Symptoms And Treatment Of Patients

Nurses play a vital role in healthcare. They are the patient’s advocate and act as the patient’s “eyes and ears”. Pictured here, is Mark, a Registered Nurse working in the Schulich Heart Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, preparing medications for his patients. Making sure the correct medication is administered at the right time is an integral part of a patient's recovery. On his unit, patients are primarily admitted under three services: cardiology, cardiac surgery, and vascular surgery. His ward in particular only has registered nurses as the patients are very acute and registered nurses have more education and training than a registered practical nurse. His daily activities include administering medications, tracking vital signs,

Maria Niceforo, a 75-year-old woman receiving in-home nursing care, had died of infection due to numerous pressure wounds (Le May, 2016). She was admitted to the hospital presenting with a bleeding pressure wound across her back and legs that had penetrated through the bone (Le May, 2016). It was also observed that the wounds were soiled with urine and dried faeces (Le May, 2016). She was receiving in-home support from registered nurses, who according to her son, were not consistent nor reliable in their care of Mrs. Niceforo (Le May, 2016). Another contributing factor to her death was inadequate communication and documentation of her treatment (Menagh, 2016). For example, one of the nurses had reported not providing treatment to Mrs. Niceforo's bottom as she was not aware of it (Menagh, 2016). I was quite

The implications and effects on patients waiting long hours to be seen in the ED are immense. In a recent study done over five years in Ontario hospitals showed the risk of adverse events and even deaths increased with the length of stay in the ED (Science Daily, 2011). When EDs become overcrowded the quality of care changes and declines; which is extremely dangerous. Authors of the study calculated that if ED length of stay was cut by only an hour that 150 fewer Ontarians would die each year (Science Daily, 2011). Wait times can also negatively affect patients financially, untreated medical conditions can lead to reduced productivity and inability to work leading to increased financial strains (Fraser Institute, 2014). As well as delayed access to care can result in more complex interventions needed. Therefore an initiative is needed to provide patients with timely, efficient care when accessing

In terms of resources and finances, inpatient care is the most costly form of healthcare. It not only requires the medical supplies, but basic care supplies such as food, bedding, etc. It requires more practical resources in terms of electricity and other services, as well as more human resources, as the patients require round the clock care and availability. Hospitals and centers providing inpatient care therefore need a minimum of two shifts, and possibly three in order to avoid unnecessary and costly mistakes due to the workers’ exhaustion.

In terms of avoidable hospital stays and service use, I found that better medical care within the hospitals results in better satisfactory by the patients and physicians, which means that patients must receive the best care and not be avoided. For example, the website helps me understand that if a primary care physician provides a diabetes patient with good quality care, then they may not need a hospital stay. This shows that not all hospital stays are avoidable, but they are preventable by providing the quality care they deserve. Another factor towards avoidable hospital stays may depend on where the patients live and where the hospitals are located. This would alter a number of people who would

In terms of avoidable hospital stays and service use, I found that better medical care within the hospitals results in better satisfactory by the patients and physicians, which means that patients must receive the best care and not be avoided. For example, the website helps me understand that if a primary care physician provides a diabetes patient with good quality care, then they may not need a hospital stay. This shows that not all hospital stays are avoidable, but they are preventable by providing the quality care they deserve. Another factor towards avoidable hospital stays may depend on where the patients live and

Understaffed nurses can cause longer stay and increase the readmission rates because patients don't get enough education for discharge preparation, and information about how to take care and manage their diseases based on evidence based practice. A study of Marquette University in Milwaukee found that with fully staffed units, patients were unlikely to come back within 30 days. This decreasing of readmission rate happened because when nurse don't have high workload, they can have time to do more effective education for patients about care coordination while they are staying in the hospital or effective discharge planning (Klein, 2011).

