The last post? Defending nursing against the postmodernist maze

Is postmodernism in many ways the empiricist-liberal tradition at the inevitable end of its intellectual and political tether? Or is postmodernism the ‘laughter of genius’ that art and argument in their traditional forms are dead? Can postmodernism be applied to social and economic issues whilst carrying a denial of the manner by which Western thought has shaped these issues? Can postmodernism provide moral pathways to help us with contemporary ethical issues? How can postmodernist thought encompass the activities of nurses, particularly in the area of psychiatric care? Can nurses afford postmodernist suppositions in the face of suffering and pain? If postmodernism exists, does it exist everywhere (as does nursing) or is it a more localized event?     

The perceptions of nurses towards barriers to the safe administration of medicines in mental health settings

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of barriers to safe administration of medicines in mental health settings. A cross‐sectional survey was used, and 70 mental health nurses and 41 students were recruited from a mental health trust and a university in Yorkshire, UK. Respondents completed a questionnaire comprising closed‐ and open‐response questions. One item, which contained seven sub‐items, addressed barriers to safe administration of medication. Seven themes—five nurse‐ and prescriber‐focused and two service user‐focused—were abstracted from the data, depicting a range of barriers to safe administration of medicines. Nurse‐ and prescriber‐focused themes included environmental distractions, insufficient pharmacological knowledge, poorly written and incomplete medication documentation, inability to calculate medication dosage correctly, and work‐related pressure. Service user‐focused themes comprised poor adherence to medication regimens, and cultural and linguistic communication barriers with service users. Tackling medication administration error is predominantly an organizational rather than individual practitioner responsibility.     

A retrospective analysis of the risk factors for allergic reactions induced by the administration of oxaliplatin

This study retrospectively investigated the clinical features and risk factors of allergic reactions induced by oxaliplatin administration. This study investigated the incidence of allergic reactions and analysed the background and laboratory data in patients with colorectal cancer treated with oxaliplatin‐based chemotherapy at Kyushu Medical Center between April 2012 and September 2012. A total of 62 patients were included in this study. The number of patients in the allergic and non‐allergic groups was 7 and 55 respectively. The incidence of allergic reactions was 11.3%. We compared the patients' characteristics and laboratory data between the two groups and found that the average dose of dexamethasone in the allergic group was significantly lower than that observed in the non‐allergic group (P = 0.0111). Furthermore, the incidence of allergic reactions in the group that received prophylaxis of less than 12 mg of dexamethasone was significantly higher than that observed in the group that received more than 12 mg of dexamethasone (P = 0.0103). In conclusion, a lower dexamethasone dose is a possible risk factor for allergic reactions induced by the administration of oxaliplatin; however, given the retrospective design used in this study, further validation of this finding is warranted.