Irish medical journal
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Irish medical journal · Nov 2011
Development of an adhesive surgical ward round checklist: a technique to improve patient safety.
Checklists have been shown to improve patient outcomes. Checklist use is seen in the pre-operative to post-operative phases of the patient pathway. An adhesive checklist was developed for ward rounds due to the positive impact it could have on improving patient safety. ⋯ There was significant improvement of documentation across all areas measured. An adhesive checklist for ward round note taking is a simple and cost-effective way to improve documentation, communication, hand-over, and patient safety. Successfully implemented in a tertiary level centre in Dublin, Ireland it is easily transferable to other surgical departments globally.
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Irish medical journal · Nov 2011
Epidural analgesia for labour: maternal knowledge, preferences and informed consent.
Epidural analgesia has become increasingly popular as a form of labour analgesia in Ireland. However obtaining true inform consent has always been difficult. Our study recruited 100 parturients who had undergone epidural analgesia for labour, aimed to determine the information they received prior to regional analgesia, and to ascertain their preferences regarding informed consent. ⋯ Knowledge of potential complications was variable and inaccurate, with less than 30 (30%) of women aware of the most common complications. Most women 79 (79%) believed that discomfort during labour affected their ability to provide informed consent, and believe consent should be taken prior to onset of labour (96, 96%). The results of this study helps define the standards of consent Irish patients expect for epidural analgesia during labour.
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Irish medical journal · Nov 2011
Pyroglutamic aciduria: a cause of high anion-gap metabolic acidosis associated with common drugs.
Pyroglutamic aciduria is a rare and probably under-recognised cause of metabolic acidosis which may be precipitated by certain common drugs.