The distribution of infectivity in blood components and plasma derivatives in experimental models of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy

BACKGROUND: The administration of blood components from donors who subsequently develop Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has raised the issue of blood as a possible vehicle for iatrogenic disease. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We examined infectivity in blood components and Cohn plasma fractions in normal human blood that had been "spiked" with trypsinized cells from a scrapie-infected hamster brain, and in blood of clinically ill mice that had been inoculated with a mouse-adapted strain of human transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. Infectivity was assayed by intracerebral inoculation of the blood specimens into healthy animals. RESULTS: Most of the infectivity in spiked human blood was associated with cellular blood components; the smaller amount present in plasma, when fractionated, was found mainly in cryoprecipitate (the source of factor VIII) and fraction I+II+III (the source of fibrinogen and immunoglobulin); almost none was recovered in fraction IV (the source of vitamin-K-dependent proteins) and fraction V (the source of albumin). Mice infected with the human strain of spongiform encephalopathy had very low levels of endogenous infectivity in buffy coat, plasma, cryoprecipitate, and fraction I+II+III, and no detectable infectivity in fractions IV or V. CONCLUSION: Convergent results from exogenous spiking and endogenous infectivity experiments, in which decreasing levels of infectivity occurred in cellular blood components, plasma, and plasma fractions, suggest a potential but minimal risk of acquiring Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease from the administration of human plasma protein concentrates.     

Clients Served and Services Provided by Academic Nurse-Managed Centers

Currently, no national database for academic nurse-managed centers (ANMCs) exists. These primary care services remain somewhat invisible in the policy and reimbursement areas of the American primary care system and, consequently, are undersupported. The purpose of this article is to describe client and service data from a national study of ANMCs. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data from ANMC directors. Usable data were received from 64 centers. ANMCs in the sample were relatively small in terms of patients and volume. Client and service profiles demonstrated variation, which seemed to be reflective of needs relative to populations and communities served. Nearly half of the ANMCs responding served clients of all ages, with services representing the breadth of primary care (i.e., health maintenance and management of minor acute and common chronic illnesses). Evidence of community-focused care was also noted. The reported use of standardized nursing language was low. Standardized medical taxonomies were more commonly used, with International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision being the most common. ANMCs provide a small but substantial amount of primary care services in communities served. Findings indicated a need for ANMCs to improve the documentation of their contributions through the use of standardized taxonomies to provide aggregated reporting for policy and research purposes.     

Clinical Care Costing Method for the Clinical Care Classification System™

PURPOSE: To provide a means for calculating the cost of nursing care using the Clinical Care Classification System (CCCS). DATA SOURCES: Three CCCS indicators of care components, actions, and outcomes in conjunction with Clinical Care Pathways (CCPs). DATA SYNTHESIS: The cost of patient care is based on the type of action time multiplied by care components and nursing costs. CONCLUSIONS: The CCCM for the CCCS makes it possible to measure and cost out clinical practice. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The CCCM may be used with CCPs in the electronic patient medical record. The CCPs make it easy to track the clinical nursing care across time, settings, population groups, and geographical locations. Collected data may be used many times, allowing for improved documentation, analysis, and costing out of care.     

造血干细胞移植与临床感染的防治

学术背景:造血干细胞移植技术在临床上已得到广泛应用,移植后感染是关系到移植成败的重要因素。目的:探讨造血干细胞移植后各阶段的感染的特点、预防及治疗,以进一步减低造血干细胞移植后感染的发生率及死亡率。检索策略:由作者应用计算机检Medline 1994-01/2007-05关于造血干细胞移植及移植后感染的文章,检索词为"hematopoietic stem cell transplantation,infection",限定语言种类为"English";同时检索中国期刊全文数据库1994-01/2007-05相关文章,检索词"造血干细胞移植,感染,防治",限定语言种类为中文。纳入标准:随机对照研究;实验或临床研究包含平行对照组。排除标准:重复性研究文献评价:初检得到212篇文献,初审后选取与造血干细胞移植后感染有关的文章126篇,删除明显无关及相关性不强的文章,进一步查找全文,29个实验符合标准,予以纳入。29个研究包括324例患者和140个实验动物,分别阐述了造血干细胞移植后感染的原因、途径、特点、种类及各种感染的预防及治疗措施。资料综合:造血干细胞移植后感染发病隐匿,由于患者免疫力低下,感染不易控制,在不同阶段致病菌的种类有所不同,细菌感染普遍,在移植后各个时期均可出现,真菌感染和病毒感染致死性强,故预防和治疗感染至关重要,其治疗分为预防治疗、抢先治疗、经验性治疗和针对治疗。结论:造血干细胞移植后感染的治疗已成为影响移植疗效的一个重要原因,及早的诊断及正确的治疗将成为移植后感染治疗成功的关键。     

Viewpoint: Use of King''s Conceptual System, Nursing Informatics, and Nursing Classification Systems for Global Communication

PURPOSE: To propose a common nursing language for communication among members of the nursing community worldwide. DATA SOURCES: The Taxonomy of Nursing Practice, nursing informatics literature, King's Theory of Goal Attainment applied to the nursing process. DATA SYNTHESIS: Several milestones in nursing in the 20th century indicated the need for a universal language for nursing. The nursing process provides a method for synthesis of nursing data, information, and knowledge and is congruent with Imogene King's Theory of Goal Attainment. CONCLUSIONS: The authors advocate for a common nursing language (nursing classification and terminology systems) that would unify nurses worldwide. Supported by nursing theory and technology, global communication would be enhanced for nurses and the interdisciplinary teams of which they are a part. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Use of Imogene King's Conceptual System and Theory of Goal Attainment and the nursing specialty of Nursing Informatics are examples of nursing theory and technology to frame global communication.