North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust has launched a scheme which will ensure carers can be with dementia patients outside of visiting hours to help improve their wellbeing.
The ‘Carer’s Pass’, which is being launched from November 2016, is part of the national John’s Campaign, which was set up to encourage carer involvement for people with Dementia while they are in hospital. The campaign was set up the family by Dr John Gerrard, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and felt that that the lack of people he knew to tend and comfort him contributed to this deterioration.
The Carer’s Pass gives carers the opportunity to remain with the person they care for if they wish outside of visiting hours. Carer’s with a Carer’s Pass will be a key part of a team with the health professionals on the ward. Staff will liaise with the carer to ensure a staff member takes over full responsibility for the person they care for if they want to leave, including agreeing break time.
Open access. We aimed to audit the documentation of decision-making capacity (DMC) assessments by our liaison psychiatry service against the legal criteria set out in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. We audited 3 months split over a 2-year period occurring before, during and after an educational intervention to staff.
The facility is located alongside the acute hospital’s A&E department and will support up to four people at a time. The unit will provide a short term safe therapeutic environment where people in crisis can be assessed and then referred on to the appropriate service, or be discharged into the community. The unit will be accessible for people 24 hours a day and will provide an alternative pathway for people requiring urgent mental health on-going assessment and suffering with mental health difficulties in crisis. Staff will support people to develop coping strategies to help manage their mental health in the futu
Delirium is a common and serious complication of hospitalisation in older adults. It can lead to prolonged hospital stay, institutionalisation, and even death. However, it often remains unrecognised or is not managed adequately. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an educational intervention for nursing staff on three aspects of clinical practice concerning delirium in older hospitalised patients: the frequency and correctness of screening for delirium using the 13-item Delirium Observation Screening score (DOS), and the frequency of geriatric consultations requested for older patients. The a priori expectations were that there would be an increase in all three of these outcomes.
In results published April 29, 2017 in JAMA Psychiatry , the largest ED-based suicide intervention trial ever conducted in the United States examined how screening in emergency departments, followed by safety planning guidance and periodic phone check-ins led to a 30 percent decrease in suicide attempts over the 52 weeks of follow-up, compared to standard emergency department care.
screening for cognitive impairment in Emergency Department (ED) requires short, reliable tools.. To read the full article, log in using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Aim: To reduce the incidence of self-harming behaviour and improve well-being and experience of care for individuals who present regularly to the emergency department in one hospital following self-harm, by providing outpatient care.
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Using my clinical academic knowledge and understanding of dementia, with the library team provided the underpinning research based framework; we were able to highlight skills and understanding to enhance care, and support patients and staff in a more person centred approach.
dementia 3Our dementia volunteers all receive dementia care as part of their corporate training, and attend additional presentations about meal time support. There are opportunities to attend further sessions such as Sage and Thyme and Dignity Awareness. Evidence of their visits and input is recorded to capture the difference it is making and to be able to report back to Carers and Patients’ Experience (CAPE) board.
QTc prolongation creates an electrophysiological environment that confers an increased risk for development of ventricular arrhythmias, in particular torsades de pointes (TdP), a form of polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. This may result in syncope or sudden cardiac death.1–5 In addition, prolonged QTc at admission has been associated with worse outcomes independent of malignant ventricular rhythms.6 Numerous studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of QTc prolongation among patients admitted to the hospital in a wide variety of settings including the intensive care unit and acute psychiatric units. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Open access. Pain and delirium are common in people with dementia admitted to hospitals. These are often under-diagnosed and under-treated. Pain is implicated as a cause of delirium but this association has not been investigated in this setting.
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Psychodermatology is the interaction between skin and mind. Psychodermatological conditions are present in many patients with a mental health condition or mental health concerns. However, conditions such as dermatitis artefacta and trichotillomania are commonly misunderstood, and access to treatment may be limited. Nurses play a vital role in supporting patients and families by assessing, treating and managing such conditions, while also providing education on the condition and the treatment that is required. This article describes common psychodermatological conditions and the variety of care that can be carried out. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Paramedics in Derbyshire have joined police and mental health nurses to improve how emergency services respond to people who call 999 when in crisis
The Mental Health Triage Hub based at Derbyshire Constabulary’s call centre in Ripley began as a pilot in 2014. Its focus was specialist intervention when police were considering using Section 136 of the Mental Health Act, which officers can apply if they suspect a person has a mental illness and needs ‘care and control’ in a place of safety. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Patients with dementia in the acute setting are generally considered to impose higher costs on the health system compared to those without the disease largely due to longer length of stay (LOS). Many studies exploring the economic impact of the disease extrapolate estimates based on the costs of patients diagnosed using routinely collected hospital discharge data only. However, much dementia is undiagnosed and therefore in limiting the analysis to this cohort, we believe that LOS and the associated costs of dementia may be overestimated. We examined LOS and associated costs in a cohort of patients specifically screened for dementia in the hospital setting. . To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
This article discusses perioperative variables that can be used to identify patients who are more vulnerable to experiencing cognitive decline after surgery. It also highlights some screening tools that could be useful for early detection and for planning nursing care. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Nurses often care for people with mental health conditions in general clinical settings. In these situations, they have a responsibility to ensure that the individual’s physical, social and psychological needs are assessed and met. Nurses practising in general clinical settings should be familiar with the skills and knowledge required to meet the needs of people with mental health conditions. This article aims to provide nurses practising in general clinical settings with an understanding of such conditions and the associated effects on an individual’s physical health. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Open access. To understand the views of qualified medical practitioners regarding “reasonable adjustments” and the quality of the care and treatment provided to adults with intellectual disabilities when admitted to acute hospitals as inpatients.