Loyalty in the Workplace: Some Considerations for Mental Health Nurses

Nurses are expected to be loyal to their patients, employer and the nursing profession, while also remaining ‘loyal’ to their own values and aims as both a person and clinician. Loyalty therefore is of central importance to how we relate to people in personal and professional relationships and may affect our attitude to the organization we work for. This column explores the concept of loyalty, and its role in professional relationships, behaviour and practice. Ways that loyalty can be influential in achieving personal, patient and organizational outcomes are explored and the potential to enhance loyalty is considered.     

A sticky situation: myocardial infarction in a young woman with immune thrombocytopenia on eltrombopag and a history of mediastinal radiation

Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis - More recent immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) treatment strategies enhance platelet production with the use of thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RA) such as...     

Buccal midazolam for agitation on psychiatric intensive care wards

Midazolam is a benzodiazepine known to be effective as a treatment for status epilepticus and for rapid tranquillisation. Buccal midazolam has recently become available in the UK. We introduced it as a treatment option for rapid tranquillisation on our intensive care wards. Buccal midazolam was found to be effective and well tolerated. Target levels of sedation were achieved in nearly 70% of subjects within half an hour. Activity was evident within 15 minutes. Over-sedation occurred in only one patient at one time point. There were no cases of respiratory depression. Buccal midazolam deserves further investigation as a non-invasive treatment option in rapid tranquillisation.