties consumed less than one fruit per day, 70% of Health Science students and 64% of other students consumed less than one vegetable per day, while 91% of Health Science students and 93% of students in other faculties consumed less than two glasses of milk per day. Although not significant, fewer Health Science students (4%) than students of other faculties (9%) consumed alcohol more than twice a week. Binge drinking was more common in Health Science students. Forty-eight per cent of the Health Science students indicated that they were physically inactive, compared to 49% of students in other faculties.Conclusion: Students studying Health Science do not have a healthier lifestyle than other students. Further theory-based intervention studies to determine the reasons for this behaviour need to be undertaken. Strategies should be developed to encourage behavioural change.Keywords: dietary intake, alcohol consumption, physical activity, Health Sciences, university student

African Water: Supporting African involvement in the EU Framework Programme.

Water researchers in developing countries have yet to take full advantage of the funding and collaborative research opportunities presented by the EU Framework Programme. There are a variety of reasons for this, such as insufficient information and a lack of previous experience. The African Water initiative aims to increase the involvement of African water researchers through a range of activities including communication and dissemination, capacity building and development, and complementary initiatives. The project has demonstrated that there is a demand for such sector-specific support activities. However, African Water is a small component of a much larger process of partnership between the developed and the less-developed countries of the world, involving many different European and African organisations working across political, institutional and technical domains, and complementing the wide range of actions already being undertaken

Workplace Spirituality: A Meta-theoretical Perspective

A meta-theory was developed that brought together implicit premises or world views that constantly re-surface in human thought. Although these elements, which are often referred to being the result of differences in human ‘temperament’, have long been part of the scholarly activity of humankind, a comprehensive synthesis has been lacking so far. In order to redress this shortcoming, an integrated perspective, supported by scholarly evidence, regarding basic characteristics of making sense of life and world was introduced. As a result, four paradigmatic or root intellectual orientations (designated as type I, type II, type III and type IV) have been identified. The theory was found to be applicable across a wide range of scholarly disciplines and cultures. In the present case the workplace spirituality literature is analyzed, using this framework. Four basic paradigms in the workplace spirituality scholarship are identified and briefly described in terms of a survey of a number of examples of each meta-type: the theoretical (type I), empirical (type II), narrative-interpretive (type III), and the pragmatic (type IV). DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p226