Intensive & critical care nursing : the official journal of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses
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At Liverpool Hospital in 1989, mortality from cardiopulmonary arrest was 71% in the general wards, and 64% in the Emergency department. In an attempt to identify and treat seriously ill patients before they progressed to cardiac arrest, a medical emergency team (MET) was established. The MET replaced the existing cardiac arrest team and comprised a nurse from the intensive care unit (ICU), a resuscitation registrar (an anaesthetics trainee), a medical registrar and a senior registrar from the ICU. ⋯ The number of correct responses varied between scenarios from 17-73%. Hypotension did not appear to alert nurses to summon emergency assistance. Some nurses, despite the presence of severe deterioration and patient distress, called the resident rather than the MET.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Jun 1994
An interview study of nurses' assessment and priority of post surgical pain experience.
Caring for patients in postoperative pain is an important part of clinical practice for nurses. Patients often fail to receive adequate pain relief which causes unnecessary pain experience. The aim of this study was to describe how nurses experience their clinical practice management with postoperative patients who experience pain. ⋯ All the conditions are interrelated and influenced the nurses' handling of pain management in nursing practice. It appeared that these conditions reflected the nurses' possibilities of relieving patients' postoperative pain. An important element was the reflection of hospital management policy which makes the nurses, in spite of their desire to relieve the patients' pain, choose to have the attitude that the patient should be prepared to accept a little pain.
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Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Jun 1994
Comparative StudyCoronary care unit patients' and nurses' ratings of intensity of ischaemic chest pain.
In 100 patients admitted to a coronary care unit with a history of chest pain thought to be due to myocardial infarction, the intensity of pain was independently rated by the patient and the primary nurse caring for the patient soon after admission. Pain intensity was assessed using a visual analogue scale designed to yield a score of 0-100. 10 experienced coronary care nurses who had participated in a short programme of pain assessment and management were included in the study. A strong positive correlation between the patients' and nurses' ratings was found. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.