Sleep in cardiac arrest survivors.

BACKGROUND: Insomnia, sleep apnoea and sleep loss are risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases. Most research on sleep disturbances includes patients with heart failure, while the role of sleep in sudden cardiac arrest survivors (SCA) has been only partially investigated and understood. Sleep-related breathing disorders and obstructive sleep apnoea increase illness and mortality in the aftermath of SCA. Also, post-traumatic stress is evident in SCA survivors, where sleep disruptions are some of the main symptoms of the condition. Consequently, it is important to identify sleep problems in SCA survivors at an early stage to avoid unnecessary suffering. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate registered nurses' perceptions of SCA survivors' sleep, both in hospital and after discharge. STUDY DESIGN: This was an explorative interview study with a phenomenographic approach. Nineteen registered nurses (RNs) varying in age, sex and years in the profession participated. FINDINGS: The nurses' perceptions of SCA survivors' sleep were categorized as: "The observer - noticing behaviours, emotions and habits of the patient that affect sleep", "The oblivious witness - attitudes that hinder the ability to recognise sleep behaviours", and "The practitioner - advising and medicating for sleep". The outcome space showed that the nurses detected both obvious and subtle signs relating to patients' sleep. However, attitudes hindering the recognition of sleep behaviours were independent of acting as an observer or practitioner. If nothing unforeseen was observed, or if the patient did not spontaneously raise the subject, sleep was considered less important than other health problems in SCA survivors. CONCLUSIONS: Although the nurses knew that SCA survivors suffered from poor sleep, they failed to reflect on the consequences for the patient. Nurses' feelings of insufficient knowledge about sleep, as well as their omittance of sleep in the follow-up documentation could leave sleep issues unaddressed and cause unnecessary patient suffering. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses need increased knowledge and training to enable them to detect subtle signs of sleep problems in SCA survivors.

Caring Behavior Coding Scheme based on Swanson's Theory of Caring - development and testing among undergraduate nursing students.

RATIONALE: To maintain patients' dignity and well-being and alleviate suffering, it is essential that healthcare providers engage in caring behaviours. Yet, every year patient boards receive an increasing number of complaints from patients and significant others regarding healthcare providers' non-caring behaviours. Defining and measuring both verbal and nonverbal caring and non-caring behaviour in healthcare delivery is vital to address such complaints. However, no studies were found that incorporated a comprehensive theory of caring to code encounters between healthcare providers and patients. AIM: The aim was to develop and test a Caring Behavior Coding Scheme based on Swanson's Theory of Caring. METHOD: An instrument development process was used for behavioural coding including observational data from thirty-eight video recordings collected in an undergraduate nursing course at a Swedish University. The observational data involved interactions between undergraduate nursing students and a standardised patient. RESULT: The Caring Behavior Coding Scheme (the CBCS), contains seventeen verbal and eight nonverbal behavioural codes, categorised as caring and non-caring in accordance with Swanson's Theory of Caring. Content and face validity were assessed. Timed-event sequential continuous coding was performed in INTERACT software. The coder achieved excellent agreement with the developed gold standard (k = 0.87) and excellent mean inter-rater reliability (k = 0.82). All domains in Swanson's Theory of Caring were observed and coded in the interaction. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The CBCS is a theory-based instrument that contributes to research on healthcare providers' behavioural encounters. It uses verbal and nonverbal caring and non-caring behavioural codes to assess the alignment of both the theory and practice of caring. The CBCS can contribute to both development and measurement of interventions focused on improving healthcare providers' caring behaviour with the intended outcome of patient well-being.

Context Factors Facilitating and Hindering Patient Participation in Dialysis Care: A Focus Group Study With Patients and Staff.

