Irish journal of medical science
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This study involves two stand-alone tertiary level maternity hospitals with a combined average of 17,000 births per year, and with approximately 300 obstetric high dependency unit (OHDU) admissions annually. Many midwives feel that working in an OHDU does not constitute normal midwifery work and they have voiced concerns regarding their training in this setting. Midwives and nurses from different departments throughout the two hospitals are often asked to care for the OHDU patients. Co-location and expansion of a new OHDU, as well as a discussion around staffing, prompted this questionnaire. ⋯ A greater proportion of nurses and dual trained midwives feel confident caring for ODHU patients. This survey suggests that a mixture of specialty-trained critical care nurses and midwives is required in order to provide a full complement of HDU care to both the antenatal and postnatal women.
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The purposes of this study were to examine to (1) the relation between OA and sarcopenia and to identify the most practical, easily accessible, and inexpensive method for investigating sarcopenia; (2) evaluation of sarcopenia risk factors in patients with OA. ⋯ We found that patients with sarcopenic OA were older, weaker, undernourished, and restricted in their level of physical activity in the study. Among the methods of determining sarcopenia, ultrasound becomes prominent with its practical, cheap, and easily accessible features. We think that our results will increase the awareness of the presence of sarcopenia in OA patients.
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The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on teenage psychiatry referrals following crisis presentation to the adult emergency department (ED) of an Irish tertiary hospital. In doing so, this study will specifically examine the effect of COVID-19 on self-injurious behaviour, suicidality and substance use among older adolescents (age 16/17 years). ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first study to specifically examine the impact of COVID-19 on suicidality, self-harming behaviours, substance misuse and on-call ED presentations of teenagers in Ireland. This study demonstrates that coronavirus-related stress is associated with negative mental health sequelae for vulnerable at-risk older adolescents, as evidenced by a rise in ED presentations and on-call referrals since the onset of the pandemic. Presentation of increased numbers of under-18's for psychiatry assessment at the adult ED/general hospital indicates a deepening chasm between available and aspirational emergency (adolescent-specific) psychiatric care in the community. Mobilising resilience factors and maximising coping skills for at-risk youth will inform tailored intervention and support strategies along with adequate resourcing of services for vulnerable adolescents in the community.
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Patients with TIA and minor stroke commonly undergo CT and CTA in the emergency department with subsequent MRI with MRA for further workup. The purpose of this study was to review outpatient MRIs for TIA/stroke patients to assess the additional benefit, if any, of the MRA sequence in the detection of intracranial atherosclerotic disease in patients for whom CTA had already been performed. ⋯ The MRA sequence provides additional value by increasing the detection of clinically important intracranial atherosclerotic disease which may inform management in patients with minor stroke and TIA.
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The brief rise in blood glucose level during acute physiological stress in patients with no previous symptoms of diabetes mellitus is called stress hyperglycemia. ⋯ For patients who are admitted to the hospital with STEMI, stress hyperglycemia in the non-DM group and hyperglycemia in the DM group are associated with both mortality and adverse conditions; thereby, glucose levels of those patients must be evaluated.