Pediatric emergency nurses’ workplace violence experiences: A qualitative study

IntroductionWorkplace violence is a crucial problem experienced by health workers who serve at the emergency service. The identification of emergency nurses’ workplace experiences is of importance to the prevention of violence and the development of solutions.PurposeThis study was performed to identify the workplace violence experiences of the nurses working for the pediatric emergency units.MethodA total of 20 nurses who experienced violence at the emergency service participated in the study that was conducted as qualitative research. The data were collected with the semi-structured interview form and were evaluated by using thematic analysis.ResultsFive themes, namely, “the characteristics of violence”, “the causes of violence”, “the approach during/after the violence”, “the consequences of the violence for the person”, and the “consequences of the violence for the profession”, were identified. Nurses stated that they often experienced verbal violence due to patient relatives’ unmet expectations, the failure of patient relatives to understand treatments and practices, and the heavy workload, they endeavored to eliminate violence by trying to communicate with perpetrators of the violence, calling the security staff, and reporting the violence to their managers, and they were individually and professionally affected by the violence.ConclusionNurses are negatively affected by workplace violence. Pediatric emergency nurses should be supported with training programs and policies to be developed for the prevention and solution of violence.     

Disaster preparedness: A concept analysis and its application to the intensive care unit

ObjectivesThe aim of the study is to understand the concept of disaster preparedness in relation to the intensive care unit through the review and critique of the peer-reviewed literature.Review method usedRodgers' method of evolutionary concept analysis was used in the study.Data sourcesHealthcare databases included in the review were Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Public MEDLINE, Scopus, and ProQuest.Review methodsElectronic data bases were searched using terms such as “intensive care unit” OR “critical care” AND prep1 OR readiness OR plan1 AND disaster1 OR “mass casualty incidents” OR “natural disaster” OR “disaster planning” NOT paed1 OR ped1 OR neonat1. Peer-reviewed articles published in English between January 2000 and April 2020 that focused on intensive care unit disaster preparedness or included intensive care unit disaster preparedness as part of a facility-wide strategy were included in the analysis.ResultsEighteen articles were included in the concept analysis. Fourteen different terms were used to describe disaster preparedness in intensive care. Space, physical resources, and human resources were attributes that relied on each other and were required in sufficient quantities to generate an adequate response to patient surges from disasters. When one attribute is extended beyond normal operational capacities, the effectiveness and capacity of the other attributes will likely be limited.ConclusionThis concept analysis has shown the varied language used when referring to disaster preparedness relating to the intensive care unit within the research literature. Attributes including space, physical resources, and human resources were all found to be integral to a disaster response. Future research into what is required of these attributes to generate an all-hazards approach in disaster preparedness in intensive care units will contribute to optimising standards of care.     

Ivermectin administration is associated with lower gastrointestinal complications and greater ventilator-free days in ventilated patients with COVID-19: A propensity score analysis

IntroductionCOVID-19 patients have been reported to have digestive symptoms with poor outcome. Ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug, has been used in COVID-19 patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether ivermectin has effects on gastrointestinal complications and ventilator-free days in ventilated patients with COVID-19.MethodsCOVID-19 patients who were mechanically ventilated in the ICU were included in this study. The ventilated patients who received ivermectin within 3 days after admission were assigned to the Ivermectin group, and the others were assigned to the Control group. Patients in the Ivermectin group received ivermectin 200 μg/kg via nasal tube. The incidence of gastrointestinal complications and ventilator-free days within 4 weeks from admission were evaluated as clinical outcomes using a propensity score with the inverse probability weighting method.ResultsWe included 88 patients in this study, of whom 39 patients were classified into the Ivermectin group, and 49 patients were classified into the Control group. The hazard ratio for gastrointestinal complications in the Ivermectin group as compared with the Control group was 0.221 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.057 to 0.855; p = 0.029) in a Cox proportional-hazard regression model. The odds ratio for ventilator-free days as compared with the Control group was 1.920 (95% CI, 1.076 to 3.425; p = 0.027) in a proportional odds logistic regression model.ConclusionsIvermectin improved gastrointestinal complications and the number of ventilator-free days in severe COVID-19 patients undergoing mechanical ventilation. Prevention of gastrointestinal symptoms by SARS-Cov-2 might be associated with COVID-19 outcome.     

Dual-Energy Computed Tomography as an Adjunct in the Evaluation of Peripheral Chronic Total Occlusions: A Feasibility Study

This study investigated the role of dual-energy computed tomography (CT) for lesion characterization in patients with peripheral arterial disease manifesting with chronic total occlusions (CTOs). Forty-one symptomatic patients with CTOs underwent dual-energy CT angiography before endovascular treatment. The lesions were subsequently analyzed in a dedicated workstation, and 2 indexes—dual-energy index (DEI) and effective Z (Z_eff)—were calculated, ranging from 0.0027 to 0.321 and from 6.89 to 13.02, respectively. Statistical analysis showed a significant correlation between the DEI and Z_eff values (P < .001). The interobserver intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.91 for the mean Z_eff values and 0.86 for the mean DEI values. This technique could potentially provide useful information regarding the composition of a CTO.     

