Trainee-led emergency laparotomy operating.

BACKGROUND: To achieve completion of training in general surgery, trainees are required to demonstrate competency in common procedures performed at emergency laparotomy. The aim of this study was to describe the patterns of trainee-led emergency laparotomy operating and the association between postoperative outcomes. METHODS: Data on all patients who had an emergency laparotomy between December 2013 and November 2017 were extracted from the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit database. Patients were grouped by grade of operating surgeon: trainee (specialty registrar) or consultant (including post-Certificate of Completion of Training fellows). Trends in trainee operating by deanery, hospital size and time of day of surgery were investigated. Univariable and adjusted regression analyses were performed for the outcomes 90-day mortality and return to theatre, with analysis of patients in operative subgroups segmental colectomy, Hartmann's procedure, adhesiolysis and repair of perforated peptic ulcer disease. RESULTS: The study cohort included 87 367 patients. The 90-day mortality rate was 15·1 per cent in the consultant group compared with 11·0 per cent in the trainee group. There were no increased odds of death by 90 days or of return to theatre across any of the operative groups when the operation was performed with a trainee listed as the most senior surgeon in theatre. Trainees were more likely to operate independently in high-volume centres (highest- versus lowest-volume centres: odds ratio (OR) 2·11, 95 per cent c.i. 1·91 to 2·33) and at night (00.00 to 07.59 versus 08.00 to 11.59 hours; OR 3·20, 2·95 to 3·48). CONCLUSION: There is significant variation in trainee-led operating in emergency laparotomy by geographical area, hospital size and by time of day. However, this does not appear to influence mortality or return to theatre.

ANTECEDENTES: Para completar la formación en cirugía general, se requiere que los aspirantes demuestren solvencia en la práctica de los procedimientos comunes efectuados por laparotomía de urgencia. El objetivo de este estudio fue describir los esquemas de formación de los aspirantes en laparotomía de urgencia y su asociación con los resultados postoperatorios. MÉTODOS: Todos los pacientes a los que se realizó una laparotomía de urgencia entre diciembre del 2013 y noviembre del 2017 se obtuvieron a partir de la base de datos de la Auditoría Nacional de Laparotomía de Urgencia (National Emergency Laparotomy Audit, NELA). Los pacientes se agruparon según la experiencia del cirujano; cirujanos en periodo de formación (residentes, speciality registrar) o consultores (incluyendo los que habían completado la especialidad). Se investigaron las tendencias entre los residentes por universidad, tamaño del hospital y hora del día de la cirugía. Se realizaron análisis de regresión univariable y ajustados para la mortalidad a los 90 días y la reoperación, así como análisis de subgrupos para los procedimientos quirúrgicos de colectomía segmentaria, intervención de Hartmann, liberación de bridas y la sutura de una úlcera péptica perforada. RESULTADOS: La cohorte de estudio incluyó 87.367 pacientes. La mortalidad a los 90 días en el grupo de consultores fue del 15% en comparación con el 11% en el grupo de residentes. No hubo aumento del riesgo de mortalidad a los 90 días o de reoperación en ninguno de los subgrupos de las diferentes operaciones cuando la cirugía era efectuada por el residente considerado como el más senior en las listas de quirófano. Los residentes tenían más probabilidades de operar solos en centros de alto volumen (en comparación con centros de bajo volumen; razón de oportunidades, odds ratio (OR) 2,11, i.c. del 95% 1,91-2,33) o durante la noche (00:00-07:59 horas en comparación con 08:00-11:59; OR 3,20; i.c. del 95% 2,95-3,48). CONCLUSIÓN: Existen diferencias significativas en la formación que reciben los residentes en laparotomía de urgencia según el área geográfica, el tamaño del hospital y la hora del día. Sin embargo, estas diferencias no parecen afectar a la mortalidad ni a la tasa de reoperaciones.

Overnight cross-coverage on hospital medicine services: perceived workload based on patient census, pager volumes, and patient acuity.

