Understanding acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding in adults.

Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is common in both acute care and primary care settings. It can range from self-limited bleeding to life-threatening hemorrhagic emergencies. This article discusses the assessment and management of adults with acute UGIB, including pharmacologic and nursing interventions.

Nursing Care of Patients With Cirrhosis: The LiverHope Nursing Project.

Cirrhosis is a complex disease that is associated with disturbances in different organs besides the liver, including kidneys, heart, arterial circulation, lungs, gut, and brain. As a consequence, patients develop a number of complications that result in frequent hospital admissions and high morbidity and mortality. Patients with cirrhosis require constant and rigorous monitoring both in and outside the hospital. In this context, the role of nurses in the care of patients with cirrhosis has not been sufficiently emphasized and there is very limited information about nursing care of patients with cirrhosis compared with other chronic diseases. The current article provides a review of nursing care for the different complications of patients with cirrhosis. Nurses with specific knowledge on liver diseases should be incorporated into multidisciplinary teams managing patients with cirrhosis, both inpatient and outpatient. Conclusion: Nurses play an important role in the management and prevention of complications of the disease and improvement in patients' quality of life and bridge the gap between clinicians and families, between primary care and hospital care, and provide medical education to patients and caregivers.

Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding: a guide for nurses.

This article outlines latest evidence-based care for patients with acute upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. It aims to help gastroenterology and general medical ward nurses plan nursing interventions and understand the diagnostic treatment options available. Acute upper GI bleeding can present as variceal or non-variceal bleeding and has a high death rate. Endoscopy is used for diagnosis and to provide therapy, prior to which the patient should be adequately resuscitated and assessed. Various therapies can be initiated at endoscopy, depending on the source of bleeding. If bleeding continues in spite of these therapies, further interventions such as the Sengstaken tube, oesophageal stents, radiological or surgical treatments may be required. After endoscopy, it is important to have a plan for ongoing treatment. Patients may require acid suppression treatment or eradication of Helicobacter pylori as part of their treatment plan. They may in additional require correction of their haemoglobin levels and follow-up endoscopy. It is essential that nurses caring for such patients are aware of the current UK guidance and help patients to adhere to agreed treatment plans.

Prophylactic Acid-Suppressive Therapy in Hospitalized Adults: Indications, Benefits, and Infectious Complications.

Acid-suppressive therapy for prophylaxis of stress ulcer bleeding is commonly prescribed for hospitalized patients. Although its use in select, at-risk patients may reduce clinically significant gastrointestinal bleeding, the alteration in gastric pH and composition may place these patients at a higher risk of infection. Although any pharmacologic alteration of the gastric pH and composition is associated with an increased risk of infection, the risk appears to be highest with proton pump inhibitors, perhaps owing to the potency of this class of drugs in increasing the gastric pH. With the increased risk of infection, universal provision of pharmacologic acid suppression to all hospitalized patients, even all critically ill patients, is inappropriate and should be confined to patients meeting specific criteria. Nurses providing care in critical care areas may be instrumental in screening for appropriate use of acid-suppressive therapy and ensuring the drugs are discontinued upon transfer out of intensive care or when risk factors are no longer present.

Getting up to speed: adjusting to the pace of accident and emergency.

Michelle Gracia, Second Year Student Nurse (Adult), School of Health Studies, Gibraltar Health Authority looks reflects on the importance of communication with patients and colleagues.

Thrombin in combination with intensive nursing in treating upper gastrointestinal bleeding in children.

Pediatric upper gastrointestinal bleeding, a commonly seen pediatric emergency, needs timely symptomatic treatment to avoid a worse outcome. To discuss the clinical effect of thrombin treatment in combination with intensive nursing on pediatric upper gastrointestinal bleeding, this study analyzed 128 children who were treated in the second ward of the Children’s Internal Medical Department in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University between February 2012 and December 2014. The patients were divided into two groups, an experimental group and a control group. Besides thrombin, the experimental group was given intensive nursing, consisting of regular nursing and targeted nursing, while the control group was given regular nursing only. Clinical indexes of the two groups, such as effective rate, nursing satisfaction and side effect rate, were compared. Relevant clinical indexes such as duration of hospital stay, time to stopping of bleeding and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) score, as well as overall satisfaction level of the observation group were all better than those of the control group and differences between the two groups had statistical significance (P less than 0.05). Furthermore, difference of overall effective rate between the experimental group (90.63%) and the control group (68.75%) was significant. Difference of incidence of side effects between the two groups was statistically significant. Thus thrombin treatment in combination with intensive nursing proved to have a remarkable clinical effect and high safety level in treating pediatric upper gastrointestinal bleeding and, moreover, it shortens treatment time and enhances the patients’ quality of life.

