Responding to safety issues in frontotemporal dementias.

As frontotemporal dementia progresses in individuals, safety issues related to behaviors and injury become a paramount concern. In addition to self-care deficits, frontotemporal dementias are often characterized by behavioral manifestations that include aggression and disinhibition. These behaviors may place the patient and caregivers at risk of injury, stress, and social embarrassment, and frequently lead to institutionalization. Additionally, motor disturbances associated with frontotemporal dementias may contribute to risk of injury from falls. The authors present an integrated biopsychosocial model to guide assessment of needs that may be expressed through behavior. Environmental, behavioral, and psychosocial strategies to assist caregivers in preventing and responding to behaviors and risks are discussed, with the goal of promoting maximum function and quality of life and minimizing caregiver strain. The authors discuss the dangers of physical restraints, which are commonly suggested as a response to fall risk and behavioral symptoms without an awareness of research-based data regarding their lack of efficacy. Benefits and risks of a variety of need-based interventions are presented in a practical, clinically relevant manner. The discussion of diverse safety-enhancing interventions is intended to enable clinicians and caregivers to identify individualized care strategies for patients with frontotemporal dementia.

An instrument to measure functional status outcomes for disorders of excessive sleepiness.

This article reports the development of the functional outcomes of sleep questionnaire (FOSQ). This is the first self-report measure designed to assess the impact of disorders of excessive sleepiness (DOES) on multiple activities of everyday living. Three samples were used in the development and psychometric analyses of the FOSQ: Sample 1 (n = 153) consisted of individuals seeking medical attention for a sleep problem and persons of similar age and gender having no sleep disorder; samples 2 (n = 24) and 3 (n = 51) were composed of patients from two medical centers diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Factor analysis of the FOSQ yielded five factors: activity level, vigilance, intimacy and sexual relationships, general productivity, and social outcome. Internal reliability was excellent for both the subscales (alpha = 0.86 to alpha = 0.91) and the total scale (alpha = 0.95). Test-retest reliability of the FOSQ yielded coefficients ranging from r = 0.81 to r = 0.90 for the five subscales and r = 0.90 for the total measure. The FOSQ successfully discriminated between normal subjects and those seeking medical attention for a sleep problem (T157 = -5.88, p = 0.0001). This psychometric evaluation of the FOSQ demonstrated parameters acceptable for its application in research and in clinical practice to measure functional status outcomes for persons with DOES. Thus, the FOSQ can be used to determine how disorders of excessive sleepiness affect patients' abilities to conduct normal activities and the extent to which these abilities are improved by effective treatment of DOES.

Sundown syndrome in institutionalized elderly.

To describe sundown syndrome and determine factors related to its occurrence, 59 demented and 30 nondemented nursing home residents aged 60 years and above were observed in the morning and the evening over two consecutive days using a Confusion Inventory. Physiologic, psychosocial, and environmental data were also recorded. In addition, Pfeiffer's Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire, the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale, Face-Hand Test, and sensory screening were completed. Among the 89 subjects, 11 were found to be sundowners, a prevalence rate of one in eight in the facility. No clear pattern of behaviors evolved but sundowners were found to increase restless and verbal behavior as evening approached. Sundowners were more likely to be demented, with greater mental impairment and organic involvement than nonsundowners. Among physiologic factors, odor of urine, being awakened frequently on the evening shift, and fewer medical diagnoses were significantly associated with sundowning. Significant psychosocial factors were current room residence of less than one month, more recent admission to the facility, and higher evening levels of confusion. No environmental factors were related.

Tying down the elderly. A review of the literature on physical restraint.

The apparently widespread practice of physical restraint of the elderly has received little systematic research, despite reported clinical awareness of its iatrogenic effects on frail elders. Prevalence rates in various settings range between 6% and 86%, with cognitive impairment an important risk factor for restraint. Despite strongly held beliefs, efficacy of restraints for safeguarding patients from injury has not been demonstrated clinically. This paper reviews the current status of knowledge regarding physical restraint use with the elderly and suggests a research agenda and implications for ethical practice.