OBJECTIVE: Little is understood about what contributes to perceived workload for those providing overnight coverage to hospitalized patients overnight, which limits the ability to modify these factors or to proactively identify appropriate staffing levels. The objective of this study is to understand the major contributors to perceived overnight cross-coverage workload. METHODS: Cross-covering advanced practice providers (APPs) in a large academic hospitalist group completed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) at the end of each night shift. Other shift characteristics were collected, including patient load, assigned action items, watcher/unstable patients, newly admitted patients, number of units covered, total pages, peak pager density, rapid response team (RRT) activations, and intensive care unit (ICU) transfers. RESULTS: For 14 APP participants, who completed 271 post-shift surveys, the mean (SD) patient load was 49.9 (6.4) patients per night, and providers received a mean (SD) of 40.8 (13.7) total pages per shift. Mean (SD) NASA-TLX score was 35.1 (19.0). In multivariate modeling, total pages, action items, and any RRT or ICU transfer were associated with significant increases in the mean NASA-TLX score, with estimated effect sizes of 0.5, 0.8, and 14.3, respectively, per 1-unit increase in each shift characteristic. The greatest cumulative contributor to perceived workload was total number of pages, followed by the presence of any RRT activation/ICU transfer, with estimated effect sizes of 20.4 and 14.9, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Total number of pages was the greatest contributor to perceived workload. This study suggests that quality improvement initiatives designed to improve pager communication may considerably improve provider-perceived workload.

Daytime Versus Night-Time Emergency Abdominal Operations: Perspective from a Low-Middle-Income Country.

BACKGROUND: Emergency abdominal operations carry significant risk of mortality and morbidity. The time of the day when such operations are performed has been suggested as a predictor of outcome. A retrospective comparison of outcomes of daytime and night-time emergency abdominal operations was conducted. METHODS: Clinical data of patients who had abdominal operations over a five-year period were obtained. Operations were classified as 'daytime' (group A) if performed between 8.00 am and 7.59 pm or 'night time' if performed between 8.00 pm and 7.59 am (group B). Post-operative outcomes were compared. RESULTS: A total of 267 emergency abdominal operations were analysed: 161 (60.3%) were performed in the daytime while 106 (39.7%) were performed at night. The case mix in both groups was similar with appendectomies, bowel resections and closure of bowel perforations accounting for the majority. Baseline characteristics and intra-operative parameters were similar except that 'daytime' operations had more consultant participation (p = 0.01). Mortality rates (13.7% in group A and 12.3% in group B, p = 0.2), re-operation rates (9.3% in group A and 10.4% in group B, p = 0.7) and duration of hospital stay (group A-11.1 days, group B-12.4 days p = 0.4) were similar. ASA status, re-operation and admission into the intensive care unit were identified as predictors of mortality. CONCLUSION: Timing of emergency abdominal operations did not influence outcomes. In resource-limited settings where access to the operating room is competitive, delaying operations till daytime may be counterproductive. Patients' clinical condition still remains the most important parameter guiding time of operation.

Reducing night-time discharge from intensive care. A nationwide improvement project with public display of ICU outcomes.

PURPOSE: Discharge from an intensive care unit (ICU) during the night is an independent risk factor for adverse outcomes. A quality improvement project was conducted with the aim of reducing the incidence and the associated mortality after night-time discharge. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ICUs that submitted data to the Swedish Intensive Care Registry (SIR) agreed to appoint night-time discharge as a national quality indicator with detailed public display on the internet of various discharge proportions and outcomes. The registry was then examined for trends during a 10-year period with use of multilevel mixed-effects models. RESULTS: We analysed 163,371 patients who were discharged alive from 70 ICUs to a general ward within the same hospital during 2006-2015. The prevalence of night-time discharge fell from 7.0% (95% CI: 5.2 to 8.7%) in 2006 to 4.9% (95% CI: 4.3 to 5.5%) in 2015 (P = .035 for trend). The original increased risk of death within 30 days after night-time discharge in 2006-2010, OR 1.20 (95% CI: 1.01 to 1.42), disappeared in 2011-2015, OR 1.06 (95% CI: 0.96 to 1.17). CONCLUSIONS: During the 10-year period of the quality improvement project, the annual prevalence and risk of death within 30-days after night-time discharge were reduced. The public display and feedback of audit data could have helped in achieving this.

