Hand hygiene is a simple and low-cost practice to prevent the spread of many micro-organisms that cause healthcare-associated infections.
This is a descriptive study designed to investigate the ...compliance of patient companions and visitors with hand hygiene.
The study included 209 companions and visitors of patients hospitalized in a university hospital in the west of Turkey. A demographics and hand hygiene questionnaire and a hand hygiene practice observation form were used to acquire data.
Of the patient companions and visitors, 96.2% stated that they did not receive training on the importance of handwashing during their stay in the hospital, and 74.6% stated that handwashing was very important in the prevention of diseases. The patient families reported that they most often washed their hands after touching bodily fluids (91.7%), and that they rarely washed their hands before touching a patient (34.0%). The rates were decreased in the observations; the lowest rate for handwashing was before touching a patient (22.4%) and the highest rate for handwashing was after the risk for contamination with body fluids of the patient (68.6%).
The patient companions and visitors received no training on the importance of hand hygiene during the hospital stay, and the observed rate of compliance with hand hygiene was lower than stated. Recommendations include delivering planned handwashing training to patient companions and visitors using different teaching methods, and to conduct longer observational studies.
Abstract
The incidence of lesions of the popliteal artery below the knee constitutes one of the greatest problems in revascularization of the lower limb. Firstly, this segment constitutes the ...departure of the leg tripod, decisive crossroads for a subsequent endovascular intervention. On the other hand, it constitutes a fairly used relay point in the event of an indication for a pedal bypass. It is assumed that the performance of a popliteal endarterectomy with an enlargement by medial approach in patients with a localized lesion at this level constitutes an effective therapeutic approach and can facilitate any gesture of crural bypass or endovascular dilation later. We present a retrospective review of all patients who underwent popliteal endarterectomy with venous patch plasty for localized popliteal disease in our institution over the past 3 years.
This descriptive correlational study determined symptom prevalence, characteristics and distress in a sample of 54 children newly diagnosed with cancer in a paediatric oncology inpatient department ...and its associated outpatient clinics in Izmir, Turkey. Data were collected using the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale 1, 2 and 3 months after diagnosis. Demographic data were collected using a questionnaire developed by the researchers while information on respondents' disease status and treatment regimens was obtained from medical records. Cluster analysis techniques were used to identify symptom clusters in the sample. The study identified a number of symptom clusters affecting children or adolescents (age range 10 to 18 years), although different clusters became apparent at each data collection point. The most common symptoms in newly diagnosed respondents were lack of appetite, nausea, lethargy, hair loss and feelings of sadness. Four symptom clusters were apparent 1 month after diagnosis, five in the second month and four in the third month. The study demonstrated that respondents experienced a wide range of symptoms in the months immediately following a cancer diagnosis and the start of treatment, which are findings that can be used to develop clinical guidelines for symptom assessment and management in children and adolescents with cancer.
To describe the prevalence of symptoms, their characteristics and distress and to define symptom clusters occurring among children and adolescents receiving chemotherapy or having completed their ...treatment.
Data were collected using the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale in patients receiving chemotherapy and those who had completed it. Demographic data were collected using a questionnaire developed by the researchers, whilst information over the disease status and treatment regimens was obtained from medical records. Cluster analysis techniques were used to identify symptom clusters.
The most common symptoms were lack of appetite, feeling nervous and lack of energy in children/adolescents who were receiving chemotherapy. Feeling nervous, feeling sad and lack of energy were the most common symptoms in children/adolescents who had completed chemotherapy. The most distressing symptoms were nausea, hair loss and vomiting in patients aged 10-18 years, being on treatment. Five symptom clusters were identified in children and adolescents who were both undergoing or being off chemotherapy.
Children/adolescents receiving chemotherapy experience multiple symptoms that persist over time. Symptom distress is relatively higher among children/ adolescents undergoing chemotherapy. Knowledge from this study can provide a starting point to investigate the stability of symptom clusters in different age groups and over various periods of time.