BACKGROUND: Safe health care of good quality depends on structured and unceasing efforts to progress, promoting strategies tailored to the context, including elements such as patients' preferences. Although patient participation is a common concept in health care, there is yet limited understanding of the factors that facilitate and hinder it in a healthcare context. AIMS: This paper identifies what patients and health professionals depict in terms of enablers and barriers for patient participation in dialysis care. METHODS: An explorative qualitative design was applied with seven focus group discussions with patients, staff, and managers across different types of hospitals, with the texts analyzed with content analysis. RESULTS: The dialysis context represents three key elements-people, resources, and interactions-that can both enable and hinder patient participation. Both barriers and facilitators for patient participation were found to reside at individual, team, and organizational levels, with a greater number of enabling factors implied by both patients and staff. LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION: While the dialysis context comprises opportunities for progress in favor of patient participation, a shared understanding of the concept is needed, along with how contextual factors can facilitate conditions for participation by patient preferences. In addition, the most favorable strategy for implementing person-centered care is not yet known, but to facilitate patient participation from a patient perspective, creating opportunities to enable staff and patients to share a common understanding is needed, along with tools to facilitate a dialogue on patient participation.

Patient participation in dialysis care-A qualitative study of patients' and health professionals' perspectives.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) affects a multitude of aspects in the patient's daily life, often entailing their own involvement in various aspects of the treatment. Although patient participation is a core health-care value, what the concept signifies is not yet fully known. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize patient participation in dialysis care, depicting patients' and health-care professionals' perspectives. DESIGN: This explorative study employed qualitative interviews and content analysis. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Seven focus group discussions engaging 42 key informants were performed, including patients, staff and managers with experience of dialysis care. RESULTS: In dialysis care, patient participation connotes a sharing of information and knowledge, the learning of and planning of care, including partaking in shared decisions with regards to treatment and management, and being involved in the management of one's own health-care treatment and/or self-care activities. Although these attributes were illustrated by all stakeholders, their significance varied: patients suggested that their preferences regarding primary aspects of participation vary, while staff considered patients' performance of dialysis to be the ultimate form of participation. Further, while patients considered multiple ways to execute participation, staff suggested that aspects such as sharing information were a route to, rather than actual, involvement. CONCLUSIONS: Without a common understanding to denote the idea of patient participation, staff and patients are exposed to a potential deficit in terms of facilitating patient participation in everyday encounters of dialysis treatment. Further studies and means to serve a mutual understanding are needed.

Depressive Symptoms Moderate the Association Between Appetite and Health Status in Patients With Heart Failure.

BACKGROUND: Decreased appetite and depressive symptoms are clinical problems in patients with heart failure. Both may result in impaired health status. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to investigate the association between appetite and health status in patients with heart failure and to explore whether depressive symptoms moderate this association. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, patients with heart failure (n = 186; mean age, 71 years), New York Heart Association class II to IV, participated. Data on appetite (Council of Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire), depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), and health status (EQ-5D 3-level scale [EQ-5D-3L] descriptive system, EQ-5D-3L index, and EQ Visual Analog Scale) were collected by self-rating questionnaires. Pearson correlation was used to investigate the association between appetite and health status. Multiple regression was performed to examine whether depressive symptoms moderate the association between appetite and health status. RESULTS: There was a significant association between appetite and health status for EQ-5D-3L descriptive system, mobility (P < .001), pain/discomfort (P < .001), and anxiety/depression (P < .001). This association was also shown in EQ-5D-3L index (P < .001) and EQ Visual Analog Scale (P < .001). Simple slope analysis showed that the association between appetite and health status was only significant for patients without depressive symptoms (B = 0.32, t = 4.66, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Higher level of appetite was associated with better health status. In moderation analysis, the association was presented for patients without depressive symptoms. Decreased appetite is an important sign of poor health status. To improve health status, health professionals should have greater attention on appetite, as well on signs of depressive symptoms.

Factors associated with increased risk for dementia in individuals age 80 years or older with congestive heart failure.

BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: An increasing body of evidence shows that individuals diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF) are at a higher risk for dementia. However, the prevalence rate of dementia among persons with CHF in very old individuals has not been previously reported, and little is known about the comorbidities that place old persons with CHF at a higher risk for dementia. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of dementia in individuals 80 years or older who have CHF with that in individuals without CHF and to identify factors related to dementia in individuals diagnosed with CHF. METHODS: A total of 702 participants from a Swedish population-based longitudinal study (Octogenerian Twin) were included. The group consisted of same-sex twin pairs, age 80 years or older, and 138 participants had CHF. Dementia was diagnosed according to criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised. Generalized estimating equations including gender, age and educational level, waist circumference, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, depression, and blood values were used in a case-control analysis. RESULTS: Individuals with CHF had a significantly higher prevalence of vascular dementia, 16% vs 6% (P < 0.001), and of all types of dementia, 40% vs 30% (P < 0.01), than those not diagnosed with CHF. The generalized estimating equation models showed that depression, hypertension, and/or increased levels of homocysteine were all associated with a higher risk for dementia in individuals with CHF. Diabetes was specifically associated with an increased risk for vascular dementia. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of dementia was higher among individuals with CHF than in those without CHF. Diabetes, depression, and hypertension in patients with CHF require special attention from healthcare professionals because these conditions are associated with an elevated risk for dementia. Higher levels of homocysteine were also found to be a marker of dementia in patients with CHF. Further research is needed to identify the factors related to dementia in individuals 80 years or older diagnosed with CHF.

How patients with insomnia interpret and respond to the consensus sleep diary: a cognitive interview study.

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: The Consensus Sleep Diary (CSD) is widely used to assess subjective sleep. Psychometric evaluations and focus-groups support its validity and clinical usefulness, but further research into its validity is needed. The aim of the study was to evaluate a Swedish translation of the CSD regarding test content and response processes in patients with insomnia. PATIENTS/METHODS: In connection with translating the CSD into Swedish, we used cognitive interviewing to evaluate test content and the response process, that is, how people make decisions when responding to survey items. Cognitive interviews were conducted with 13 primary health care patients with insomnia disorder (mean age, 49 years; SD 15.5). Iterative, reparative analysis was used to investigate test content. Descriptive deductive analysis was used to investigate interview transcripts for the themes of the cognitive model: comprehension, retrieval, decision process, and judgement. Together, the themes explain the response process when responding to a patient-reported outcome measure. RESULTS: The overall comprehension of the CSD could be affected by poor adherence to the instructions (comprehension). Patients had difficulty with recall if they did not complete the diary immediately in the morning and just before bedtime (retrieval). They could have problems deciding how to respond to certain items because they imbued sleep-related concepts with extra meaning (decision process), and had trouble finding response alternatives nuanced enough to describe their experience of sleep and tiredness (judgement). CONCLUSIONS: This study contributes knowledge on how the instrument is perceived and used by care-seeking patients with insomnia. In this context, the CSD exhibits known flaws such as memory lapses if the diary is not filled in directly in the morning. To increase the accuracy of patients' responses, therapists should support patients in reading the instructions.

Is insomnia associated with self-reported health and life satisfaction in cardiac arrest survivors? A cross-sectional survey.

Background: Insomnia symptoms seem to be common in cardiac arrest survivors but their associations with important outcomes such as self-reported health and life satisfaction have not previously been reported during the early post-event period. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate whether symptoms of insomnia are associated with self-reported health and life satisfaction in cardiac arrest survivors six months after the event. Methods: This multicentre cross-sectional survey included cardiac arrest survivors ≥18 years. Participants were recruited six months after the event from five hospitals in southern Sweden, and completed a questionnaire including the Minimal Insomnia Symptom Scale, EQ-5D-5L, Health Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Satisfaction With Life Scale. Data were analysed using the Mann-Whitney U test, linear regression, and ordinal logistic regression. The regression analyses were adjusted for demographic and medical factors. Results: In total, 212 survivors, 76.4% males, with a mean age of 66.6 years (SD = 11.9) were included, and of those, 20% reported clinical insomnia. Insomnia was significantly associated with all aspects of self-reported health (p < 0.01) and life satisfaction (p < 0.001), except mobility (p = 0.093), self-care (p = 0.676), and usual activities (p = 0.073). Conclusion: Insomnia plays a potentially important role for both health and life satisfaction in cardiac arrest survivors. Screening for sleep problems should be part of post cardiac arrest care and follow-up to identify those in need of further medical examination and treatment.