It has been reported that over $25-45 billion was spent in the year 2011 on avoidable complications and “unnecessary hospital readmissions” (Burton, 2012). Poor healthcare transition has been the route of the cause for poor healthcare quality and waste. Once patients are discharged from

Respiratory. The client denies a recent history of significant breathing problems. Client states as a child she had asthma but that has since cleared up. She denies cough, sputum, shortness of breath with activity, wheezing, or pneumonia. Client states she has no history of exposure to tuberculosis. The client has a history of smoking. She smoked for less than a year in 2007. She states she smoked 1/20th of a pack per day and quit cold turkey. Client stated she had bronchitis once in June 2016. Her physician prescribed an albuterol inhaler and a steroid prescription. Treatment resolved the bronchitis. The client states she has limited exposure to secondhand smoke due to neighbors smoking on their front porches in the townhome apartment complex where she lives.

The situation of Length of Stay (LOS) is a complex issue of the healthcare environment. Each patient requires the effort of many different resources-both people and equipment- before they are clinically fit to go home or more to the next stage of their healthcare journey. Failure to coordinate and synchronize resources across the entire patient journey results in a major loss of optimal care for the patient as well as wasted expense. For the patient the consequences of this delay can be dire. One solution to this growing epidemic is being initiated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at

Annually more than one million people in the United States receive care in the intensive care unit (ICU) (Chandrashekar & Perme, 2009, p.213). Patients who are critically ill often require multiple therapies, monitoring devices, and mechanical ventilation. A majority of the critically ill patients remain in bed rest during their ICU and hospital stay. Prolonged immobility and bed rest have negative effects on patient outcomes leading to acute complications, longer ICU and hospital stay, and increase in mortality and morbidity rates (Dang, 2013).

Hospitals in the United States offer different care than a nursing home facility and admit over 37 million people every year and mainly provide care for those with acute problems and emergencies. Hospitals will see many who have been readmitted from the long term care facilities. A patient under the age of 65 on average will stay 4-5 days in the hospital and 6 days for those 65 and older. Chronic illness is the main cause of hospital admissions. People with heart disease, cancer, respiratory conditions, and broken bones are some of the main chronic conditions related to hospital admissions. Hospitals treat and release their patients as soon as possible due to the lack of rooms to accommodate all of them. The easiest way to differentiate care

Seventy five patients were assessed for eligibility. Sixty seven were successfully consented and enrolled. Seven patients were dropped from postoperative follow up. Sixty patients successfully completed the study (figure 1). There were no significant differences between groups in demographic data (age, weight and sex) and duration of surgery (p> 0.05) (table 1).

Pneumomediastinum is a pathologic condition characterized by the presence of air within the mediastinum and within deep neck spaces. It can be further categorized as spontaneous pneumomediastinum or secondary pneumomediastinum. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum is a rare clinical entity seen without any precipitating factors. On the other hand, secondary pneumomediastinum is due to disruption of the aeordigestive tract, typically from previous surgery, trauma, severe retching, or foreign body ingestion. Pneumomediastinum can be exacerbated by activities that generate a valsalva maneuver, as in physical exertion. The treatment protocol differs substantially between these two entities, so it is crucial that physicians differentiate between the two by gathering the appropriate history and physical exam. We report a case of a healthy 44 year old male who developed pneumomediastinum with moderate head and neck subcutaneous emphysema after minimal trauma while boogie boarding. The patient remained asymptomatic except for mild dysphonia and head and neck swelling. An extensive PubMed search revealed several case reports of spontaneous pneumomediastinum. This is, however, to our knowledge, one of the few reports of moderate to severe spontaneous pneumomediastinum presenting relatively asymptomatically. With this case report we hope to add to the current body of literature and present an unusual presentation of spontaneous pneumomediastinum in a healthy individual.

The cost of the health care industry has always been rising since the early 1980s. It has been a growing concern in both the industry and society. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is no exception. Even though the average length of stay (LOS) for the patients in MGH has been declining (Exhibit 10), it is still the highest compared to their competitors (Exhibit 6). Besides the cost, there is no uniformity of process and standardization across different facilities and departments of the hospital. MGH lacks communication and coordination between the facilities.