Best practice & research. Clinical anaesthesiology
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Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol · Jun 2018
ReviewPerioperative implications of common and newer psychotropic medications used in clinical practice.
Psychotropic medications are widely prescribed by clinicians as both primary therapy for a variety of psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases and as adjunctive analgesics for use in the perioperative period. It is critical to understand various modes of action, drug-drug interactions, side effects, and clinical implications. ⋯ We will also discuss emerging psychotropic drugs and the challenges they may create during the perioperative period. Future direction of investigation into the role of these drugs during the perioperative period and implications is also discussed.
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Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol · Jun 2018
ReviewNew antihypertensive medications and clinical implications.
Hypertension remains a global public health issue and is a leading preventable risk factor for many causes of mortality and morbidity. Although it is generally managed as an outpatient chronic disease, anaesthetists will inevitably encounter patients with hypertension, ranging from undiagnosed asymptomatic to chronic forms with end-organ damage(s). ⋯ Although many drugs are familiar, new drug groups that have relevance for blood pressure control and perioperative care have evolved in recent years. This article also describes new antihypertensive agents currently available or under development that could impact perioperative management.
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Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol · Mar 2018
ReviewHow anesthetists manage growing demands with dwindling resources in German university hospitals: Overview and outlook.
As a central service provider in medical care, anesthetists manage the growing demand on medical services, thereby increasing specialization and patient morbidity. Various indicators and measurements have been used to match staff capacity, competence, and workload. It remains unclear whether the problems are due to real shortages or "just" to a wrong distribution. ⋯ The broad variety of hospitals' infrastructures requires different staff capacity and competence structures. Anesthetists need to take on a key role in redesigning hospital performance and staff management to ensure performance increases, patient safety, and bearable workloads. Optimal distribution of expertise and early counteraction for shortages in staff capacities and competences is needed.
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Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol · Mar 2018
ReviewMoving towards a competence centre for geriatric medicine and care: Quality management and human resource management as major support factors.
Changed employment models, an ageing workforce and demands of new generations are challenging healthcare facilities to go down new paths. Never before have well-qualified staff been as highly sought after within the medical and nursing care sector as they are today. For many years, the Geriatric Health Care Centres of the city of Graz (GGZ)-a large regional health care provider with more than 650 staff across five locations-has focused a lot on the topic of competence management, facilitation of specialist and management careers in nursing and medicine as well as the optimal mix of skills and grades in staffing. ⋯ EFQM). The strategic corporate objective of GGZ is to increase the health literacy of the population-and by doing so, also increases the health literacy of patients and residents. This kind of patient empowerment can be substantially supported by specially qualified, empathic staff with good social skills and a genuine interest in the elderly; this reinforces the high significance of professional human resource management.