Nursing times
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Almost all patients who undergo amputation suffer 'phantom sensations', a sensory perception of the missing limb, possibly caused by a neural imprint or memory of the limb within the brain. The patient may experience abnormal kinaesthetic sensation, such as the feeling that the limb is in an abnormal position. ⋯ Some of these people will go on to develop phantom limb pain (PLP). Appropriate aggressive pain management is required immediately postamputation in an attempt to avoid chronic PLP.
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Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have many similarities and can occur together in the same patient. Both cause coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. The major difference between the two is that airflow obstruction is largely reversible in asthma, but in COPD it is largely irreversible.
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Nasogastric and gastrostomy tube feeding in children was highlighted by the Scottish Community Children's Nursing Network as an area in which there were shared concerns over inconsistencies in practice. This led to the development of a best practice statement.
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This article describes the rationale and change management approach used for the development and initial evaluation of a patient-flow coordinator to the Emergency Assessment Area at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital. This post was established to improve patient flow and departmental efficiency in order to achieve the latest four-hour maximum waiting-to-treatment time directive. The working context, concept, process-mapping approach, core objectives and key functions of the role are all discussed.