A Pilot Study to Examine the Relationship Between Napping and Fatigue in Nurses Practicing on the Night Shift.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to explore the relationship of night-shift napping on fatigue. BACKGROUND: Nurses' fatigue, especially at night, interferes with quality of life and job performance and impacts safety and health. METHODS: Night-shift nurses completed the Brief Fatigue Inventory and a demographic information sheet to determine differences in fatigue between nurses who napped during their night shift as compared with nurses who did not nap. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences in global fatigue were found; differences in rotating shift, age, and, gender were identified. Rotating shifts, a 2nd job, and caring for family predicted fatigue. CONCLUSIONS: Based on this pilot study, further investigations of fatigue among night-shift nurses are needed as well as evidence-based support to promote sleep.

Arrival by ambulance explains variation in mortality by time of admission: retrospective study of admissions to hospital following emergency department attendance in England.

BACKGROUND: Studies finding higher mortality rates for patients admitted to hospital at weekends rely on routine administrative data to adjust for risk of death, but these data may not adequately capture severity of illness. We examined how rates of patient arrival at accident and emergency (A&E) departments by ambulance-a marker of illness severity-were associated with in-hospital mortality by day and time of attendance. METHODS: Retrospective observational study of 3 027 946 admissions to 140 non-specialist hospital trusts in England between April 2013 and February 2014. Patient admissions were linked with A&E records containing mode of arrival and date and time of attendance. We classified arrival times by day of the week and daytime (07:00 to 18:59) versus night (19:00 to 06:59 the following day). We examined the association with in-hospital mortality within 30 days using multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Over the week, 20.9% of daytime arrivals were in the highest risk quintile compared with 18.5% for night arrivals. Daytime arrivals on Sundays contained the highest proportion of patients in the highest risk quintile at 21.6%. Proportions of admitted patients brought in by ambulance were substantially higher at night and higher on Saturday (61.1%) and Sunday (60.1%) daytimes compared with other daytimes in the week (57.0%). Without adjusting for arrival by ambulance, risk-adjusted mortality for patients arriving at night was higher than for daytime attendances on Wednesday (0.16 percentage points). Compared with Wednesday daytime, risk-adjusted mortality was also higher on Thursday night (0.15 percentage points) and increased throughout the weekend from Saturday daytime (0.16 percentage points) to Sunday night (0.26 percentage points). After adjusting for arrival by ambulance, the raised mortality only reached statistical significance for patients arriving at A&E on Sunday daytime (0.17 percentage points). CONCLUSION: Using conventional risk-adjustment methods, there appears to be a higher risk of mortality following emergency admission to hospital at nights and at weekends. After accounting for mode of arrival at hospital, this pattern changes substantially, with no increased risk of mortality following admission at night or for any period of the weekend apart from Sunday daytime. This suggests that risk-adjustment based on inpatient administrative data does not adequately account for illness severity and that elevated mortality at weekends and at night reflects a higher proportion of more severely ill patients arriving by ambulance at these times.

Improving the Patient's Experience With a Multimodal Quiet-at-Night Initiative.

This project describes a multifaceted noise reduction program on 2 hospital units designed to ensure a quiet hospital environment, with the goal of improving the patient experience. The noise committee in an urban city hospital developed a plan to control noise including scripted leadership rounding, staff education, a nighttime sleep promotion cart, and visual aids to remind staff to be quiet. Postintervention improvement in patient satisfaction scores was noted.