Dyads affected by chronic heart failure: a randomized study evaluating effects of education and psychosocial support to patients with heart failure and their partners.

BACKGROUND: Chronic heart failure (CHF) causes great suffering for both patients and their partners. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an integrated dyad care program with education and psychosocial support to patients with CHF and their partners during a postdischarge period after acute deterioration of CHF. METHODS: One hundred fifty-five patient-caregiver dyads were randomized to usual care (n = 71) or a psychoeducation intervention (n = 84) delivered in 3 modules through nurse-led face-to-face counseling, computer-based education, and other written teaching materials to assist dyads to develop problem-solving skills. Follow-up assessments were completed after 3 and 12 months to assess perceived control, perceived health, depressive symptoms, self-care, and caregiver burden. RESULTS: Baseline sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of dyads in the experimental and control groups were similar at baseline. Significant differences were observed in patients' perceived control over the cardiac condition after 3 (P < .05) but not after 12 months, and no effect was seen for the caregivers.No group differences were observed over time in dyads' health-related quality of life and depressive symptoms, patients' self-care behaviors, and partners' experiences of caregiver burden. CONCLUSIONS: Integrated dyad care focusing on skill-building and problem-solving education and psychosocial support was effective in initially enhancing patients' levels of perceived control. More frequent professional contact and ongoing skills training may be necessary to have a higher impact on dyad outcomes and warrants further research.

The influence of heart failure on longitudinal changes in cognition among individuals 80 years of age and older.

AIM: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between heart failure and specific cognitive abilities in octogenarians with regard to level and change over time. BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment is influenced by many factors, and the impact of heart failure is debated. Intact cognitive ability is crucial for successful self-care in patients with heart failure. Middle-aged patients with heart failure seem to have an increased risk of cognitive impairment. No studies have examined the association between heart failure and longitudinal cognitive changes in octogenarians (individuals 80 years and older). DESIGN: A prospective longitudinal design. METHODS: Cognitive tests were carried out five times (1991-2002) in 702 octogenarians from the Swedish Twin Registry, including same-sex twin pairs. The test battery included the measurement of processing speed, visuospatial ability, short-term, episodic and semantic memory. Latent growth curve modelling was employed to measure change and performance over time and compares the group diagnosed with heart failure to individuals without a heart failure diagnosis. Results. At baseline, the participants' mean age was 83·5 years, 67% were women and 13% suffered from heart failure. Individuals diagnosed with heart failure scored significantly lower in spatial abilities and episodic memory than participants not diagnosed with heart failure. Moreover, measures of episodic memory declined more over time in individuals diagnosed with heart failure. There were no significant differences between the groups in other cognitive tests. CONCLUSION: Spatial problems and episodic memory have implications for everyday life. This might contribute to decreased adherence to prescribed therapy and self-care management and lead to socio-behavioural problems because of an impaired capacity to drive, read and write. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses should take into account in their assessment that cognitive impairment may restrain elderly heart failure patient's ability to make decisions and perform self-care actions. Patient education strategies should also be adapted to cognitive ability.

