Exploring the quality of the dying and death experience in the Emergency Department: An integrative literature review

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Aim: The aim of this integrative literature review was to explore the quality of the dying and death experience in the Emergency Department from the perspective of staff and carers. Background: Death in the Emergency Department is common. Understanding the quality of the death and dying experience of patients and their family members is crucial to building knowledge and improving care. Design: Systematic integrative literature review reported following the PRISMA guidelines. Data sources: Pubmed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Magonline (internurse), and the Cochrane library. Articles used were published in English during 1990- 2017. Review method: Appraisal and thematic analysis. Results: Sixteen articles are included. Eight themes emerged from the literature: care in the Emergency Department is about living not dying, staff perceive that death is a failure, staff feel underprepared to care for the dying patient and family in this environment, there is limited time for safe standards of care, staff stress and distress, staff use of distancing behaviours, the care of the dying role is devolved from medics to nurses at the end of life, and patients and staff perceive that the Emergency Department is not the preferred place of death Conclusion: There are areas of concern about end of life care in the Emergency Department. To improve practice and to ensure that a good death occurs, further research is needed. There is a need to understand more about the experience of caregivers when a relative or friend dies in the Emergency Department

What is the experience of being readmitted to hospital for people 65 years and over? A review of the literature

© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Aim: To explore the experience of readmissions to hospital from the perspective of older adults. Methods: A systematic review with an interpretative approach was conducted. CINAHL, Embase, and Medline were consulted in October 2016. Results: Six studies with data collection between 2004 and 2013 fit the relevant criteria and included a total of 68 older adults. Two overarching themes were developed with relevant subthemes: Experience during initial hospital stay distinguished by exclusion (Feeling powerless; Feeling disregarded; Perception of readiness for discharge); Patients experience uncertainty following discharge (Perception that community-based services are not available or adequate; Perception that hospital is the only safe place; Difficulty in adapting to a “new normal”). Conclusions: A cycle of exclusion exists during the initial hospital stay and beyond. The experience of being readmitted to hospital is challenging, mostly perceived as negative, and, existential, emotional and psychological well-being is not satisfactorily addressed by healthcare professionals

Memory in narratives and stories: implications for nursing research

©2019 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers. BACKGROUND: Memory, as a concept, is rarely discussed or described in qualitative research. However, memories are central to the stories people tell about their experiences of health and illness, which are often the focus of nursing enquiry. Memories also have the potential to be sensitive or traumatic. AIM: To consider the implications of memory for qualitative research by exploring the following issues: What is memory? What are the implications for using it in research? How can research participants and researchers best be supported in qualitative research when sensitive or traumatic memories are involved? DISCUSSION: Memory is imperfect, complex and dependent on context. Memories are connected to meaning and are central to identity. Qualitative research should appreciate the complexities of memory. Nurses undertaking qualitative research should be mindful of the potentially sensitive or traumatic nature of memories. Both participants and researchers can be affected and care should be taken during the research. CONCLUSION: Memory should not be taken for granted. The meanings underpinning memories are central to qualitative enquiry and are to be valued. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The strategies described in this paper can support researchers and participants when dealing with traumatic or sensitive memories

Fabrication of glass gas cells for the HALOE and MAPS satellite experiments

The Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) and the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS) experiment are satellite-borne experiments which measure trace constituents in the Earth's atmosphere. The instruments which obtain the data for these experiments are based on the gas filter correlation radiometer measurement technique. In this technique, small samples of the gases of interest are encapsulated in glass cylinders, called gas cells, which act as very selective optical filters. This report describes the techniques employed in the fabrication of the gas cells for the HALOE and MAPS instruments. Details of the method used to fuse the sapphire windows (required for IR transmission) to the glass cell bodies are presented along with detailed descriptions of the jigs and fixtures used during the assembly process. The techniques and equipment used for window inspection and for pairing the HALOE windows are discussed. Cell body materials and the steps involved in preparing the cell bodies for the glass-to-sapphire fusion process are given

Factors influencing nurses' intentions to leave adult critical care settings

© 2018 British Association of Critical Care Nurses Background: The shortage of critical care and specialist nurses has been an ongoing issue for many decades. Although all areas of nursing are affected, critical care areas are especially vulnerable to recruitment and retention problems. High nursing turnover in critical care areas is evident; however, research into the factors that influence nurses' intentions to leave adult critical care areas is limited. Aim: To explore factors that may influence nurses' intentions to leave adult critical care areas. Objectives: To appraise existing evidence and highlight gaps in knowledge regarding factors that may influence nurses' intentions to leave adult critical care areas. Methods: A systematic mixed-method literature review was conducted. The search strategy was developed using the List, Keep and Delete approach, a framework used to identify search terms for systematic health care reviews. The following key words were used: intentions to leave, nurses, adult and critical care. The databases searched were BNI, CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase and Health B Elite from 2005 to 2016. Primary data from non-critical care areas and neonatal and paediatric critical care areas were excluded. Comprehensive supplementary searching was performed. Papers were critically appraised using the NICE (2012) checklists. Data were analysed using the Braun and Clarke (2006) thematic framework. Results: A total of 15 studies, including 13 cross-sectional studies and 2 qualitative studies, were reviewed. Three main themes emerged following data analysis. These themes were quality of the work environment, nature of working relationships and traumatic/stressful workplace experiences. Conclusions: The literature review highlighted the need for further research and greater understanding of how these themes may impact critical care nurses. Nurse managers and leaders should consider these findings when developing strategies to improve nurse retention. Relevance to practice: The shortage of critical care nurses is currently a global issue impacting costs and quality of patient care

