Advanced vascular access workshop for dialysis nurses : a three-year review

There is increased awareness regarding the benefits of ultrasound for vascular access surveillance and guided cannulation in haemodialysis. However, finding time to train staff whilst working within the clinical setting is challenging. In 2009 a workshop was introduced in Victoria to provide a platform for nursing staff to learn advanced skills in surveillance and cannulation in a safe, supportive environment. The workshop covered topics such as: assessment and cannulation; surgical perspectives in vascular access; radiological perspectives in vascular access; surveillance and monitoring; cannulation competency package; antegrade/antegrade cannulation; and introduction to ultrasound plus five hours of practical sessions. Feedback from the workshop over the past three years has been positive, and staff have benefited from the both the theoretical and clinical components of the workshop. The success of this workshop highlights the demand for continuing education within the renal workforce

Renal access coordinators\u27 impact on hemodialysis patient outcomes and associated service delivery: a systematic review

BackgroundRenal access coordinators contribute specifically to dialysis access care for people with chronic and end stage renal disease. Since the introduction of renal access coordinators into Australia in the early 2000s, there have been anecdotal examples of associated improvements in patient outcomes and service delivery; however scant published quantitative evidence exists. Thus, the impact of the implementation of renal access coordinators has not undergone a rigorous review to date.ObjectiveThe objective of this systematic review was to critically appraise and synthesize the best available evidence related to the impact of renal access coordinators on dialysis patient outcomes and associated service delivery.INCLUSION CRITERIATypes of participantsThis review considered studies that included renal access coordinators (noting variations of the titles) and adult hemodialysis patients (aged 18 years and over).Types of intervention(s)This review considered studies that evaluated the effectiveness of the renal access coordinator. This role typically consists of clinical and administration duties such as providing pre dialysis access coordination, access surveillance patient education and nurse education.Types of studiesThe types of studies considered within this review included experimental and epidemiological study designs. Thus randomized controlled trials (RCT), non-randomized controlled trials, and quasi-experimental, before and after studies, prospective and retrospective cohort studies were considered as were case control studies, analytical cross sectional studies and descriptive cross sectional studies. Types of outcomesPatient outcomes considered included: days to first vascular access complication (such as stenosis or thrombosis) and/or primary intervention (such as angioplasty or surgical intervention); percentage of central line insertions (negative); rate of arteriovenous fistula (AVF)/arteriovenous graft (AVG)/central venous catheter (CVC) at start of dialysis (incidence); prevalent rate of AVF/AVG/CVC; time to occlusion of AVF and time from referral to surgery. Service outcomes included: knowledge/up skilling of renal nurses; cannulation skills, ultrasound skills, knowledge of anatomy and physiology and other access related knowledge.Search strategyThe search strategy aimed to locate published and unpublished studies, utilizing a three-step searching approach. Studies published in English from 1990 to October 2013 were considered for inclusion in this review. Methodological qualityThe studies were assessed by two independent reviewers using the appropriate standardized critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute. Data collectionData were extracted from papers included in the review using the standardised data extraction tool from the Joanna Briggs Institute, namely JBI Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI). Data synthesisThis review aimed to conduct meta-analyses of the findings: however, because of the limitations of the data found, this was not possible and so the findings are presented in a narrative format.ResultsFive studies were identified for inclusion in the review. No RCTs were found, therefore four of the five studies were pre-post intervention cohort studies and one was a prospective quality assurance report. Data were heterogeneous and thus did not allow for meta-analysis. All studies included multidisciplinary teams with variable emphasis on the renal access coordinator role. The pre post intervention cohort studies measured incident and/or prevalent AVF, AVG and CVC rates in the hemodialysis population and the quality assurance report measured the difference in patency rates between AVF and AVG. All discussed the role of central coordination as a contributor to the success of vascular access care. ConclusionsThis review found insufficient data to make firm conclusions about the impact that renal access coordinators have on patient outcomes. The results of this review suggest an association between renal access coordinators and improved patient outcomes. These improved patient outcomes were apparent in an increase in incident and prevalent AVFs, and a decrease in the incidence and prevalence of CVCs. Both associations are correlated with a reduction in infection rates, length of hospital stay and healthcare costs.<br /

RAN-Vic : renal access nurses of Victoria unite.