Differences in self-reported health between cardiac arrest survivors with good cerebral performance and survivors with moderate cerebral disability: a nationwide register study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to compare self-reported health between cardiac arrest survivors with good cerebral performance (CPC 1) and survivors with moderate cerebral disability (CPC 2). METHODS: This comparative register study was based on nationwide data from the Swedish Register of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. The study included 2058 in-hospital and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors with good cerebral performance or survivors with moderate cerebral disability, 3-6 months postcardiac arrest. Survivors completed a questionnaire including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and EQ-5D five-levels (EQ-5D-5L). Data were analysed using ordinal and linear regression models. RESULTS: For all survivors, the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms measured by the HADS was 14% and 13%, respectively. Using the EQ-5D-5L, the cardiac arrest survivors reported most health problems relating to pain/discomfort (57%), followed by anxiety/depression (47%), usual activities (46%), mobility (40%) and self-care (18%). Compared with the survivors with good cerebral performance, survivors with moderate cerebral disability reported significantly higher symptom levels of anxiety and depression measured with HADS, and poorer health in all dimensions of the EQ-5D-5L after adjusting for age, sex, place of cardiac arrest, aetiology and initial rhythm (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These findings stress the importance of screening for health problems in all cardiac arrest survivors to identify those in need of professional support and rehabilitation, independent on neurological outcome.

Ways of understanding cognitive impairment in cardiac arrest survivors: A phenomenographic study.

AIM: To describe the variation in ways that registered nurses perceive and understand cognitive impairment in cardiac arrest survivors. DESIGN: A qualitative, inductive design with individual semi-structured interviews was applied. Data was analysed using a phenomenographic approach. SETTING: The participants were nineteen Swedish registered nurses, experienced in cardiovascular care and providing follow-up care. FINDINGS: The nurses perceived the cognitive impairment of the survivors in qualitatively different ways, as illustrated in two categories: 'The perceptible and obvious' and 'The elusive and challenging'. The nurses perceived a variety of signs of cognitive impairment, emotional expressions related to these, and recovery from cognitive impairment. They perceived confidence in capturing cognitive function when they understood the signs of cognitive impairment as severe and obvious. However, it was perceived as difficult to assess cognitive function when impairments were subtle, resulting in uncertainty in terms of how to make assessments. Nurses made use of their own strategies for assessments, which were sometimes found to be inadequate when they understood that they had misinterpreted the survivors' cognitive impairment. CONCLUSION: Nurses feel uncertainty regarding detecting mild impairment in cardiac arrest survivors. By involving next of kin, nurses will gain a broader understanding of survivors' cognitive function.

Cardiac disease and stroke: Practical implications for personalised care in cardiac-stroke patients. A state of the art review supported by the Association of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions.

Cardiac and stroke conditions often coexist because of common risk factors. The occurrence of stroke may have significant consequences for patients with cardiac conditions and their caregivers and poses a major burden on their lives. Although both cardiac and stroke conditions are highly prevalent, primary stroke prevention in cardiac patients is crucial to avert disabling limitations or even mortality. In addition, specific interventions may be needed in the rehabilitation and follow-up of these patients. However, healthcare systems are often fragmented and are not integrated enough to provide specifically structured and individualised management for the cardiac-stroke patient. Cardiac rehabilitation or secondary prevention services are crucial from this perspective, although referral and attendance rates are often suboptimal. This state of the art review outlines the significance of primary stroke prevention in cardiac patients, highlights specific challenges that cardiac-stroke patients and their caregivers may experience, examines the availability of and need for structured, personalised care, and describes potential implications for consideration in daily practice.

[Interprofessional simulation: an engaging and relevant technique for teamwork practice]. / Interprofessionell simulering är engagerande och relevant - Utbildningsstrategi som tränar samverkan över yrkesgränser, visar enkätstudie.

Stakeholders in healthcare and education find interprofessional teamwork to be crucial for today's complex healthcare. Consequently, the students need to prepare for future collaboration with other professions. Interprofessional simulation (IPS) is a technique in which several professions can engage together in clinical scenarios. Using a survey we studied the perceived relevance of two IPS settings in which last-year medical and nursing students participated in acute care scenarios. The findings showed that students perceive IPS as being highly relevant and that students from the other profession contributed to their learning. IPS holds promise as a pedagogical tool towards future interprofessional competence. However, pedagogical improvements can be made, and the professional perspectives can be better balanced. Furthermore, in order to equip students with broader interprofessional competence, scenarios should include several professions and a variety of clinical contexts.

