British journal of nursing (Mark Allen Publishing)
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Maintaining a patient's airway and facilitating breathing are the main priorities during any emergency situation in which breathing is compromised. The key to safe management of an airway is thorough assessment, primarily to ensure the airway is patent. In an emergency situation, a bag-valve-mask may be the most effective way to assist ventilation. ⋯ Each tracheal intubation event should be anticipated as a potentially difficult intubation. Longer term ventilatory support may be achieved by the use of mechanical ventilators, which are designed to assist the movement of gases (air) into and out of a patient's lungs, while minimising the work and effort of breathing. This article provides nurses with an overview of the techniques and equipment that is most often used within emergency and intensive care units to maintain the patency of a patient's airway and provide ventilatory support.
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Perioperative hypothermia is associated with poor outcomes for patients, yet it is preventable in most cases (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), 2011a). NICE guideline 65 (2008) provides clear recommendations for avoiding perioperative hypothermia in surgical patients at each stage of their surgical journey, preoperatively, intraoperatively and postoperatively. ⋯ The Enhanced Recovery after Surgery programme (ERAS) considers patient warming to maintain perioperative normothermia to be a key component in accelerating patient recovery. This article looks at how the NICE guidelines on inadvertent perioperative hypothermia and the ERAS programme complement each other to successfully and significantly improve patient recovery.
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The report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust public inquiry has a statutory duty of candor at its heart and the requirement for openness and transparency running through most of its 290 recommendations. While many will consider such a legal duty essential if a repeat of the Mid Staffordshire scandal is to be avoided, the duty is unlikely to be effective unless nurses can discharge their obligations without fear of recrimination. This article argues that current protection for nurses who report poor practice is inadequate and must be improved if the openness and transparency recommended is to become a reality in the NHS.