Nursing Interactions With Intensive Care Unit Patients Affected by Sleep Deprivation: An Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Patients in intensive care units (ICUs) often experience sleep deprivation due to different factors. Its consequences are damaging both physiologically and psychologically. This study focuses particularly on nursing interactions as the main factor involved in sleep deprivation issues. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to examine the frequency, pattern, and types of nocturnal care interactions with patients in the respiratory and cardiology ICUs; analyze the relationship between these interactions and patients' variables (age, sex, recovery diagnosis, and acuity of care); and analyze the differences in patterns of nocturnal care interactions among the units. METHODS: This is an observational retrospective study that analyzes the frequency, pattern, and types of nocturnal care interactions with patients between 7 PM and 6 AM recording data in the activity data sheets. RESULTS: Data consisted of 93 data assessment sheets. The mean number of care interactions per night was 18.65 (SD, 3.71). In both ICUs, interactions were most frequent at 7 PM, 10 PM, and 6 AM. Only 8 uninterrupted sleep periods occurred. Frequency of interactions correlated significantly with patients' acuity scores and the number of nurse interventions in both ICUs. CONCLUSIONS: Patients in ICUs have fragmented sleep patterns. This study underlines the need to develop new management approaches to promote and maintain sleep.

Nonelective surgery at night and in-hospital mortality: Prospective observational data from the European Surgical Outcomes Study.

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that sleep deprivation associated with night-time working may adversely affect performance resulting in a reduction in the safety of surgery and anaesthesia. OBJECTIVE: Our primary objective was to evaluate an association between nonelective night-time surgery and in-hospital mortality. We hypothesised that urgent surgery performed during the night was associated with higher in-hospital mortality and also an increase in the duration of hospital stay and the number of admissions to critical care. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study. This is a secondary analysis of a large database related to perioperative care and outcome (European Surgical Outcome Study). SETTING: Four hundred and ninety-eight hospitals in 28 European countries. PATIENTS: Men and women older than 16 years who underwent nonelective, noncardiac surgery were included according to time of the procedure. INTERVENTION: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome was in-hospital mortality; the secondary outcome was the duration of hospital stay and critical care admission. RESULTS: Eleven thousand two hundred and ninety patients undergoing urgent surgery were included in the analysis with 636 in-hospital deaths (5.6%). Crude mortality odds ratios (ORs) increased sequentially from daytime [426 deaths (5.3%)] to evening [150 deaths (6.0%), OR 1.14; 95% confidence interval 0.94 to 1.38] to night-time [60 deaths (8.3%), OR 1.62; 95% confidence interval 1.22 to 2.14]. Following adjustment for confounding factors, surgery during the evening (OR 1.09; 95% confidence interval 0.91 to 1.31) and night (OR 1.20; 95% confidence interval 0.9 to 1.6) was not associated with an increased risk of postoperative death. Admittance rate to an ICU increased sequentially from daytime [891 (11.1%)], to evening [347 (13.8%)] to night time [149 (20.6%)]. CONCLUSION: In patients undergoing nonelective urgent noncardiac surgery, in-hospital mortality was associated with well known risk factors related to patients and surgery, but we did not identify any relationship with the time of day at which the procedure was performed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01203605.

Comparing mortality among adult, general intensive care units in England with varying intensivist cover patterns: a retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Research has demonstrated that intensivist-led care of the critically ill is associated with reduced intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital mortality. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether a relation exists between intensivist cover pattern (for example, number of days of continuous cover) and patient outcomes among adult general ICUs in England. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study by using data from a pooled case mix and outcome database of adult general critical care units participating in the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre (ICNARC) Case Mix Programme. Consecutive admissions to participating units for the years 2010 to 2011 were linked to a survey of intensivist cover practices. Our primary outcome of interest was mortality at ultimate discharge from acute-care hospital. RESULTS: The analysis included 80,122 patients admitted to 130 ICUs in 128 hospitals. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relation between intensivist cover patterns (days of continuous cover, grade of physician staffing at nighttime, and frequency of daily handovers) and acute hospital mortality, adjusting for patient case mix. No relation was seen between days of continuous cover by a single intensivist or grade of physician staffing at nighttime and acute hospital mortality. Acute hospital mortality and ICU length of stay were not associated with intensivist characteristics, intensivist full-time equivalents per bed, or years of clinical experience. Intensivist participation in handover was associated with increased mortality (odds ratio, 1.27; 95% confidence interval, 1.04 to 1.55); however, only nine units reported no intensivist participation. CONCLUSIONS: We found no relation between days of continuous cover by a single intensivist or grade of physician staffing at nighttime and patient outcomes in adult, general ICUs in England. Intensivist participation in handover was associated with increased mortality; further research to confirm or refute this finding is required.

