Irish journal of medical science
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Hospital-based healthcare workers have experienced significant psychological stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ Dublin hospital workers reported high levels of PTSD symptoms, mood disturbance, and moral injury during the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerning levels of suicidal ideation and planning existed in this cohort. Differences in degrees of post-traumatic stress, moral injury, and wellbeing were found between profession groups, which should be considered when planning any supports.
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Altered mental status occurs in one in four older adults, and the risk increases with age. Numerous scoring systems have been improved to predict mortality, but data are limited for these scoring systems to interpret older adult patients. ⋯ NEWS2 score can be used to predict 48-h mortality, 30-day mortality, and intensive care unit hospitalization compared with qSOFA in older adults with altered mental status.
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We aimed to evaluate and compare the efficacy and complications of three consecutive prone positions (PP) in COVID-19 ICU. ⋯ We believe that a more careful decision should be made after the second prone position in patients who have to be placed in sequential prone position.
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Observational Study
Prone positioning for mechanically ventilated patients with coronavirus disease 2019: the experience of an Irish regional hospital intensive care unit.
The benefits of prone positioning in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have been known for many years. While some controversy exists regarding whether coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia should be treated with the same therapeutic strategies as for non-COVID ARDS, the Surviving Sepsis Campaign still provide a weak recommendation to utilise prone positioning in this setting. ⋯ We found prone positioning to be a safe method of significantly improving oxygenation in mechanically ventilated patients with severe COVID-19 ARDS. We did not find a relationship between patient baseline characteristics nor illness severity and degree of PaO2/FiO2 ratio improvement, nor did we find a relationship between degree of PaO2/FiO2 ratio improvement and survival.
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COVID-19 has greatly impacted medical students' clinical education. This study evaluates the usefulness of a rapidly implemented on-site simulation programme deployed to supplement our disrupted curriculum. ⋯ Our rapidly implemented simulation programme for undergraduate medical students helped mitigate pandemic restrictions, enabling improved competence despite necessarily reduced clinical activity encouraging further development.