Gender and Assigned Role Influences Medical Students´ Learning Experience in Interprofessional Team Training Simulations.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. The advantages of providing standardized education avoiding exposure of real patients to interventions by novices are appealing both from patient safety and teaching aspects, thus medical simulation has become an integrated part of the healthcare curriculum. We explored the impact of gender and an acting vs. an observing role in simulation on students' perceptions of learning outcomes, and of simulation as a learning activity. A prospective survey for graduating medical students participating in a full day simulated team training session was conducted over three terms. The questionnaire addressed issues related to the session, teamwork and simulation training in general. Participation was voluntary and the study was approved by the regional ethics committee. The overall response rate was 90.8 %. Authenticity and relevance were considered to be high, though male students scored significantly higher both for authenticity and for relevance. Communication and teamwork were considered to be different, depending on gender and assigned role. Female students and students in an acting role were more ready to discuss knowledge gaps, experienced "good" communication significantly more often, and defined their work as teamwork more frequently. The scenarios were found to be more stimulating and motivating by female students and acting individuals. Self-confidence and self-awareness were declared to be more enhanced for male students and for those who were acting during the simulation sessions. Observers and female students scored significantly lower as regards satisfaction with both the extent of the reflection and the individual feedback. The perceptions of authenticity and relevance of simulation sessions and students' readiness to discuss knowledge gaps differed between genders. Furthermore, perceived changes in self-confidence and self-awareness seemed to be different. The observing role implies a different kind of learning process, which is not necessarily inferior to learning by acting.

The association between cognitive function and self-care in patients with chronic heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Self-care requires that patients learn to care for themselves. Cognitive impairment and depression can decrease the ability and interest in performing self-care. The objectives were to explore the association between cognitive function and self-care in heart failure patients, and to examine if this association was moderated by symptoms of depression. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 105 heart failure patients in NYHA II-IV, median age 72 years. Self-care was measured with the European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale, cognitive function with a neuropsychological battery, and depressive symptoms were measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire. The associations between the study variables were examined with multiple regression analyses. RESULTS: Psychomotor speed was the only cognitive dimension significantly associated with self-care. The association between psychomotor speed and self-care was not moderated by symptoms of depression. CONCLUSIONS: Deficits in psychomotor speed have implications for how patients should be educated and supported to perform self-care.

Association between sleep-disordered breathing, sleep-wake pattern, and cognitive impairment among patients with chronic heart failure.

AIMS: Chronic heart failure (CHF) and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) are often co-existing problems among the elderly. Apnoeic events may cause cognitive impairment. The aim of the study was to compare sleep and wake patterns, insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and cognitive function in community-dwelling CHF patients, with and without SDB, and to investigate the association between sleep-related factors and cognitive dysfunction. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this cross-sectional observational study, SDB was measured with an ApneaLink device and defined as an apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) ≥15/h of sleep. Sleep and wake patterns were measured with actigraphy for 1 week. Insomnia was measured with the Minimal Insomnia Symptom Scale, daytime sleepiness with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and cognitive function with a neuropsychological test battery. A total of 137 patients (68% male, median age 72 years, 58% NYHA functional class II) were consecutively included. Forty-four per cent had SDB (AHI ≥15). The SDB group had significantly higher saturation time below 90%, more difficulties maintaining sleep, and lower levels of daytime sleepiness compared with the non-SDB group. Cognitive function and sleep and wake patterns did not differ between the SDB and the non-SDB group. Insomnia was associated with decreased global cognition. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of cognitive dysfunction was low in this population with predominantly mild to moderate CHF. This might have influenced the lack of associations between cognitive function and SDB. Insomnia was the only sleep-related factor significantly influencing cognition.