The CARE Program: a nurse-managed collaborative outpatient program to improve function of frail older people. Collaborative Assessment and Rehabilitation for Elders.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Frail older adults are especially vulnerable in a health system that is fragmented and fails to focus on preservation or restoration of function. The School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, together with the School of Medicine and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, established the Collaborative Assessment and Rehabilitation for Elders (CARE) Program to meet the needs of this population. We used the British Day Hospital as a model because it provides a comprehensive approach to care and a bridge between acute, home-based, and institutional long-term care. We have designed our program to provide innovative, interdisciplinary care as well as to be reimbursable under current and future payment structures. This nurse-managed, collaborative practice seeks to maximize independent functioning, promote health, and enhance quality of life for chronically ill, frail older adults living in the community whose needs are left unmet by existing services. The program was certified as a Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facility (CORF) in December 1993 to maximize reimbursement of services through Medicare and other third party payers. With a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner as care manager, clients receive an intensive, individualized, time-limited program of nursing, rehabilitation, mental health, social, and medical services in one setting several days each week. Additional geriatric services, such as primary care, are available in the same location when needed. SETTING: The program is housed in renovated space devoted to the care of older people. The academic and clinical offices of the University of Pennsylvania's nursing and medical gerontologic and geriatric faculty are in the same building. PARTICIPANTS: We have targeted those persons older than age 65 who have complex health problems and are living at home. Individuals must need multiple services, including at least one rehabilitation therapy, and they must be unsuitable-for inpatient rehabilitation. DESCRIPTION OF THE POPULATION: In its first 8 months of operation, the program received 97 referrals and admitted 53 clients. Clients were, on average, 78 years of age. Over three-fourths (77%) were women and 58% were black. The average stay in the program was 6 weeks. FIM scores, which improved a mean of 2.4 points, were found to lack sensitivity to the functional improvements achieved by clients. CONCLUSION: Under existing Medicare and third party reimbursement policies, it is feasible to establish a nurse-managed comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation program designed to meet the needs of frail older persons. Preliminary data support the beneficial effects of the program as well as the economic feasibility of this approach.

A clinical trial to reduce restraints in nursing homes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relative effects of two experimental interventions on the use of physical restraints. DESIGN: Prospective 12-month clinical trial in which three nursing homes were randomly assigned to restraint education (RE), restraint education-with-consultation (REC), or control (C). SETTING: Three voluntary nursing homes in the Philadelphia area providing both skilled and intermediate care. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 643 nursing home residents over the age of 60 were enrolled at baseline, and 463 remained to completion (1 year). INTERVENTIONS: Both RE and REC homes received intensive education by a masters-prepared gerontologic nurse to increase staff awareness of restraint hazards and knowledge about assessing and managing resident behaviors likely to lead to use of restraints. In addition, the REC home received 12 hours per week of unit-based nursing consultation to facilitate restraint reduction in residents with more complex conditions. MEASUREMENTS: Restraint status was observed systematically at baseline, immediately after the 6-month intervention, and again at 9 and 12 months. Staff levels, psychoactive drug use, and injuries were also determined. RESULTS: Compared with baseline, the REC home had a statistically significant reduction in restraint prevalence, whereas RE and C homes did not. At 9 months (3 months post-intervention), absolute decline in the percents restrained were 7% RE, 7% C, and 20% REC; at 12 months (6 months post-intervention) declines were 4% RE, 6% C, and 18% REC. However, relative to baseline, these declines represent an average reduction in restraint use of 23% RE, 11% C, and 56% REC. The differences in changes over time were consistently significant (P = .01), whether considering survivors or those present at each time point, and also when controlling for differences between groups at baseline. Further, given any change in restraint use, REC-residents were between 25% and 40% more likely than either RE or C residents to experience decreased restraint use. Results were achieved without increased staff, psychoactive drugs, or serious fall-related injuries. CONCLUSION: A 6-month-long educational program combined with unit-based, resident-centered consultation can reduce use of physical restraints in nursing homes effectively and safely. Whether extending the intervention will achieve greater reduction is not known from these results.

Predictors of continued physical restraint use in nursing home residents following restraint reduction efforts.