The Renal Access Nurse has recently become an integral member of the renal health care team in Australia. Research has shown that the introduction of a Renal Access Nurse into dialysis units enhances the referral process for new access, improves survival rates, and success of access creation. Australia has been relatively slow in the introduction of the role of the Renal Access Nurse. The USA, UK and Europe have been utilising Renal Access Nurses in renal units for many years and their roles are firmly entrenched.The first Renal Access Nurse was introduced in Victoria in 2003, increasing to 7 in 2007. It was evident in 2006 that a networking system for Renal Access Nurses was needed in Victoria, so RAN-Vic was born.RAN-Vic consists of 6 Renal Access Nurses from the major hubs in Melbourne and Geelong, thus covering a large part of the Victorian dialysis community through satellite units throughout the state. The group meet quarterly, with the main goals being to network, share ideas, support each other with challenges arising from the new role, benchmark, undertake quality initiatives and education of renal nursing staff. By doing this, we hope to improve outcomes for patients, improve work practices pertaining to renal access, and further redefine the new role.RAN-Vic is the first of its kind in Australia, providing care for renal access for the dialysis population throughout Victoria. We recommend for all states in Australia to consider forming a Renal Access Group to help improve renal access outcomes.<br /

Analysis of shared heritability in common disorders of the brain

ience, this issue p. eaap8757 Structured Abstract INTRODUCTION Brain disorders may exhibit shared symptoms and substantial epidemiological comorbidity, inciting debate about their etiologic overlap. However, detailed study of phenotypes with different ages of onset, severity, and presentation poses a considerable challenge. Recently developed heritability methods allow us to accurately measure correlation of genome-wide common variant risk between two phenotypes from pools of different individuals and assess how connected they, or at least their genetic risks, are on the genomic level. We used genome-wide association data for 265,218 patients and 784,643 control participants, as well as 17 phenotypes from a total of 1,191,588 individuals, to quantify the degree of overlap for genetic risk factors of 25 common brain disorders. RATIONALE Over the past century, the classification of brain disorders has evolved to reflect the medical and scientific communities' assessments of the presumed root causes of clinical phenomena such as behavioral change, loss of motor function, or alterations of consciousness. Directly observable phenomena (such as the presence of emboli, protein tangles, or unusual electrical activity patterns) generally define and separate neurological disorders from psychiatric disorders. Understanding the genetic underpinnings and categorical distinctions for brain disorders and related phenotypes may inform the search for their biological mechanisms. RESULTS Common variant risk for psychiatric disorders was shown to correlate significantly, especially among attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia. By contrast, neurological disorders appear more distinct from one another and from the psychiatric disorders, except for migraine, which was significantly correlated to ADHD, MDD, and Tourette syndrome. We demonstrate that, in the general population, the personality trait neuroticism is significantly correlated with almost every psychiatric disorder and migraine. We also identify significant genetic sharing between disorders and early life cognitive measures (e.g., years of education and college attainment) in the general population, demonstrating positive correlation with several psychiatric disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa and bipolar disorder) and negative correlation with several neurological phenotypes (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and ischemic stroke), even though the latter are considered to result from specific processes that occur later in life. Extensive simulations were also performed to inform how statistical power, diagnostic misclassification, and phenotypic heterogeneity influence genetic correlations. CONCLUSION The high degree of genetic correlation among many of the psychiatric disorders adds further evidence that their current clinical boundaries do not reflect distinct underlying pathogenic processes, at least on the genetic level. This suggests a deeply interconnected nature for psychiatric disorders, in contrast to neurological disorders, and underscores the need to refine psychiatric diagnostics. Genetically informed analyses may provide important "scaffolding" to support such restructuring of psychiatric nosology, which likely requires incorporating many levels of information. By contrast, we find limited evidence for widespread common genetic risk sharing among neurological disorders or across neurological and psychiatric disorders. We show that both psychiatric and neurological disorders have robust correlations with cognitive and personality measures. Further study is needed to evaluate whether overlapping genetic contributions to psychiatric pathology may influence treatment choices. Ultimately, such developments may pave the way toward reduced heterogeneity and improved diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders