81 research outputs found

    Reduced time to surgery improves patient-reported outcome after achilles tendon rupture.

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    Background: Patient outcome after an acute Achilles tendon rupture (ATR) continues to be suboptimal and heterogeneous. Thus, prognostic factors are called for to optimize evidence-based ATR treatment protocols, however, the influence of delayed time from injury to surgery (TTS) on patient outcome after ATR remains largely unknown. Purpose: To determine whether patient outcomes and adverse events after surgical repair of acute ATR are related to delayed TTS. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Two hundred and twenty-eight ATR patients treated with uniform anesthetic and surgical techniques, within 10 days after injury, were retrospectively assessed. TTS depended on a free slot in the operating theatre and neither surgeon nor patient could affect TTS. Patients were assigned into three groups according to trichotomized TTS; short- (72hours). Patient-reported outcome at one-year was assessed using the validated Achilles tendon Total Rupture Score, with scores>80 on a 0- to 100-point scale indicating an overall good outcome. The incidences of adverse events (peri- and postoperative) and deep venous thrombosis were assessed. Results: Shorter TTS was significantly associated with increased rate of good outcome and reduced risk of adverse events. Seventy-one percent (95% CI, 60%-83%) of the patients with short TTS attained a good outcome compared to 44% (95% CI, 33%-56%) of the patients 3 with long TTS (p=.002), and with the intermediate TTS group in between (63%, 95% CI, 47%-78%). The incidence of adverse events was significantly reduced among patients with short TTS 1.4% (95% CI, 1%-4%) as compared to those with intermediate TTS 11% (95% CI, 2%-21%) (p=.035) and to patients with long TTS 14.8% (95% CI, 7%-23%) (p=.003). The risk of sustaining a deep venous thrombosis was not statistically significant different among the three groups (p=.15). Conclusion: Patients with acute ATR operated on within 48 hours after injury yielded better outcomes and a lower number of adverse events compared to patients operated on after 72 hours. These results conform to evidence-based recommendations from other surgical disciplines and should be used as guidelines for optimizing ATR treatment protocols.Swedish Research Council (project nr. 2012-3510)Accepte

    Using by‐catch data from wildlife surveys to quantify climatic parameters and the timing of phenology for plants and animals using camera traps

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    Gaining a better understanding of global environmental change is an important challenge for conserving biodiversity. Shifts in phenology are an important consequence of environmental change. Measuring phenology of different taxa simultaneously at the same spatial and temporal scale is necessary to study the effects of changes in phenology on ecosystems. Camera traps that take both time‐lapse as well as motion‐triggered images are increasingly used to study wildlife populations. The by‐catch data of these networks of camera traps provide a potential alternative for measuring several climatic and phenological variables. Here, we tested this ability of camera traps, and quantified climatic variables as well as the timing of changes in plant and animal phenology. We obtained data from 193 camera‐unit deployments during a year of camera trapping on a peninsula in northern Sweden aimed at studying wildlife. We estimated daily temperature at noon and snow cover using recordings provided by cameras. Estimates of snow cover were accurate, but temperature estimates were higher compared with a local weather station. Furthermore, we were able to identify the timing of leaf emergence and senescence for birches (Betula sp.) and the presence of bilberry berries (Vaccinium myrtillus ), as important food sources for herbivores. These were linked to the timing of the growth of antlers and the presence of new‐born young for three ungulate species as well as the presence of migratory Eurasian cranes (Grus grus ). We also identified the timing of spring and autumn moulting of mountain hares (Lepus timidus ) in relation to snow cover. In this novel study, we show the potential of (by‐catch) data from camera traps to study phenology across a broad range of taxa, suggesting that a global network of camera traps has great potential to simultaneously track wildlife populations and the phenology of interactions between animals and plants

    Dealing with daily emotions—supportive activities for the elderly in a municipal care setting

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    There are diverse descriptions of supportive activities in nursing to be found in the literature. What they have in common is their association with good care outcomes, but they may differ depending on the context in which the care is given. In a Swedish municipal elderly care setting, registered nurses (RN) work in a consultative way and they describe a part of their tasks as comprising supportive activities without specifying what kind of supportive activities they mean. The aim of the study was to explore the main concern of the support given by RN to a group of patients in an elderly home care setting. The study was conducted using Grounded Theory. Data were collected using nonparticipant observations regarding the supportive activities of 12 RN at the home of 36 patients between the ages of 80 and 102. Most of the home visit lasted about 40 min but some lasted for 90 min. The central category was about dealing with daily emotions. This was done by encouraging the situation and reducing the patient's limitations, but situations also occurred in which there was a gap of support. Support was about capturing the emotions that the patient expressed for a particular moment, but there were also situations in which RN chose not to give support. To develop a holistic eldercare, more knowledge is needed about the factors causing the RN to choose not to provide support on some occasions

    An Honest Journalism : – An Interview Study About Constructive Journalism and the Journalistic Role

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    Constructive journalism aims to cover stories about progress and collaboration as well as stories about devastation and conflict. This qualitative interviewstudy explores how local journalists working at Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio experience the impact of constructive journalism on their journalistic role. What has the constructive perspective, which is now quite implemented in the two media organizations, meant for the conceptions of the journalistic role considering norms, ideals and journalistic mission? By interviewing five journalists about their experiences, we received results that provide an understanding of constructive journalism as it pertains to journalist role conceptions. The results show that the constructive perspective has come with a great sense of change for these journalists, considering how they experience their journalistic role

    An Honest Journalism : – An Interview Study About Constructive Journalism and the Journalistic Role

    No full text
    Constructive journalism aims to cover stories about progress and collaboration as well as stories about devastation and conflict. This qualitative interviewstudy explores how local journalists working at Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio experience the impact of constructive journalism on their journalistic role. What has the constructive perspective, which is now quite implemented in the two media organizations, meant for the conceptions of the journalistic role considering norms, ideals and journalistic mission? By interviewing five journalists about their experiences, we received results that provide an understanding of constructive journalism as it pertains to journalist role conceptions. The results show that the constructive perspective has come with a great sense of change for these journalists, considering how they experience their journalistic role

    Senior nursing students' reflections on deviations from guideline adherence regarding venous blood specimen collection practice : A qualitative study

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    Background: Venous blood specimen collection is a common procedure within healthcare and both diagnoses as well as treatment evaluation, are often based on results from these analyses. However, studies among both students and staff have demonstrated suboptimal adherence to venous blood specimen collection practice guidelines which in turn might jeopardize patient safety. Objectives: This study aimed to describe final semester nursing students' experiences of deviations from venous blood specimen collection practice guidelines during clinical training. Methods: This study adopted a qualitative design. Twentysix final (6th) semester nursing students were recruited through purposive sampling at a Swedish university. Data were collected through semi-structured, face-to-face, focus group interviews in September 2015. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The students' experiences generated two categories; 1) Striving to blend in (subcategories Feeling uncomfortable and Adapting to the prevailing practice culture) and 2) Diminished confidence (subcategories Being confused due to inconsistency and Being uncertain about guideline usefulness) forming the overall theme Being a copycat. Conclusion: The research concludes that nursing students adapt to the prevailing practice culture encountered during clinical training, often at the expense of guidelines adherence. Since the students are being assessed during clinical training, the eagerness to belong to the team and be well-liked might be stronger than the ambition to follow guidelines. As a consequence, nursing students in clinical training might become copycats by aligning themselves with the prevailing practice culture which in turn might jeopardize adherence with VBSC guideline practice and thereby patient safety. With the ambition to support nursing students' learning in clinical training, facilitators of learning to comprise both students and supervisors need to be further addressed. Tweetable abstract: Nursing students adapt to the prevailing venous blood sample collection practice culture and become copycats
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