Biomedical subjects
Diana De
Publications and source records attributed to Diana De.
Clinical skills: a care plan approach to nurse-led extubation.
Long-term mechanical ventilation (in patients who require mechanical ventilation for longer than 24 hours) has been associated with prolonged anxiety, chest infections and high mortality rates. Prolonged mechanical ventilation is also costly, as it tends to be carried out in critical care environments which require high levels of staffing. Therefore, it would appear to be of great benefit to patients, relatives and all multidisciplinary healthcare professionals concerned in delivering respiratory care if patient ventilation was kept as brief as possible. Current opinions seem to suggest that nurses can be the key players in reducing the time on a mechanical ventilator for patients and can take the lead on the extubation process of ventilatory weaning.
The need for critical care nurse education at preregistration level.
In order to deliver a comprehensive and high quality intensive care service, all intensive care providers must be suitably educated and trained. Both the NHS and higher education establishments have been subjected to radical reviews and reforms in order that they meet the educational demands of a changing healthcare system which requires that critical care be delivered to all patients whenever they need it and whenever they are being nursed in the hospital. To be able to deliver critical care throughout the whole of a hospital is a huge challenge. In order to impact upon patient morbidity/mortality, all staff nurses will need to learn, develop and employ critical care skills. In this article, we will explore issues that surround critical care education for all nurses.
Sickle cell anaemia 1: background, causes and incidence in the UK.
Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) and beta thalassaemia are severe inherited blood disorders. Despite some reports indicating that haemoglobinopathies are the most common serious genetic disorder in the UK, some parts of Europe, Africa and the Caribbean, sickle cell disorders still receive relatively little attention from the public or the healthcare service industry. The aim of this article, the first of two parts, is to provide an overview to the background, causes and incidence of sickle cell disorders in the UK and how an acute crisis state develops. Readers should note that the term 'painful episode' is now used in preference to 'crisis', which suggests catastrophe. The second article will look more closely at the pharmacological treatments for SCA painful episode management.
Sickle cell anaemia 2: management approaches of painful episodes.
The first of this two-part series highlighted how sickle cell disorders were the most common genetic disorder in the UK. It also described how recurrent sickle cell painful episodes led to many social restrictions on a sufferer's life. In the UK, painful episodes still remain the main reason for the hospital admission of people with sickle cell disease. This often means lengthy periods spent as an inpatient for many sufferers, as well as a lifetime reliant upon health professionals to prescribe strong analgesics in an attempt to try and control the painful symptoms associated with sickle cell disease. Readers should note that the term 'painful episode' is now used in preference to 'crisis'. Despite recommendations that initial hospital management of sickle cell painful episode should be aimed at providing rapid pain control, this article will show that choosing the right analgesic is not always easy to decide. National guidelines may aid this process, incorporated alongside increased patient empowerment and the important role of the nurse.