Nighttime cross-coverage is associated with decreased intensive care unit mortality. A single-center study.

RATIONALE: Cross-coverage is associated with medical errors caused by miscommunication during handoffs. However, no direct evidence links handoffs to outcomes, or explains the mechanisms leading to outcomes. Furthermore, the previous literature may overestimate the impact of handoffs because of hindsight bias. OBJECTIVES: To explore the effects of nighttime cross-coverage on mortality and decision making in critically ill patients. METHODS: Observational cohort of 629 consecutive critically ill admissions, admitted for at least 48 hours, and critical care fellows in an academic hospital. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Intensive care unit (ICU) mortality and nighttime decisions. Our exposure variable was cross-covering status of fellows. We observed a decrease in ICU mortality (odds ratio, 0.77 per 1 d; 0.60-0.99; P = 0.04), a higher number of nighttime decisions (19.3 vs. 10.4%; odds ratio, 2.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-3.95; P = 0.04), an increase in fentanyl equivalents administered to patients at night (difference, +10.2 µg/h; 95% CI, +1.4 to +19.0; P = 0.02), and an increase in transfusions at night (difference, +465 ml; 95% CI, +98 to +832; P = 0.01) when fellows were cross-covering. CONCLUSIONS: In this single-center study exposure to cross-covering fellows was associated with a decrease in ICU mortality and with more nighttime decisions. Our findings contradict the dominant hypothesis that cross-coverage is associated with worse outcomes, and suggest that a "second look" by cross-covering fellows may mitigate cognitive errors. Future interventions to improve patient safety in ICUs should focus both on the quality of handoffs and on strategies to decrease cognitive errors.

Number of women requiring care at a tertiary hospital equipped with a neonatal intensive care unit at night in an area with a population of 2 million.

AIM: Women with imminent premature labor (IPL) are transported to a tertiary hospital equipped with neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) even during the night. However, there have been no extensive studies of the occurrence rate of night IPL. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence rate of night IPL in an area with a population of 2 million. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted using data collected by the Sapporo Obstetric System for Emergency Patients launched in October 2008, in which women, physicians, and ambulance staff who sought appropriate obstetric/gynecological facilities available in the night (19.00-06.00 hours) were informed of candidate hospitals by coordinators through telephone consultation. This system covered the Sapporo area, which has a population of 2,000,000 and 17,000 births annually. Approximately 14% and 86% of women received antenatal care at six and 35 obstetric facilities with and without NICU, respectively, in this area. Night IPL was defined as a threatened premature labor and transport to one of six tertiary hospitals with NICU between 19.00 and 06.00 hours the next morning. RESULTS: During a 4-year period from 1 October 2008 to 30 September 2012, the Sapporo Obstetric System for Emergency Patients received 158 ± 23 (mean ± standard deviation) monthly telephone consultations (range 114-218 per month). The monthly number of patients with night IPL was 3.0 ± 2.2 (range 0-9 per month). CONCLUSIONS: The monthly number of cases of night IPL was around three among women who received antenatal care at obstetrics facilities without NICU in an area with a population of 2,000,000.

[Intensity of care during the night shift: a descriptive study of planned and unplanned activities]. / L'intensità dell'assistenza durante la notte tra attività pianificate e non pianificate: studio descrittivo.

