Revista de enfermería (Barcelona, Spain)
-
Fecal incontinence in a bedridden patient is a common problem which upsets the patient's well-being. Besides the discomfort and the hygienic problem which this situation cause, complications related to these can arise. Recently a fecal derivation system called Flexi-Seal FMS has appeared on the market; this system is destined to control fecal incontinence in a bedridden patient. This device bears the characteristic which make it ideal for the control of fecal incontinence in a bedridden patient; furthermore, this device reduces nurses' workload, as well as the length of hospital stay and hospital costs.
-
Current medical practice has made great progress over the past century which permits people to live longer and better than before. But this improvement has not been transferred to the field of death. To die with dignity today is a privilege only a few have. ⋯ Their petition usually goes unheard by the medical profession. The patients' autonomous law, which regulates last will and testaments or anticipated final wishes, is a step in this direction. The objective of this article is to publicize the current legal regulations related to last wills and testaments or last wishes by means of a critical review of the existing legislation.
-
At the present time, concern has arisen as to whether or not medical devices designed for one use only should be reutilized after the appearances of outbreaks of Hepatitis C infections in Spain as well as in other countries. 80% of Spanish hospitals, both public and private, reprocess these one use only devices; there is no regulation at this time which guarantees this practice. The increase in endoscopic surgeries has led to an increase in health care costs, plus an increase in the residues which derive from their use. ⋯ In our country, a precise classification regarding which materials may or may not be reused does not exist, nor do protocols for sterilization and reprocessing and reuse of one use only devices. An agreement should be made by the parties involved; the administration, sanitary professionals, manufacturers of medical devices and the users which guarantees a balance between the important increase in health care costs due to throwing away these products and the insecurity which their use without a ratified guarantee means.
-
Polyhexamethlene biguanide (PHMB) is an antibacterial agent included in the chlorhexidine group which is active against a wide number of microorganisms including Staphylococcus Aureus Methycilin Resistant (MRSA), Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus Faecalis (VRE) and Acinetobacter baumannii which all cause antibiotic-resistant infections. Traditionally gauze dressings have been used to cover and protect wounds although their porous structure does not constitute an efficient barrier against bacterial penetration, especially when a dressing becomes wet due to the effects of a wound oozing and draining. Recently the use of a dressing soaked in a 0.2% PHMB solution which works as a biological barrier against pathogenic agents has been introduced in clinical practice. ⋯ As opposed to porous gauze dressings, a PHMB dressing remains active during 72 hours even in wet environs. Its wide anti-micro-bacterial range prevents infections in surgical, acute or chronic wounds and in any type of intra-corporal access susceptible to infection, such as by means of intravascular catheters, tracheotomies, or thoracic tubes. A PHMB dressing can also be used as a primary covering to treat a chronic wound since it does not interfere in the process of tissue reepithelization.
-
Although not frequently sanitary personnel who form part of the outside the hospital walls emergency medical services, the intensive care mobile units or ambulance teams, are obliged to attend to emergency childbirths in adverse environments and with precarious technical means or means non-specialized means. All this requires some special considerations at various levels: parturient, fetus and the scene itself. Medical emergency personnel must be prepared to diagnose an imminent childbirth in situ and to identify every stage of such a birth and its possible complications, while providing integral, yet specific, assistance before, during and after childbirth.