Plos One
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Patients with a Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) are hemodynamically stable but show an impaired exercise capacity. Aim of this work is to identify and to describe the limiting factors of exercise physiology with a VAD. We searched for data concerning exercise in heart failure condition and after VAD implantation from the literature. ⋯ The VAD can assure a proper hemodynamics at rest, but provides an insufficient unloading of the left ventricle and does not prevent wedge pressure from rising during exercise. Neither the VAD provides major benefits during exercise in terms of total cardiac output, which increases to a similar extend to an unassisted heart failure condition. VAD speed modulation can contribute to better unload the ventricle but the maximal flow reachable with the current devices is below the cardiac output observed in a healthy heart.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Preoperative transcranial direct current stimulation: Exploration of a novel strategy to enhance neuroplasticity before surgery to control postoperative pain. A randomized sham-controlled study.
An imbalance in the excitatory/inhibitory systems in the pain networks may explain the persistent chronic pain after hallux valgus surgery. Thus, to contra-regulate this dysfunction, the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) becomes attractive. ⋯ A-tDCS improves postoperative pain, the DRP and the function of DPMS. Also, the CSF BDNF after a-tDCS predicted the improvement in the DRP. In overall, these findings suggest that a-tDCS effects may be mediated by top-down regulatory mechanisms associated with the inhibitory cortical control.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Impact of early in-hospital medication review by clinical pharmacists on health services utilization.
Adverse drug events are a leading cause of emergency department visits and unplanned admissions, and prolong hospital stays. Medication review interventions aim to identify adverse drug events and optimize medication use. Previous evaluations of in-hospital medication reviews have focused on interventions at discharge, with an unclear effect on health outcomes. We assessed the effect of early in-hospital pharmacist-led medication review on the health outcomes of high-risk patients. ⋯ Early pharmacist-led medication review was associated with reduced hospital-bed utilization compared to usual care among high-risk patients under 80 years of age, but not among those who were older. The results of our evaluation suggest that medication review by pharmacists in the emergency department may impact the length of hospital stay in select patient populations.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Applying the Integrated Practice Unit Concept to a Modified Virtual Ward Model of Care for Patients at Highest Risk of Readmission: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Emerging evidence from the virtual ward care model showed that multidisciplinary case management are inadequate to reduce readmissions or death for high risk patients. There is consensus that interventions should encompass both pre-hospital discharge and post-discharge transitional care to be effective. Integrated practice units (IPU) had been proposed as an approach of restructuring the organization and work processes of multidisciplinary teams to achieve value in healthcare. Our primary objective is to evaluate if the novel application of the IPU concept to organize a modified virtual ward model incorporating pre-hospital discharge transitional care can reduce readmissions of patients at highest risk for readmission. ⋯ Applying the integrated practice unit concept to the virtual ward program resulted in reduced readmissions in patients who are at highest risk of readmission.
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Professional competency is a fundamental concept in nursing, which has a direct relationship with quality improvement of patient care and public health. Organizational commitment as a kind of affective attachment or sense of loyalty to the organization is an effective factor for professional competency. ⋯ The results highlighted that the nurses needed to be more competent and committed to their organizations. Developing professional competency and organizational commitment is vital, but not easy. This study suggests that human resource managers should pursue appropriate strategies to enhance the professional competency and organizational commitment of their nursing staff. It is necessary to conduct more comprehensive studies for exploring the status and gaps in the human resource management of healthcare in different cultures and contexts.