Advance care planning for institutionalised older people: an integrative review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: This integrative review of the literature describes the evolution in knowledge and the paradigm shift that is necessary to switch from advance directives to advance care planning. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: It presents an analysis of concepts, trends, models and experiments that enables identification of the best treatment strategies, particularly for older people living in nursing homes. DESIGN: Based on 23 articles published between 1999 and 2012, this review distinguishes theoretical from empirical research and presents a classification of studies based on their methodological robustness (descriptive, qualitative, associative or experimental). RESULTS: It thus provides nursing professionals with evidence-based information in the form of a synthetic vision and conceptual framework to support the development of innovative care practices in the end-of-life context. While theoretical work places particular emphasis on the impact of changes in practice on the quality of care received by residents, empirical research highlights the importance of communication between the different persons involved about care preferences at the end of life and the need for agreement between them. CONCLUSIONS: The concept of quality of life and the dimensions and factors that compose it form the basis of Advance care planning (ACP) and enable the identification of the similarities and differences between various actors. They inform professionals of the need to ease off the biomedical approach to consider the attributes prioritised by those concerned, whether patients or families, so as to improve the quality of care at the end of life. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: It is particularly recommended that all professionals involved take into account key stakeholders' expectations concerning what is essential at the end of life, to enable enhanced communication and decision-making when faced with this difficult subject.

Le suivi prénatal des femmes accouchant dans le canton de Vaud: etude rétrospective de 854 cas. [Prenatal care of women delivering in the Vaud canton: retrospective study of 854 cases].

The association between prenatal care and infant health has been shown in many studies. Therefore, accurate information on prenatal care is required to assess the organization of preventive measures aiming at a reducing in neonatal mortality any morbidity. We retrospectively collected data on 854 pregnancies. According to a classification scheme developed by Kessner, 61.6% of women had access to adequate prenatal care. Overall, the proportion of adequate prenatal care was lower among multiparas, and in this subgroup we found a lower rate for women with base line insurance. In the primiparas subgroup we found a lower rate of adequate prenatal care for foreigners, women under 20 years or unmarried mothers, and for women without professional activity during pregnancy, besides preterm birth was more frequent amongst women in the group of prenatal care qualified as intermediate or inadequate. The frequency of pregnancy visits and the Kessner index are discussed in a literature review. The association between socio-economic indicators and prenatal care was unexpected considering the overall wealth of Switzerland. With a 6.8% infant mortality registered in 1989, this country can be considered to have one of the lowest rates in the world. These findings nevertheless suggest the way to possible additional gains by interventions targeted to specific socio-economic groups.

Delirium auf der Intensivstation [Delirium in the intensive care unit.]

The prevalence of delirium in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is reported to vary from 20 to 80 %. Delirium in the ICU is not only a frightening experience for the patient and his or her family, it is also a challenge for the nurses and physicians taking care of the patient. Furthermore, it is also associated with worse outcome, prolonged hospitalisation, increased costs, long-term cognitive impairment and higher mortality rates. Thus, strategies to prevent ICU-delirium in addition to the early diagnosis and treatment of delirium are important. The pathophysiology of delirium is still incompletely understood, but numerous risk factors for the development of delirium have been identified in ICU-patients, among which are potentially modifiable factors such as metabolic disturbances, hypotension, anaemia, fever and infection. Key factors are the prevention and management of common risk factors, including avoiding overzealous sedation and analgesia and creating an environment that enhances reintegration. Once delirium is diagnosed, treatment consists of the use of typical and atypical antipsychotics. Haloperidol is still the drug of choice for the treatment of delirium and can be given intravenously in incremental doses of 1 to 2 to 5 (to 10) mg every 15 - 20 minutes.

Recommendations on the use of EEG monitoring in critically ill patients: consensus statement from the neurointensive care section of the ESICM.

OBJECTIVES: Recommendations for EEG monitoring in the ICU are lacking. The Neurointensive Care Section of the ESICM assembled a multidisciplinary group to establish consensus recommendations on the use of EEG in the ICU. METHODS: A systematic review was performed and 42 studies were included. Data were extracted using the PICO approach, including: (a) population, i.e. ICU patients with at least one of the following: traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage, stroke, coma after cardiac arrest, septic and metabolic encephalopathy, encephalitis, and status epilepticus; (b) intervention, i.e. EEG monitoring of at least 30 min duration; (c) control, i.e. intermittent vs. continuous EEG, as no studies compared patients with a specific clinical condition, with and without EEG monitoring; (d) outcome endpoints, i.e. seizure detection, ischemia detection, and prognostication. After selection, evidence was classified and recommendations developed using the GRADE system. RECOMMENDATIONS: The panel recommends EEG in generalized convulsive status epilepticus and to rule out nonconvulsive seizures in brain-injured patients and in comatose ICU patients without primary brain injury who have unexplained and persistent altered consciousness. We suggest EEG to detect ischemia in comatose patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage and to improve prognostication of coma after cardiac arrest. We recommend continuous over intermittent EEG for refractory status epilepticus and suggest it for patients with status epilepticus and suspected ongoing seizures and for comatose patients with unexplained and persistent altered consciousness. CONCLUSIONS: EEG monitoring is an important diagnostic tool for specific indications. Further data are necessary to understand its potential for ischemia assessment and coma prognostication.

