What do sick kids really want in hospital?

Feeling safe and being able to get to sleep at night are the things that matter most to sick kids in hospital, according to world-first research from Edith Cowan University. Researchers at ECU’s School of Nursing developed the ‘Needs of Children Questionnaire’ (NCQ), the first of its kind to measure children’s self-reported psychosocial, physical and emotional needs in paediatric wards. […]

Continue reading »

Better UTI monitoring needed after hospital admission in adults

(HealthDay)—Healthcare-associated (HA), community-onset (CO) urinary tract infection (UTI) may be common within 30 days following hospital discharge, according to a study published online June 20 in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. Miriam R. Elman, from Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, and colleagues used data from an academic, quaternary care, referral center to retrospectively identify 3,273 hospitalized adults at […]

Continue reading »

A hidden truth: Hospital faucets are often home to slime and biofilm

Hand hygiene is a critical component of infection prevention in hospitals, but the unintended consequences include water splashing out of a sink to spread contaminants from dirty faucets according to new research presented last week in Philadelphia at the 46th Annual Conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). Researchers at the University of Michigan Health […]

Continue reading »

Patients with diabetes are 40 percent more likely to be readmitted to the hospital

Patients with diabetes and low blood glucose have higher rates of death following hospital discharge, according to a study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. The cost for hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge is estimated to be close to $25 billion per year in the U.S. Patients with diabetes are frequently admitted to […]

Continue reading »

Practices for reducing COPD hospital readmissions explored

(HealthDay)—Communication, implementation of guidelines, and improved identification of risk factors may help reduce chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) hospital readmissions, according to a report published in the February issue of the Annals of the American Thoracic Society. Valerie G. Press, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Chicago, and colleagues address the current best practices and models to identify approaches with […]

Continue reading »

Romania shuts hospital after babies diagnosed with superbug

Romanian health authorities on Friday temporarily closed a maternity hospital in the capital after 13 babies born there recently were diagnosed with a drug-resistant superbug. The Health Ministry said the Giulesti Maternity Hospital in Bucharest would stop admissions after the newborns were diagnosed with antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The hospital said it had canceled dozens of cesarean section operations planned for […]

Continue reading »

Treating COPD patients for anxiety using CBT reduces hospital visits and is cost-effective

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) delivered by respiratory nurses is cost-effective and reduces anxiety symptoms in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, according to research published in ERJ Open Research. COPD is a long-term condition that causes inflammation in the lungs, narrowing of the airways and damaged lung tissue, making breathing difficult. Anxiety often occurs alongside COPD and can mean that […]

Continue reading »
1 2