INTRODUCTION: The night shift guarantees the continuity of care with activities that may vary across wards, thus the intensity of care and the organization of night activities may vary. AIMS: To describe the night nurses' activities and to analyze their frequency, answer times and activities performed by nurses when answering to patients' needs. METHODS: Nurses on night shift in a neurology and surgical ward were observed for 7 nights. Night activities were recorded (type and time), distinguishing planned and unplanned activities. Data on the number of complex patients, number of calls (time, reason, activities interrupted and time needed to answer) were also collected. RESULTS: Overall 55 patients in neurology and 46 in the surgery ward and 4 nurses per night were observed. In neurology ward nurses were mainly involved in basic care and surveillance, while surveillance and the administration of drug therapy where prevalent in the surgical ward. In neurology, on average patients called once every 50 minutes, mainly in the first hours of the shift while once every 24 minutes in the surgical ward, during tha all night, mainly for pain and drug treatments. Nurses answered to patients calls in less than 2 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: The different intensity of activities is influenced by patient conditions but also by the organization of care. In both wards planned activities and patients calls are distributed during the all night.

Sleep disturbance in nursing personnel working shifts.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to explore the factors that are associated with sleep disturbance in nursing personnel working irregular shifts. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was carried out. The Standard Shiftwork Index was used for data collection, which was completed by 365 nurses and nurse assistants working shifts including nights. RESULTS: Female nurses and nurses with elevated levels of chronic fatigue were found with greater sleep disturbance between all shifts. Sleep disturbance between most shifts was greater in participants with more than 18 years of working experience and those having family members to look after. No differences were observed in family status, professional training, or circadian characteristics. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that demographics, working characteristics, and family structure are associated with sleep disturbance between shifts in nursing personnel. The modification of shift schedules according to individual needs and preferences is necessary for the reduction of sleeping problems.

Admission time is associated with outcome of upper gastrointestinal bleeding: results of a multicentre prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that patients presenting with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) during the weekend have a worse outcome compared with weekdays, with an increased risk of recurrent bleeding and mortality. AIM: To investigate the association between timing of admission and adverse outcome after UGIB. METHODS: We prospectively collected data from patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of UGIB to the emergency room of eight participating hospitals. Using standard descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses, differences in 30-day mortality, rebleeding rate, and need for angiography and surgical intervention were assessed for week- and weekend admissions and time of admission. Moreover, patient- and procedure-related factors were identified that could influence outcome. RESULTS: In total, 571 patients were included with suspected UGIB. Patient admitted during the weekend had a higher mortality rate than patients admitted during the week [9% vs.3%; adjusted odds ratio 2.68 (95%CI 1.07-6.72)]. Weekend admissions were not associated with other adverse outcomes. Patients admitted during the weekend presented more often with bleeding and had a significantly lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. No differences were found in procedure-related factors. Time of admission was not associated with an adverse outcome, although patients admitted during the evening had a significantly longer time to endoscopy (15, 22 and 16 h for day, evening and night admissions respectively, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Although quality of care did not appear to differ between week/weekend admissions, patients with suspected upper gastrointestinal bleeding admitted during the weekend were at higher risk of an adverse outcome. This might be due to the fact that these patients have more severe haemorrhage.

Does current scientific evidence support a link between light at night and breast cancer among female night-shift nurses? Review of evidence and implications for occupational and environmental health nurses.

Breast cancer is increasingly prevalent in industrialized regions of the world, and exposure to light at night (LAN) has been proposed as a potential risk factor. Epidemiological observations have documented an increased breast cancer risk among female night-shift workers, and strong experimental evidence for this relationship has also been found in rodent models. Indirect support for the LAN hypothesis comes from studies involving blind women, sleep duration, bedroom light levels, and community nighttime light levels. This article reviews the literature, discusses possible mechanisms of action, and provides recommendations for occupational health nursing research, practice, and education. Research is needed to further explore the relationship between exposure to LAN and breast cancer risk and elucidate the mechanisms underlying this relationship before interventions can be designed for prevention and mitigation of breast cancer.