适量运动对心房颤动患者预后的影响:系统综述与Meta分析

目的 分析适量运动对于心房颤动(房颤)患者的运动能力以及远期临床预后的影响。方法 通过检索中国知网,万方,维普,Pubmed,OVID,Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL),web of science数据库,纳入对房颤患者进行适量体育活动干预的临床试验。本研究的主要终点为静息心率,最大心率,6 min步行试验,最大运动功率,全因死亡率以及卒中发生率,用以评估适量运动对房颤患者活动耐力以及预后的影响。结果 本研究共纳入7项试验,2 452例患者,试验组为适量运动干预组,对照组为不活跃组。适量运动并不会显著增加患者的静息心率(MD=-1.68,P=0.70)以及最大心率(RD=9.72,P=0.11)。运动训练可显著提高房颤患者的运动能力,明显增加6 min步行距离(MD=59.07,95%CI=11.70-106.44,P<0.05),并且在一定程度上提高运动功率(MD=17.96,95%CI=-6.30-42.22,P=0.15)。适量运动对房颤患者的远期预后不会造成不良影响,适量运动组对比不活跃组,全因死亡率为15.7% vs 14.2%(RD=0.03,95%CI=-0.18-0.25,P=0.75);卒中发生率5.0% vs 2.9%(RD=0.02,95%CI=-0.06-0.09,P=0.69),两组差异无统计学意义。结论 适量运动可在一定程度上提高房颤患的活动耐力,且不增加卒中以及全因死亡率。     

层流洁净新生儿重症监护病房早产儿实施床旁手术的可行性分析

 目的 探讨层流洁净新生儿重症监护病房(NICU)早产儿实施床旁手术的效果与可行性。方法 回顾性分析某军队三甲综合医院2017年9月—2020年10月NICU住院并进行床旁动脉导管扎闭术(PDA)及腹部探查术的危重新生儿的临床资料,在NICU行床旁手术者列为NICU组,转入手术室进行手术者列为手术室(OR)组,比较两组新生儿术后体温、切口感染率及病死率的差异。结果 共计纳入258例新生儿,其中NICU组166例,OR组92例。NICU组新生儿出生胎龄、出生体质量、手术时体质量、新生儿危重病例评分均低于OR组;NICU组新生儿术前应用呼吸机通气比例高于OR组,差异均有统计学意义(均P＜0.05)。NICU组与OR组新生儿术中抽检空气培养微生物菌落数、术前体温、PDA与剖腹探查术的构成比例、术后切口感染发病率及病死率比较,差异均无统计学意义(均P＞0.05),但手术后OR组新生儿平均体温低于NICU组,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05)。结论 层流洁净NICU早产儿行床旁PDA和腹部手术临床可行,且床旁手术更有利于减少术后低体温的发生。对层流洁净病房进行日常规范化维护,可以有效保障危重早产儿床旁手术的安全。     

模拟马术训练对脑卒中后共济失调的效果

目的 探索模拟马术训练对后循环卒中共济失调患者姿势控制、平衡、步行和日常生活活动能力的效果。     

Sinensetin attenuates oxygen–glucose deprivation/reperfusion-induced neurotoxicity by MAPK pathway in human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells

Sinensetin is a polymethoxylated flavone with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative activities. This work aimed to explore the function and mechanism of sinensetin in oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R)-induced neurotoxicity. The overlapping target genes of cerebral stroke and sinensetin were determined according to GeneCards and ParmMapper tools and were subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) annotations and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. Human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells (HCMECs) were stimulated with OGD/R. Neurotoxicity was investigated by Cell Counting Kit-8, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, qRT-PCR, and TUNEL analysis. The proteins (p38, JNK, and ERK) in mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling were measured using Western blotting. Total of 50 overlapping target genes of cerebral stroke and sinensetin were predicted. Pathway analysis showed they might be involved in the MAPK pathway. Sinensetin attenuated OGD/R-induced neurotoxicity by mitigating viability reduction, LDH release, ROS generation, inflammatory response, and apoptosis in HCMECs. Sinensetin weakened OGD/R-induced activation of the MAPK pathway via decreasing the phosphorylation of p38, JNK, and ERK. The pathway inhibitors mitigated the activation of the MAPK signaling, and sinensetin exacerbated this effect. The inhibitors reversed OGD/R-induced neurotoxicity in HCMECs, and sinensetin contributed to this role. Overall, sinensetin prevents OGD/R-induced neurotoxicity through decreasing the activation of MAPK pathway.