International journal of nursing studies
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Review Meta Analysis
Taichi exercise for self-rated sleep quality in older people: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Self-reported sleep disorders are common in older adults, resulting in serious consequences. Non-pharmacological measures are important complementary interventions, among which Taichi exercise is a popular alternative. Some experiments have been performed; however, the effect of Taichi exercise in improving sleep quality in older people has yet to be validated by systematic review. Using systematic review and meta-analysis, this study aimed to examine the efficacy of Taichi exercise in promoting self-reported sleep quality in older adults. ⋯ Weak evidence shows that Taichi exercise has a beneficial effect in improving self-rated sleep quality for older adults, suggesting that Taichi could be an effective alternative and complementary approach to existing therapies for older people with sleep problems. More rigorous experimental studies are required.
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Comparative Study
The quality of intensive care unit nurse handover related to end of life: a descriptive comparative international study.
Quality ICU end-of-life-care has been found to be related to good communication. Handover is one form of communication that can be problematic due to lost or omitted information. A first step in improving care is to measure and describe it. ⋯ Practices of end-of-life-handover communication vary greatly between units. However, room for improvement exists in all areas in all of the units studied. The total score was higher when quality of care might be deemed at greater risk (if the nurses did not know the patient or the patient was expected to die), indicating that nurses were exercising some form of discretionary decision making around handover communication; thus validating the measurement tool.
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To provide the best available evidence to determine the impact of nurse practitioner services on cost, quality of care, satisfaction and waiting times in the emergency department for adult patients. ⋯ Synthesis of the available research attempts to provide an evidence base for emergency nurse practitioner service to guide healthcare leaders, policy makers and clinicians in reform of emergency service provision. The findings suggest that further high quality research is required for comparative measures of clinical and service effectiveness of emergency nurse practitioner service. In the context of increased health service demand and the need to provide timely and effective care to patients, such measures will assist in evidence based health service planning.
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Given the severity of hospital-acquired pneumonia and ventilator-associated pneumonia, the purpose of this systematic review was to identify various oral health procedures, in intensive care unit or nursing home setting, shown to help reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia. ⋯ Current evidence suggests that chlorhexidine rinses, gels and swabs may be effective oral disinfectants in patients at high risk for hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia. The evidence supporting the effectiveness of other oral care means still remains scarce and methodologically weak. As such, efforts to promote the increase of high-quality studies and to support nursing educational efforts to promote the dissemination of evidence-based knowledge of oral prophylaxis into clinical practice are warranted.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
An elastic band exercise program for older adults using wheelchairs in Taiwan nursing homes: a cluster randomized trial.
The number of older adults using wheelchairs in nursing homes is over 50% of that population, and many of them use wheelchairs due to muscle weakness in the lower extremities. Muscles of older adults are trainable, and progressive resistance exercises using elastic bands can increase muscle strength in older adults. ⋯ The Wheelchair-bound Senior Elastic Band exercises significantly improved the functional fitness of the older adults in wheelchairs. It is suggested that the program be incorporated as a part of daily activities for nursing home older adults in wheelchairs.