Note méthodologique sur la collaboration entre praticiens dans le secteur ambulatoire. [Methodologic note on the collaboration between practitioners in the ambulatory care sector].

There are still few studies about the collaboration between ambulatory practitioners (physicians and paramedical services). Nevertheless, the interest seems to be growing for this aspect of health care; it involves indeed basic organisational problems as well as fundamental questions about quality of care and its economic implication. A basic problem is rooted in the inevitable contradiction of the efforts towards a highly qualified-i.e. specialised-care on the one hand and those towards continuity on the other hand.

Is it worth treating fever in intensive care unit patients? Preliminary results from a randomized trial of the effect of external cooling.

BACKGROUND: Antipyresis is a common clinical practice in intensive care, although it is unknown if fever is harmful, beneficial, or a negligible adverse effect of infection and inflammation. METHODS: In a randomized study, rectal temperature and discomfort were assessed in 38 surgical intensive care unit patients without neurotrauma or severe hypoxemia and with fever (temperature >/=38.5 degrees C) and systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Eighteen patients received external cooling while 20 received no antipyretic treatment. RESULTS: Temperature and discomfort decreased similarly in both groups after 24 hours. No significant differences in recurrence of fever, incidence of infection, antibiotic therapy, intensive care unit and hospital length of stay, or mortality were noted between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the systematic suppression of fever may not be useful in patients without severe cranial trauma or significant hypoxemia. Letting fever take its natural course does not seem to harm patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome or influence the discomfort level and may save costs.

Respiratory variability in mechanically ventilated patients. Critical Care 2011

Introduction: Increased respiratory pattern variability is associated with improved oxygenation. Pressure support (PS) is a widely used partial-assist mechanical ventilation (MV) mode, in which each breathing cycle is initiated by flow or pressure variation at the airway due to patient inspiratory effort. Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) is relatively new and uses the electrical activity of the diaphragm (Eadi) to deliver ventilatory support proportional to the patient's inspiratory demand. We hypothesize that respiratory variability should be greater with NAVA compared with PS.Methods: Twenty-two patients underwent 20 minutes of PS followed by 20 minutes of NAVA. Flow and Eadi curves were used to obtain tidal volume (Vt) and ∫Eadi for 300 to 400 breaths in each patient. Patient-specific cumulative distribution functions (CDF) show the percentage Vt and ∫Eadi within a clinically defined (±10%) variability band for each patient. Values are normalized to patient-specific medians for direct comparison. Variability in Vt (outcome) is thus expressed in terms of variability in ∫Eadi (demand) on the same plot.Results: Variability in Vt relative to variability in ∫Eadi is significantly greater for NAVA than PS (P = 0.00012). Hence, greater variability in outcome Vt is obtained for a given demand in ∫Eadi, under NAVA, as illustrated in Figure 1 for a typical patient. A Fisher 2 × 2 contingency analysis showed that 45% of patients under NAVA had a Vt variability in equal proportion to ∫Eadi variability, versus 0% for PS (P < 0.05).Conclusions: NAVA yields greater variability in tidal volume, relative to ∫Eadi demand, and a better match between Vt and ∫Eadi. These results indicate that NAVA could achieve improved oxygenation compared with PS when sufficient underlying variability in ∫Eadi is present, due to its ability to achieve higher tidal volume variability from a given variability in ∫Eadi.

Advanced nursing role to improve care among breast cancer patients

Background: Breast cancer is a devastating disease for women as it impacts on their intimate, familial, social life. We study the specificities of breast cancer nurse interventions related to demands of support, information and coordination. Material and Methods: More than 300 patients are treated every year in our institution. From 2006 January to 2008 December, the specialist nurse has reported demands of patients and professionals: 1. Patients' needs related to support, information and coordination of care were collected from consultations with her and from their phone calls on using working days help line 2. Demands of breast cancer specialists and general practitioners related to information and coordination for specific patients were collected from their phone calls. Results: The specialist nurse received 679 phone calls respectively 71.5% from patients and 28.5% from professionals. Data are presented in the following table. Table 1: Evolution of number of patients and professionals demands Patients consultations Patients calls Professionals calls 2006 93 45 32 2007 210 200 40 2008 245 240 122 - Seventy percent (70%) of women asked for information about exams and treatments by phone and in nurse consultation. - Forty percent (40%) of women asked for support after announce of diagnosis. The specialist nurse proposed consultations, 2 to 4 consultations were necessary for women to express emotional distress or psychosocial problem. With this specialised nursing support less than 15% of patients were referred to the psycho-oncologist setting. - Forty percent (40%) of professionals asked support for patients and 60% for information and coordination of care. Conclusion: The interventions of the specialist nurse have improved coordination and quality of care. The increase of professionals' demands showed that it was necessary that a nurse assures continuity of information between hospital and extrahospital structures. The breast cancer nurse empowers patients and helps them to get well by providing support to fulfil specific needs.

