Medsurg nursing : official journal of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses
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Patients who are terminally ill do not respond to administration of artificial nutrition and hydration in the same way as patients who have potential for recovery. Knowledge of end-stage disease and ethical and legal parameters are necessary for health care team members to make clinically and morally sound therapeutic decisions in conjunction with the patient and family.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Comparing three patient-controlled analgesia methods.
Among 301 patients randomly assigned to use one of three methods for patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), no statistically significant differences were found for self-reported pain or acceptability of PCA method. Methods yielded differences in on-demand bolus analgesia use and number of symptoms.
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Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is an uncommon, but usually fatal disease. The long interval between onset of symptoms and time of diagnosis accounts for the advanced manifestations of PPH at the time of diagnosis. The ability of the advance practice nurse to recognize this disease in its early stages can lead to improved quality of life and survival.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Preoperative PCA teaching program to manage postoperative pain.
Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) therapy was designed to provide patients with greater control in managing their pain. However, many patients continue to suffer from moderate to severe pain due to lack of knowledge about how to use PCA therapy. The results of this quasi-experimental study demonstrated that patients who received structured preoperative teaching had statistically significant higher knowledge regarding the use of PCA therapy and more positive attitudes toward using pain medicine. Patients who received the video teaching reported better pain control and satisfaction with pain management 4 and 8 hours following their surgical procedures.
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To explore the experiences, thoughts, and feelings of surrogates making decisions for older adults. To identify nursing practices perceived as helpful to surrogates. ⋯ Three paradigm cases describe caregiving, protecting, and trusting response patterns of surrogates. Surrogates found decision-making an evolving and difficult process. Nurses can be more helpful to surrogates by giving them more opportunities to ask questions, solicit information, express emotions and obtain comfort and support.