Patient factors associated with treatment time for stroke before and after the onset of COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES: Prior to our study, little was known about factors related to time-to-treatment for stroke pre- and post-COVID-19. DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study to evaluate factors associated with delayed door-to-needle time among patients with acute ischemic stroke over two time-periods. RESULTS: Final sample consisted of 932 charts with mean age of 68.1(±15.6). Significant factors associated with shorter door-to-needle time included ≤ four hours since symptom onset and stroke occurring during post-Covid-19 time-period. Those on anti-coagulants had 72 % higher odds of longer door-to-needle time. As patients got older and stroke symptoms were more severe, less time was spent in door-to-imaging. CONCLUSION: Results highlight the importance of early recognition of stroke symptoms and rapid transport to the hospital. Faster response times in post-Covid-19 time-period may be attributable to systematic processes put in place to address pandemic-related challenges. Outcomes may depend on research to identify gaps in stroke treatment.

Pilot testing of nurse led multimodal intervention for falls prevention.

Patient fall-risk awareness, self-efficacy, and engagement in fall-prevention activities are important aspects of fall-prevention. The current pilot study examined the effect of a nurse-led multimodal intervention on hospitalized adults' levels of fall risk awareness, self-efficacy, and engagement in fall prevention. Sixty hospitalized older adults in an acute care setting in Florida participated in the study. There were significant differences [pre-test (M = 19.02, SD=1.152) and post-test (M = 21.71, SD=0.527); t (17.355) = 58, p≤.001] on level of fall risk awareness in fall prevention. There were no significant findings for fall self-efficacy and engagement. Study findings suggested that the higher the fall self-efficacy, the higher the engagement. Future research is needed to examine self-efficacy and engagement for fall prevention in larger diverse cohorts of hospitalized older adults.