Living with breathlessness in chronic heart failure - a qualitative study

Aims To explore how patients with CHF describe their experiences of breathlessness, the pattern of their breathlessness, how daily life is affected and how they adjust to and manage these symptoms. Background Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) is a highly prevalent syndrome often with poor outcomes and in a patient group who are predominately elderly. Breathlessness is the main symptom experienced by patients and often relates to decompensation and hospitalisation, yet subtle changes described by patients are often not discussed with health care professionals. Design A descriptive qualitative design. Participants: Twenty-five participants with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HF-REF) from a tertiary referral centre in England Methods Twenty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted and data was analysed through thematic analysis. Findings All participants reported experiencing breathlessness daily. Four sub-themes were identified in their accounts: nature of breathlessness, emotional impact of breathlessness, impact of breathlessness on daily life and managing breathlessness. Conclusion Participants were able to give vivid descriptions of breathlessness and the way it affected their lives

‘Doing the best we can’: Registered Nurses' experiences and perceptions of patient safety in intensive care during COVID-19

Aims: To explore registered nurses' experiences of patient safety in intensive care during COVID-19.Design: A qualitative interview study informed by constructivism. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted and audio- recorded with 19 registered nurses who worked in intensive care during COVID-19 between May and July 2021. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed utilizing framework. Results: Two key themes were identified. ‘On a war footing’—an unprecedented situation which describes the situation nurses faced, and the actions are taken to prepare for the safe delivery of care. ‘Doing the best we can’—Safe Delivery of Care which describes the ramifications of the actions taken on short- and long-term patient safety including organization of care, missed and suboptimal care and communication. Both themes were embedded in the landscape of Staff Well-being and Peer Support. Conclusion: Nurses reported an increase in patient safety risks which they attributed to the dilution of skill mix and fragmentation of care. Nurses demonstrated an under-standing of the holistic and long-term impacts on patient safety and recovery from critical illness. Impact: This study explored the perceived impact of COVID-19 on patient safety in intensive care from a nursing perspective. Dilution of skill mix, where specialist critical care registered nurses were diluted with registered nurses with no critical care experience, and the fragmentation of care was perceived to lead to reduced quality of care and increased adverse events and risk of harm which were not consistently formally reported. Furthermore, nurses demonstrated a holistic and long-term appreciation of patient safety. These findings should be considered as part of future nursing work-force modelling and patient safety strategies by intensive care leaders and managers. No public or patient contribution to this study. The study aims and objectives were developed in collaboration with health care professional

Pain associated with pressure injury: A qualitative study of community-based, home-dwelling individuals

© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Aims: The aim of this study was to provide deep insights into the pain associated with pressure injuries in home-dwelling individuals using narrative accounts. Background: Pressure injuries or pressure ulcers are burdensome and costly. Prevalence data, surveys and systematic reviews demonstrate that pain associated with pressure injury is widespread, but voices of home-dwelling patients have remained largely unheard. Design: Concurrent mixed methods case study of a UK community of approximately 50,000 adults. Methods: Qualitative interviews, conducted in 2016, of 12 home-dwelling adult participants with a current pressure injury (n = 10), or a recently healed pressure injury (n = 2). Findings: Pain had an adverse impact on activities of daily living, mobility and sleep. Participants described days that were clouded in pain; a pain they felt was poorly understood and often out of control. Thematic content analysis revealed two major themes; these are: Poorly controlled pain: “I just want the pain to go away”; and, Uncertainty for the future: “it almost seems insurmountable.”. Conclusion: Findings of our study support the need to develop an appropriate assessment tool for pressure injury patients in the community to enable healthcare professionals and patients to recognize and manage pressure injury-related pain effectively

Health service provision and the use of pressure-redistributing devices: mixed methods study of community dwelling individuals with pressure injuries

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Background: Health care within the home setting is a vital and growing component of pressure injury (PI) prevention and management. Objectives: To describe the use of health services and pressure-redistributing devices in community dwelling patients with PI’s. Design: Mixed-methods collective case study of a defined, diverse geographic postcode area in the United Kingdom. Methods: Quantitative retrospective analysis of electronic and paper medical records of adult PI patients from 2015 district nursing reports. Qualitative semi-structured interviews of community dwelling adult patients receiving, or received, treatment for PI in 2016. Results: Mandatory reports (n = 103) revealed that 90 patients were supplied with a variety of pressure-redistributing devices but only one-third of patients used the equipment as recommended. Qualitative interviews (n = 12), reported to COREQ guidelines, revealed that patients felt reliant on community health services, and were concerned about the consistency of their care. Conclusions: Authentic patient involvement is required to provide care and interventions that are acceptable to PI patients and can be incorporated into self-care strategies and effectively monitored

Keeping Up With the Kids: Diffusion of Innovation in Pediatric Emergency Medicine Among Emergency Physicians

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137273/1/acem13185.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137273/2/acem13185_am.pd