Existential behavioural therapy for informal caregivers of palliative patients: a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Existential behavioural therapy (EBT) was developed to support informal caregivers of palliative patients in the last stage of life and during bereavement as a manualised group psychotherapy comprising six sessions. We tested the effectiveness of EBT on mental stress and quality of life (QOL). METHODS: Informal caregivers were randomly assigned (1:1) to EBT or a treatment-as-usual control group using computer-generated numbers in blocks of 10. Primary outcomes were assessed with the Brief Symptom Inventory (subscales somatisation, anxiety and depression), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the WHOQOL-BREF and a numeric rating scale for QOL (QOL-NRS, range 0-10). Data were collected at baseline, pre-treatment, post-treatment and follow-ups after 3 and 12âeuro0/00months. Treatment effects were assessed with a multivariate analysis of covariance. RESULTS: Out of 160 relatives, 81 were assigned to EBT and 79 to the control group. Participants were 54.5âeuro0/00±âeuro0/0013.2âeuro0/00years old; 69.9% were female. The multivariate model was significant for the pre-/post-comparison (pâeuro0/00=âeuro0/000.005) and the pre-/12-month comparison (pâeuro0/00=âeuro0/000.05) but not for the pre-/3-month comparison. Medium to large effects on anxiety and QOL (SWLS, WHOQOL-BREF, QOL-NRS) were found at post-treatment; medium effects on depression and QOL (QOL-NRS) emerged in the 12-month follow-up. No adverse effects of the intervention were observed. CONCLUSION: Existential behavioural therapy appears to exert beneficial effects on distress and QOL of informal caregivers of palliative patients. Further longitudinal evidence is needed to confirm these findings. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Intégrer les préférences des patients dans les projets thérapeutiques de médecine intensive [To integrate patient's preferences in intensive care treatment plans]

An increasing number of terminally ill patients are admitted into the intensive care unit, and decisions of limitation, or of palliative care are made to avoid medical futility. The principle of autonomy states that the patient (or in case of necessity his relatives) should make end of life decision after detailed information. The exercise of autonomy is difficult due to the disease of the patient and the nature of invasive treatments, but also due to organisational and communication barriers. The latter can be surmounted by a proactive approach. Early communication with the patient and relatives about the sometimes-limited expectations of an invasive treatment plan, and the possibility of palliative care allow to integer patient's preferences in the formulation of a therapeutical plan.

Impact of pharmacist care in the management of cardiovascular disease risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists may improve the clinical management of major risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention. A systematic review was conducted to determine the impact of pharmacist care on the management of CVD risk factors among outpatients. METHODS: The MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases were searched for randomized controlled trials that involved pharmacist care interventions among outpatients with CVD risk factors. Two reviewers independently abstracted data and classified pharmacists' interventions. Mean changes in blood pressure, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and proportion of smokers were estimated using random effects models. RESULTS: Thirty randomized controlled trials (11 765 patients) were identified. Pharmacist interventions exclusively conducted by a pharmacist or implemented in collaboration with physicians or nurses included patient educational interventions, patient-reminder systems, measurement of CVD risk factors, medication management and feedback to physician, or educational intervention to health care professionals. Pharmacist care was associated with significant reductions in systolic/diastolic blood pressure (19 studies [10 479 patients]; -8.1 mm Hg [95% confidence interval {CI}, -10.2 to -5.9]/-3.8 mm Hg [95% CI,-5.3 to -2.3]); total cholesterol (9 studies [1121 patients]; -17.4 mg/L [95% CI,-25.5 to -9.2]), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (7 studies [924 patients]; -13.4 mg/L [95% CI,-23.0 to -3.8]), and a reduction in the risk of smoking (2 studies [196 patients]; relative risk, 0.77 [95% CI, 0.67 to 0.89]). While most studies tended to favor pharmacist care compared with usual care, a substantial heterogeneity was observed. CONCLUSION: Pharmacist-directed care or in collaboration with physicians or nurses improve the management of major CVD risk factors in outpatients.

Blood pressure monitoring through pharmacies and team-based care of hypertension.

In the last issue of Blood Pressure Monitoring, (James K, Dolan E, O'Brien E. Making ambulatory blood pressure monitoring accessible in pharmacies. Blood Press Monit 2014;19:134-139) elegantly reported for the first time the characteristics of patients attending pharmacies for ambulatory blood pressure measurement (ABPM) and showed that they were similar to those undergoing ABPM through primary care practices. The authors concluded that pharmacies could be a valuable resource to perform ABPM. In the continuity of this study, we would like to emphasize the results of recent studies as well as recommenda-tions of pharmacist involvement in the management of hypertension, more specifically in a team approach.