The level of critical care medicine is an important index to measure the comprehensive strength of a modern hospital, and it is also a mirror to reflect the level of hospital management. Xinyang City of Henan Province is an old revolutionary district. Xinyang Central Hospital is a prefecture-grade tertiary-class A hospital which is certificated early in Henan Province and the leading unit of the medical and health system in Xinyang. How to build a powerful specialty of critical care medicine to provide a guarantee basis for all disciplines of the hospital and critically ill patients in the city? This needs the considerations of hospital managers. Only through keeping a clear mind, taking the protection of the health of the whole city as the first priority, learning advanced concepts and management experiences continuously, and taking responsibility bravely, we can keep up with the pace of the development of critical care medicine in the whole province and even in the whole country.
China ; Cities ; Critical Care/organization & administration* ; Humans ; Tertiary Care Centers

Betacoronavirus ; Cancer Care Facilities ; Coronavirus Infections ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Palliative Care ; organization & administration ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; epidemiology ; Singapore ; Tertiary Care Centers

In general, the disaster rescue team should do their work within 1 to 2 hours after disaster, and disaster medical assistance team (DMAT) should care the victims at disaster site within 3 to 6 hours. Since about 10 years ago, world health organization, world meteorological organization, and world congress of disaster emergency medicine emphasized that each countries should complete the disaster plan on 'chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosives' (CBRNE) disaster. After these warnings, the most of countries has strengthened the hospital disaster plan, and also organized disaster services system such as DMAT, hazardous material information system, and others. In Korea, the most of tertiary hospitals can not operate hospital disaster plan effectively, and the government did not support hospitals on disaster plan politically and financially. As a result, only a small number of hospitals is operating DMAT, and a few hospital completed CBRNE disaster preparedness such as disaster drill, personal protective equipments, decontamination set. The poison information center that control information on hazardous material is not established yet, and most physicians can not get information on chemicals, biologics and other hazardous materials when CBRNE disaster occur. To operate effective disaster plan, each hospitals should modernize the disaster plan on internal disaster, external disaster, and CBRNE disaster. The government should support hospitals to keep DMAT and special preparedness on CBRNE disaster. When CBRNE disaster strikes, the poison information center should expand their capability to provide information on the various kinds of hazardous materials.
Biological Products ; Decontamination ; Disaster Medicine* ; Disasters* ; Emergency Medicine ; Hazardous Substances ; Humans ; Information Centers ; Information Systems ; Korea ; Medical Assistance ; Strikes, Employee ; Tertiary Care Centers ; World Health Organization

COVID-19 has spread globally, infecting and killing millions of people worldwide. The use of operating rooms (ORs) and the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) for intensive care is part of surge response planning. We aim to describe and discuss some of the practical considerations involved in a large tertiary hospital in Singapore. Firstly, considerations for setting up a level III intensive care unit (ICU) include that of space, staff, supplies and standards. Secondly, oxygen supply of the entire hospital is a major determinant of the number of ventilators it can support, including those on non-invasive forms of oxygen therapy. Thirdly, air flows due to positive pressure systems within the OR complex need to be addressed. In addition, due to the worldwide shortage of ICU ventilators, the US Food and Drug Administration has granted temporary approval for the use of anaesthesia gas machines for patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Lastly, planning of logistics and staff deployment needs to be carefully considered during a crisis. Although OR and PACU are not designed for long-term care of critically ill patients, they may be adapted for ICU use with careful planning in the current pandemic.
COVID-19/therapy* ; Critical Care/organization & administration* ; Critical Illness ; Health Care Rationing/organization & administration* ; Health Resources/organization & administration* ; Health Services Accessibility/organization & administration* ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units/organization & administration* ; Operating Rooms/organization & administration* ; Pandemics ; Respiration, Artificial ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Tertiary Care Centers/organization & administration*

