Scot Med J
-
Comparative Study
Improving documentation of head injured patients admitted to the emergency department ward.
Well-written and factually accurate medical records are one of the cornerstones of Emergency Medicine. This audit aimed to assess whether documentation could be improved for head injured patients admitted to the Emergency Department observation ward using a pre-printed proforma. ⋯ Documentation of all important positive and negative signs in head injured patients can be time consuming and often a challenge for doctors working in busy Emergency Departments. Accurate documentation is however important from both a clinical and a medico-legal position and this audit have shown that the introduction of a customized proforma can improve the quality of documentation. In addition clinical management of head injured patients may improve as the proforma also acts as a prompt for their subsequent investigation and treatment.
-
Comparative Study
Review of patients in general practice with a diagnosis of epilepsy: development of a practice nurse checklist and an assessment of resource implications.
SIGN has recommended annual review of all patients with epilepsy. Annual review is rewarded in the new GMS contract. There is no information on how or by whom reviews should be carried out, nor on resource implications for secondary care. ⋯ Annual reviews of patients with epilepsy can be carried out by practice nurses, but some training is required. The review process is likely to increase the burden on secondary care and have a significant adverse effect on neurology waiting times.
-
Comparative Study
Temporal scanner thermometry: a new method of core temperature estimation in ICU patients.
Temperature measurement is a routine task of patient care, with considerable clinical impact, especially in the ICU. This study was conducted to evaluate the accuracy and variability of the Temporal Artery Thermometer (TAT) in ICU-patients. Therefore, a convenience sample of 57 adult patients, with indwelling pulmonary artery catheters (PAC) in a 40-bed intensive care unit in a university teaching hospital was used. ⋯ We can conclude that the temporal scanner has a relatively good reliability with an acceptable accuracy and variability in patients with normothermia. The results are comparable to those of the AT, but they do not seem to be sufficient to prove any substantial benefit compared to rectal, oral or bladder thermometry.
-
We wanted to determine whether the practice of routinely sending an anaesthetist to cardiac arrests is common within Scotland. We also wished to evaluate the interventions performed by our intensive care anaesthetist when responding to cardiac arrest calls. ⋯ Patients who remain in cardiac arrest upon the arrival of the anaesthetist have a very high mortality. The practice of routinely sending an anaesthetist to cardiac arrest calls is not justified.
-
Biography Historical Article
Hans Christian Andersen's visit to James Young Simpson.
Preparations are currently underway in Denmark for the celebration in 2005 of the 200th anniversary of the birth of that country's illustrious son Hans Christian Andersen. The renowned author of fairy tales had a passion for travel and recorded in his diary and in the several editions of his autobiography his encounters with the dignitaries and celebrities of his day. On this anniversary we recall the little-known occasion on which Hans Andersen was entertained to dinner and to a demonstration of the effects of inhalation of ether at the home of James Y. Simpson.