No abstract available.
Chorionic Gonadotropin* ; Female ; Humans ; Humans* ; Hypertension* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second* ; Pregnancy*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn*

BACKGROUND: Direct observation of healthcare workers is commonly used in hospitals to investigate hand hygiene compliance. However, the hand hygiene compliance rate may increase due to the Hawthorne effect, which is the modification of behavior simply because subjects become aware that they are being observed. The objective of this study was to investigate the occurrence of the Hawthorne effect when directly observing hand hygiene compliance in intensive care unit (ICU) healthcare personnel. METHODS: A total of 87 staff members from the coronary care unit and cardiac surgery ICU of a general hospital in Seoul were included in this study: 24 residents and interns, 55 nurses, and 8 nursing assistants. Both covert and overt observations, where subjects were either unaware or aware of any direct observation, were performed on separate occasions. RESULTS: A total of 1,052 covert and 1,336 overt observations were documented over 30 and 34 occasions, respectively. Overall hand hygiene compliance was significantly higher with overt observation than with covert observation (1,041/1,336, 77.9% vs. 659/1,052, 62.6%, P<0.001). The Hawthorne effect was present in all professions and behaviors, with the exception of nursing assistants, and prior to touching a patient. CONCLUSION: Direct observation of hand hygiene compliance was associated with the Hawthorne effect when observations were made overtly and this was likely to contribute to an overestimation of compliance rate.
Compliance ; Coronary Care Units* ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Effect Modifier, Epidemiologic* ; Hand Hygiene* ; Health Personnel ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units* ; Nursing ; Seoul ; Thoracic Surgery*

PURPOSE: To assess whether the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) predicts the need for intensive care unit (ICU) transfer for patients with severe sepsis or septic shock admitted to general wards. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of 100 general ward patients with severe sepsis or septic shock was implemented. Clinical information and MEWS according to point of time between ICU group and general ward group were reviewed. Data were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves with SPSS/WIN 18.0 program. RESULTS: Thirty-eight ICU patients and sixty-two general ward patients were included. In multivariate logistic regression, MEWS (odds ratio [OR] 2.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.43-2.85), lactic acid (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.22-2.73) and diastolic blood pressure (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.80-1.00) were predictive of ICU transfer. The sensitivity and the specificity of MEWS used with cut-off value of six were 89.5% and 67.7% for ICU transfer. CONCLUSION: MEWS is an effective predictor of ICU transfer. A clinical algorithm could be created to respond to high MEWS and intervene with appropriate changes in clinical management.
APACHE ; Aged ; Blood Pressure/physiology ; Female ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Lactic Acid/analysis ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Patients' Rooms ; ROC Curve ; Reproducibility of Results ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Assessment/methods ; Sepsis/*pathology ; Shock, Septic/*pathology

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of prior information about ICU environment on the anxiety and environmental stress of cardiac surgery ICU patients. METHODS: A non-equivalent control group non-synchronized quasi-experimental research design was used. Participants were 60 (control 30, experimental 30) patients who had been admitted to ICU. Prior information about the ICU environment was provided to the experimental group. The anxiety level of subjects was measured by State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the stress level of subjects was measured by the Intensive Care Unit Environmental Stressor Scale (ICUESS). Data were analyzed using a Chi-square test or a Fisher's exact test, independent samples t-test, and paired samples t-test. RESULTS: There was no difference in Anxiety (t=-0.58, p=.563), but there was a significant difference in environmental stress (t=10.46, p<.001). CONCLUSION: Providing prior information would be an effective nursing intervention to reduce environmental stress.
Anxiety* ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units* ; Nursing ; Research Design ; Thoracic Surgery*

No abstract available.
Esophageal Atresia* ; Tracheoesophageal Fistula*

PURPOSE: The study was to analyze clinical outcomes and risk factors of for complications associated with the hip fracture surgery in the elderly before and after interdisciplinary treatment. METHODS: A retrospective method was used to investigate the general and therapeutic characteristics, frequency of complications and clinical outcomes. The subjects of the study were 553 patients who underwent hip fracture surgery from January, 2009 to December, 2014. RESULTS: The interdisciplinary group was older and less likely to walk independently even before the fracture than a usual care group. The incidence of complications was higher in the interdisciplinary group than the usual care group. The prevalence of complications in both groups was 66.5%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showsed that the risk factors for complications of hip fracture surgery were as follows: advanced age, stroke, Parkinson disease, time interval from emergency room to operation, pre & post ambulatory status, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification quality of postop intensive care unit (ICU) care and foley indwelling. CONCLUSION: This study has implications in that it recognized the necessity for interdisciplinary treatment and provided the basic base data for nursing intervention of the elderly patients who underwent hip fracture surgery.
Aged* ; Classification ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Hip* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intensive Care Units ; Logistic Models ; Methods ; Nursing ; Orthopedics* ; Parkinson Disease ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors* ; Stroke

No abstract available.
Paralysis*

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors for brain reperfusion injury in ischemic stroke patients and to analyze the clinical outcomes. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in 168 patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-Square test, Fisher’s exact test, and logistic regression with IBM SPSS/WIN 24.0. Results: Brain reperfusion injury occurred in 67 patients (39.9%) with a low favored outcome ( χ2 = 6.01, p = .014). On multivariable analysis, blood urea nitrogen (Odds ratio [OR] = 1.14, 95% Confidence interval [CI] = 1.06-1.23), aphasia (OR = 6.16, CI = 1.62-23.40), anosognosia (OR = 4.84, CI = 1.13-20.79), presence of both aphasia and anosognosia (OR = 7.33, CI = 1.20-44.60), and time required to achieve targeted blood pressure (OR = 1.00, CI = 1.00-1.00) were identified as risk factors for brain reperfusion injury. A statistically significant difference was detected in clinical outcomes, including hemorrhagic transformation ( χ2 = 6.32, p = .012), intensive care unit length of stay (Z = -2.08, p = .038), National Institute of Health Stroke scale score at discharge (Z = -3.14, p = .002), and modified Rankin Scale score at discharge (Z = -2.93, p = .003). Conclusion This study identified the risk factors and presented the clinical outcomes of brain reperfusion injury. It is necessary to consider these risk factors for evaluating the patients and to establish nursing interventions and strategies.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing nurses’ caring behavior. Methods: The descriptive study included 178 intensive care unit (ICU) nurses who completed a self-report structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson’s correlation and multiple regression analysis using the IBM SPSS/WIN 23.0 program. Results: Significant correlation existed between perception of Patient- and Family-Centered Care (PFCC) and nurses’ caring behaviors (r = .36, p < .001). Multiple regression analysis showed that perception of support (β = .36, p < .001), total career length (β = .33, p < .001), and familiarity with PFCC (β = .15, p = .018) affected the caring behavior of ICU nurses. These variables explained 30.0% of the variance in caring behavior. Conclusion Effective strategies are needed to improve perceptions of support as well as to promote PFCC for increasig the frequency of caring behavior among ICU nurses.