PURPOSE: This study was done to develop and implement the Nursing KMS (knowledge management system) in order to improve knowledge sharing and creation among clinical nurses in outpatient departments. METHODS: This study was a methodological research using the 'System Development Life Cycle': consisting of planning, analyzing, design, implementation, and evaluation. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) was applied to establish nurse requirements and to identify important design requirements. Participants were 32 nurses and for evaluation data were collected pre and post intervention at K Hospital in Seoul, a tertiary hospital with over 1,000 beds. RESULTS: The Nursing KMS was built using a Linux-based operating system, Oracle DBMS, and Java 1.6 web programming tools. The system was implemented as a sub-system of the hospital information system. There was statistically significant differences in the sharing of knowledge but creating of knowledge was no statistically meaningful difference observed. In terms of satisfaction with the system, system efficiency ranked first followed by system convenience, information suitability and information usefulness. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the use of Nursing KMS increases nurses' knowledge sharing and can contribute to increased quality of nursing knowledge and provide more opportunities for nurses to gain expertise from knowledge shared among nurses.
Ambulatory Care/*organization & administration ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Humans ; Internet ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; *Program Development ; *Program Evaluation ; Tertiary Care Centers ; User-Computer Interface

BACKGROUND: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic, premalignant condition of the oral mucosa and one of the commonest potentially malignant disorders amongst the Asian population. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of etiologic factors with: age, frequency, duration of consumption of areca nut and its derivatives, and the severity of clinical manifestations. METHODS: A cross-sectional, multi centric study was conducted over 8 years on clinically diagnosed OSMF cases (n = 765) from both public and private tertiary care centers. Sample size was determined by World Health Organization sample size calculator. Consumption of areca nut in different forms, frequency of daily usage, years of chewing, degree of mouth opening and duration of the condition were recorded. Level of significance was kept at P < or = 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 765 patients of OSMF were examined, of whom 396 (51.8%) were male and 369 (48.2%) female with a mean age of 29.17 years. Mild OSMF was seen in 61 cases (8.0%), moderate OSMF in 353 (46.1%) and severe OSMF in 417 (54.5%) subjects. Areca nut and other derivatives were most frequently consumed and showed significant risk in the severity of OSMF (P < or = 0.0001). Age of the sample and duration of chewing years were also significant (P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: The relative risk of OSMF increased with duration and frequency of areca nut consumption especially from an early age of onset.
Age of Onset ; Areca* ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mastication ; Mouth ; Mouth Mucosa ; Nuts* ; Oral Submucous Fibrosis* ; Pakistan* ; Sample Size ; Tertiary Care Centers ; World Health Organization

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aims of this study were to identify real world treatment patterns of hypertension according to cardiovascular risk stratification and to evaluate blood pressure changes with anti-hypertensive treatment in each risk group. METHODS: This study included patients who were newly-diagnosed with hypertension or known hypertensive patients with uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) at seven tertiary hospitals in Busan and Ulsan. World Health Organization/International Society of Hypertension (WHO/ISH) cardiovascular risk stratification was performed through retrospective chart review. RESULTS: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers were the most frequently prescribed drugs. The higher WHO/ISH risk group received a greater number of drugs at the initial treatment, and one year after treatment. Target BP was achieved less frequently in the higher risk group (68.2% vs. 85.2% vs. 89.0%, p < 0.001). The rate of attaining target BP was lower (50.7% vs. 81.6%, p < 0.001), and the time to attaining target BP was longer (106.5 +/- 79.2 days vs. 82.1 +/- 75.3, p = 0.001), in patients with renal disease or diabetes. Initial systolic BP above 160 mmHg (OR: 4.91, 95% CI: 2.27~10.65), renal disease (3.42, 1.60~7.32), medium or high risk group status (2.27, 1.23~4.20), initial diastolic BP above 100 mmHg (2.11, 1.11~4.04), and diabetes (2.06, 1.29~3.25) were independent factors that predicted failure of attaining the target BP. CONCLUSIONS: BP control was relatively unsatisfactory in patients with higher initial BP, renal disease, higher WHO/ISH risk group status, and diabetes. Individualized approaches for such patients are needed to improve BP control in routine clinical practice.
Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists ; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ; Blood Pressure ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Tertiary Care Centers ; World Health ; World Health Organization

