Riding the wave of change: Providing solid ground to support nursing with patient transitions to novel haemophilia therapies.

INTRODUCTION: Haemophilia nursing practice has experienced a shift in the past decade, as the historic chief focus on factor infusions shifted to extended half-life products, bispecific antibody therapies and other non-replacement therapies. This evolution has driven a need for changes in nursing practice in many haemophilia treatment centres. AIM: This article intends to provide insights to the haemophilia nurse to champion practice changes at their haemophilia treatment centres. METHODS: Two popular change theories, Lewin's three-step change model and Kotter's eight-step change model are discussed as a framework for haemophilia nurses to think, structure and be leaders in change. CONCLUSION: Examples of these models in practice could give guidance and examples to reflect on for haemophilia nurses needing to make changes in their practice settings. These models of change, alongside existing haemophilia nurse competencies and tools such as the shared decision-making tool from the World Federation of Hemophilia, can assist the nurse to be a capable change agent to usher in these new innovations.

Characterization of thalassemia major and diabetes mellitus patients at a reference center in Brazil

ABSTRACT Objective: This is a quantitative transversal study that aimed to analyze the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of thalassemia major patients with and without diabetes mellitus. Method: The cohort consisted of 31 thalassemia major patients from a reference center of treatment in Brazil in 2016. The data were obtained from an interview using a questionnaire containing demographic and clinical variables. The results show that 16.1% of the participants with thalassemia major had diabetes mellitus. The participants' ages ranged from 20 to 48 years, with an average of 35 years, mostly students and starting in the formal job market. The most commonly used treatment was the oral desferasirox and the transfusion treatment interval was 15-22 days. Results: Patients with thalassemia major and diabetes mellitus presented altered values of fasting glycemia, serum alanine transaminase, magnetic resonance imaging and bone densitometry. Conclusion: It was concluded that knowledge of the characteristics of this population contributes in the proposal of effective educational strategies in light of the complexity of care and the progression of the disease.

Characterization of thalassemia major and diabetes mellitus patients at a reference center in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: This is a quantitative transversal study that aimed to analyze the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of thalassemia major patients with and without diabetes mellitus. METHOD: The cohort consisted of 31 thalassemia major patients from a reference center of treatment in Brazil in 2016. The data were obtained from an interview using a questionnaire containing demographic and clinical variables. The results show that 16.1% of the participants with thalassemia major had diabetes mellitus. The participants' ages ranged from 20 to 48 years, with an average of 35 years, mostly students and starting in the formal job market. The most commonly used treatment was the oral desferasirox and the transfusion treatment interval was 15-22 days. RESULTS: Patients with thalassemia major and diabetes mellitus presented altered values of fasting glycemia, serum alanine transaminase, magnetic resonance imaging and bone densitometry. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that knowledge of the characteristics of this population contributes in the proposal of effective educational strategies in light of the complexity of care and the progression of the disease.