Treatment resistant gastric antral vascular ectasia in a patient undergoing haemodialysis.

Gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE) is an important cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding and has a high prevalence in patients with renal insufficiency. We report the first documented case of a 52-year-old patient on haemodialysis with GAVE refractory to repeated endoscopic argon plasma coagulation (APC) therapy and highlight the difficulties in its management. We recognise the need for further studies to investigate the optimal management of this condition and suggest alternative treatment strategies to be considered in patients with APC refractory GAVE, such as endoscopic band ligation and changing dialysis modality.

Gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with ventricular assist devices: what every cardiac nurse should know.

Patients with end-stage heart failure are increasingly being treated with implantation of a long-term ventricular assist device. As the use of these devices has grown, health care providers have been faced with managing clinically significant gastrointestinal bleeding in this population. Gastrointestinal bleeding is not uncommon and is reported to occur in 13% to 44% of patients treated with ventricular assist devices. Interestingly, because patients with ventricular assist devices are housed on units accustomed to managing the device, cardiac nurses are often asked about the management of gastrointestinal bleeding. This article describes the possible causes of, the array of diagnostic procedures for, and treatments for this complication. It is critical to develop an understanding of this topic so cardiac nurses can partner with other subspecialty groups to manage this population.

Neonatal eosinophilic gastroenteritis: possible in utero sensitization to cow's milk protein.

Rectal bleeding in neonates is an alarming sign that suggests a possible serious underlying condition, such as infection or bleeding disorder that would necessitate hospitalization and prompt intervention. We report a case of eosinophilic gastroenteritis caused by cow's milk protein allergy in a one-day- old infant, who presented with frankly bloody stools associated with massive gastrointestinal and peripheral blood eosinophilia prior to initiation of enteral feedings. The patient's outcome was favorable, with complete spontaneous recovery in one week, after a period of bowel rest, parenteral nutrition, and use of amino acid formula. The eosinophilia was also transient and gradually resolving by two months of age. Rectal bleeding secondary to allergic colitis caused by cow's milk sensitization may occur in neonates, and failure to appreciate this possibility may lead to inappropriate diagnostic or therapeutic intervention.

Management of patients with complications of cirrhosis.

Cirrhosis results from repeated hepatocellular injury over time, leading to portal hypertension and the development of ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, and varices. Despite improvements in medical care for patients with cirrhosis, mortality from infection, renal failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma remain high.

Nurses' experiences with catastrophic upper gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a qualitative study.

PURPOSE: To explore how nurses experienced catastrophic upper gastrointestinal bleeding in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive method was used. Data were collected by semi- structured interviews. Twenty-one registered nurses who had taken care of HCC patients with catastrophic upper gastrointestinal bleeding were purposely recruited from the Department of Hepatobiliary Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital located in mainland China. RESULTS: Four themes explicated from the study were: feelings expressed during the process of rescuing the lives of patients, feelings expressed from succeeding or failing to save the lives of patients, feelings expressed from family members response to nurses' actions, the impact of the experience on the personal life, work and philosophy of life of the nurse subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicate that it is necessary for nursing leaders to take effective measures to improve nurses' nursing skills, to provide more education in care of the dying, to offer nurses services that address their psychosocial health and to provide them with emotional support.

Recognising signs and symptoms of patient deterioration.

Patients' conditions can deteriorate quickly and potentially result in unnecessary death. Although this is more common in acute clinical settings, it can happen in any setting, and all nurses should be aware of signs of deterioration. In many cases, patient deterioration appears to happen quickly, but actually begins up to 24 hours before a critical phase. This article presents a case study based on events witnessed by the author while working in a hospital emergency department outside the area in which she is usually employed. It is intended to illustrate the importance of making and documenting regular observations in acute patient care, and to help nurses recognise the need for continued assessment of deteriorating patients.

Direct teaching of thinking skills using clinical simulation.

Because of the nursing faculty shortage, many academic leaders hire clinicians who are not formally prepared for an academic role. Novice faculty face an immediate need to develop teaching skills. One of the most crucial areas is the ability to help students develop critical thinking. To address this need, the authors describe how they used clinical simulation to incorporate direct teaching of thinking skills into course content and how this resulted in a faculty mentoring experience.