Sleep disruptions and nocturnal nursing interactions in the intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: Sleep deprivation, common in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, may be associated with increased morbidity and/or mortality. We previously demonstrated that significant numbers of nocturnal nursing interactions (NNIs) occur during the routine care of surgical ICU patients. For this study, we assessed the quantity and type of NNIs in different ICU types: medical, surgical, cardiothoracic, pediatric, and neonatal. We hypothesized that the number and type of NNIs vary among different ICU types. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed a prospective observational cohort study at our academic medical center examining potential sleep disruption in ICU patients secondary to NNIs from the hours 2200-0600 nightly. From May through November 2011, bedside nursing staff in five different ICUs collected data on NNIs, including the frequency and nature of each event (patient care activity, nursing intervention, nursing assessment, or patient-initiated contact) as well as the length of time of each event and whether the bedside care provider thought that the event could have been safely omitted without negatively affecting patient care. Additional data collected included patient demographics, the need for mechanical ventilation, and sedative/narcotic use. RESULTS: Two hundred ICU patients were enrolled over 51 separate nocturnal time periods (3.9 patients/nocturnal time period). Of those 200 patients, 53 (26.5%) were mechanically ventilated; 12.5% underwent sedative infusion; and 23.0% underwent narcotic infusion. There were a total of 1831 NNIs; most (67%) were due to nursing assessment or patient care activity. The surgical ICU had the most frequent NNIs (11.8 ± 9.0), although they were the shortest (6.66 ± 6.06 min), as well as the highest proportion of NNIs that could have been safely omitted (20.9%). Nursing staff estimated that, of all NNIs in all ICU types, 13.9% could have been safely omitted. CONCLUSIONS: NNIs occur frequently and vary across different ICU types. Many NNIs are due to nursing assessment and patient care activities, much of which could be safely omitted or clustered. A protocol for nocturnal sleep promotion is warranted in order to standardize ICU NNIs and minimize nighttime sleep disruptions.

Unplanned overnight admissions in day-case arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

The majority of arthroscopic shoulder procedures can be safely performed as day-case surgery. However, despite better pain control and preoperative assessment; some patients end with unplanned overnight admission. The aim of this study was to investigate the reasons behind unplanned admissions of patients undergoing day-case arthroscopic shoulder surgery. A retrospective review of 242 consecutive cases of arthroscopic shoulder surgery performed by the senior author over a period of two years (2007-2008) was carried out. Twenty cases were planned admissions and were therefore excluded. 222 cases were included, of which 40 (18%) were unplanned overnight admissions. Documented causes for overnight stay included abnormal post-operative observations, pain and wound ooze. The age of patients who stayed overnight was significantly higher (p = 0.006). The difference in ASA grade between both groups was less marked but still statistically significant (p = 0.031). More complex procedures, such as rotator cuff repair, were more likely to result in unplanned overnight admission (p < 0.001). The experience of the anaesthetist and administration of interscalene nerve block were not significantly different between the two groups. However, patients anesthetised by less experienced anaesthetists were less likely to receive an interscalene nerve block (p = 0.016). In conclusion; higher patient age, higher ASA grade and more complex arthroscopic procedures are significant risk factors for unplanned overnight admissions in day-case arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

Use of emergency medical services by patients encompassed by the Regular GP scheme.

BACKGROUND: Norwegian emergency medical services are used with frequency, often in relation to conditions that could wait until the next day to be handled by the patient's regular GP (RGP). We investigated whether there are characteristics of particular GPs that may help explain why patients on their list use the emergency medical services. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We used data from the billing cards for 2008 from all emergency doctors, linked to information from the Regular GP database and Statistics Norway, for a total of 4,097 RGPs. For each RGP we estimated a contact rate: The total number of contacts reported for their list patients (identified by their personal ID numbers), divided by the length of the RGP's list. This rate was subsequently analysed with regard to characteristics of the RGP (bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regression). RESULTS: The average contact rate amounted to 27.4 contacts per 100 list patients, with significant variation between the RGPs (the 25th percentile was 17.8 contacts and the 75th percentile 33.1). Patients of male RGPs, young RGPs and immigrant RGPs used the emergency medical services more frequently than patients of female RGPs, older RGPs and Norwegian RGPs. Patients from long lists, single-doctor practices and open lists used the emergency medical services less frequently than patients from short lists, group practices and closed lists. The contact rate was higher in rural municipalities than in urban areas. INTERPRETATION: The large variations in the use of emergency medical services indicate that more RGPs should take measures to improve accessibility for emergency calls during the daytime.