OBJECTIVE: The practice of allowing parental presence during invasive procedures in children varies depending on setting and individual provider preference. We aim to understand the attitudes, preferences, and practices of physicians and nurses with regard to parental presence during invasive pediatric emergency procedures in an Asian cultural context.METHODS: We surveyed physicians and nurses in the pediatric emergency department of a large tertiary hospital using separate self-administered questionnaires over three months. The data collected included the demographics and clinical experience of interview respondents. Each provider was asked about their attitude and preference regarding parental presence during specific invasive procedures.RESULTS: We surveyed 90 physicians and 107 nurses. Most physicians in our context preferred to perform pediatric emergency procedures without parental presence (82, 91.1%). Forty physicians (44.4%) reported that parental presence slowed down procedures, while 75 (83.3%) felt it increased provider stress. Most physicians made the decision to allow parents into the procedure room based on parental attitude (69, 76.7%) and the child's level of cooperation (64, 71.1%). Most nurses concurred that parental presence would add to provider stress during procedures (69, 64.5%). We did not find a significant relationship between provider experience (P=0.26) or age (P=0.50) and preference for parental presence.CONCLUSION: In our cultural context, most physicians and nurses prefer to perform procedures for children in the absence of parents. We propose that this can be changed by health professional training with role play and simulation, adequate supervision by experienced physicians, and clear communication with parents.
Asia ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Child ; Demography ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Health Occupations ; Humans ; Organization and Administration ; Parents ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Tertiary Care Centers

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor is a histopathologically distinctive neoplasm of children and young adults. According to World Health Organization (WHO) classification, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor is an intermediate-grade tumor, with potential for recurrence and rare metastasis. There are no definite histopathologic, molecular, or cytogenetic features to predict malignant transformation, recurrence, or metastasis. METHODS: A 5-year retrospective study of histopathologically diagnosed inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors of various anatomic sites was conducted to correlate anaplastic lymphoma kinase-1 (ALK-1) expression with histological atypia, multicentric origin of tumor, recurrence, and metastasis. Clinical details of all the cases were noted from the clinical work station. Immunohistochemical stains for ALK-1 and other antibodies were performed. Statistical analysis was done using Fisher exact test. RESULTS: A total of 18 cases of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors were found during the study period, of which 14 were classical. The female-male ratio was 1:1 and the mean age was 23.8 years. Histologically atypical (four cases) and multifocal tumors (three cases, multicentric in origin) were noted. Recurrence was noted in 30% of ALK-1 positive and 37.5% of ALK-1 negative cases, whereas metastasis to the lung, liver, and pelvic bone was noted in the ALK-1 positive group only. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, ALK-1 protein was expressed in 55.6% of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors. There was no statistically significant correlation between ALK-1 expression, tumor type, recurrence and metastasis. However, ALK-1 immunohistochemistry is a useful diagnostic aid in the appropriate clinical and histomorphologic context.
Antibodies ; Child ; Classification ; Coloring Agents ; Cytogenetics ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Liver ; Lung ; Lymphoma ; Myofibroblasts* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pelvic Bones ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Tertiary Care Centers* ; Tertiary Healthcare* ; World Health Organization ; Young Adult

The ongoing pandemic in Singapore is part of a global pandemic caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). To control the spread of COVID-19 and prevent the healthcare system from being overwhelmed, 'circuit breaker' measures were introduced between 7 April and 1 June 2020 in Singapore. There is thus a crucial need for innovative approaches to the provision and delivery of healthcare in the context of safe-distancing by harnessing telemedicine, especially for patients with chronic diseases who have traditionally been managed in tertiary institutions. We present a summary of how the Virtual Monitoring Clinic has benefited the practice of our outpatient rheumatology service during the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual consultations address the need for safe-distancing by limiting face-to-face appointments and unnecessary exposure of patients to the hospital where feasible. This approach ensures that the patients are monitored appropriately for drug toxicities and side-effects, maintained on good disease control, and provided with patient education.
Ambulatory Care/methods* ; Antirheumatic Agents/therapeutic use* ; COVID-19 ; Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Nurse Practitioners ; Pharmacists ; Rheumatic Diseases/drug therapy* ; Rheumatology/methods* ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Singapore ; Telemedicine/organization & administration* ; Tertiary Care Centers