OBJECTIVES: To examine predictors of continued restraint use in nursing home residents following efforts aimed at restraint reduction. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of data from a clinical trial using a one-group, pre-test post-test design. SETTING: Three nonprofit, religion-affiliated nursing homes in a metropolitan area. PARTICIPANTS: The sample consisted of 201 physically restrained nursing home residents. Following restraint reduction efforts, 135 of the sample were still restrained. Mean age of participants was 83.9 years. MEASUREMENTS: Physical restraint use was measured by observation and included any chest/vest, wrist, mitt, belt, crotch, suit, or harness restraint plus any sheet used as restraint or a geriatric chair with fixed tray table. Nursing home residents were subjected to any one of three conditions aimed at restraint reduction, including adherence to the mandate of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA '87), staff education, and education with consultation from a gerontological clinical nurse specialist. Resident characteristics including dependency, health status, mental status, depression, behavior, fall risk; presence of treatment devices and institutional factors were determined. RESULTS: Physical dependency, lower cognitive status, behavior, presence of treatment devices, presence of psychiatric disorders, fall risk, and fall risk as staff rationale for restraint were associated (P < .10) with continued restraint use. Nursing hours, staff mix, prevalence of restraint use by unit, and site were also associated (P < .10) with continued use of physical restraints. Following bivariate analysis, associated resident characteristics were subjected to logistic regression. Lower cognitive status (OR = 2.4 (for every 7-point decrease in MMSE), 95% CI, 1.7, 3.3) and fall risk as staff rationale for restraint (OR = 3.5, 95% CI., 1.5, 8.0) were predictive of continued restraint use. Adding nursing hours, staff mix, and prevalence of restraint use by unit to the logistic regression model was not statistically significant (partial chi-square = 2.79, df = 6, P = .834). Nursing home site was added to the model without changing the significance (P < .05) of cognitive status or fall risk as a staff rationale for restraint use. CONCLUSION: Continued restraint use in nursing home residents in this study most often occurred with severe cognitive impairment and/or when fall risk was considered by staff as a rationale for restraint. Efforts to reduce or eliminate physical restraint use with these groups will require greater efforts to educate staff in the assessment and analysis of fall risk, along with targeted interventions, particularly when cognition is also impaired.

The relationship between physical restraint removal and falls and injuries among nursing home residents.

BACKGROUND: A major reason cited for continued restraint use in American nursing homes is the widely held belief that restraint reduction will lead to fall-related incidents and injuries. METHODS: This study represents an analysis of data collected in a clinical trial of interventions aimed at reducing the use of restraints in nursing homes. Two different designs were employed to test the relationship between restraint reduction and falls/injuries. First, multiple logistic regression was used to compare fall/injury rates in subjects who had restraints removed (n = 38) to those who continued to be restrained (n = 88); second, survival analysis was employed to test the relationship between physical restraint removal and falls/injuries at the institutional level by comparing fall/injury rates among three nursing homes (n = 633) with varying rates of restraint reduction. RESULTS: Based on the multiple logistic regression analysis, there was no indication of increased risk of falls or injuries with restraint removal. Moreover, restraint removal significantly decreased the chance of minor injuries due to falls (adjusted odds ratio: 0.3, 95% CI: 0.1, 0.9; p < .05). The survival analysis demonstrated that the nursing home that had the least restraint reduction (11%) had a 50% higher rate of falls (p < .01) and more than twice the rate of fall-related minor injuries (p < .001) when compared to the homes with 23% and 56% restraint reduction, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Physical restraint removal does not lead to increases in falls or subsequent fall-related injury in older nursing home residents.

Attempted prevention of diarrheal disease in Apache children with a non-absorbable broad-spectrum antimicrobial.

A double-blind study was conducted to test the prophylactic effect of a non-absorbable broad-spectrum antimicrobial (oral colistin sulfate) against acute diarrhea in Apache children. Children 1 to 6 months old had over twice the morbidity from diarrhea if assigned to the antimicrobial group as compared to placebo, while the toddler group (7-30 months) taking the antimicrobial had somewhat less diarrhea. Enteropathogenic E. coli were significantly more often isolated from the antimicrobial group (but only in well children). No special effect on the children's growth by the antimicrobial was discerned.

Knowing the patient: the route to individualized care.

Provision of individualized care is dependent on knowing the patient as a person. Three factors contributed to individualized care: congruent societal and health care values; commonalities of patient needs in all settings; and primacy of caring through knowing the patient. Role modeling by mature nurses appears to have been of prime importance in the transmission of this way of nursing.

Trends in aging care in Scotland and Scandinavia.

The proportion of older adults in Western European countries, as in the United States, continues to increase rapidly. Faced with geriatric care dilemmas decades earlier, however, these countries have had more experience on which to base the development of community-based, integrated care systems for the elderly. This article provides observations from a 1993 World Health Organization Fellowship study of long-term care facilities in four European countries: Scotland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Several emerging trends in geriatric care documented in the literature were confirmed. These included: moratoria on institutional long-term care, emphasis on informal care and support, provision of 24-hour assistance in the home, care management to individualize care, and an expanded set of providers within integrated delivery systems.

The ethical problems of prolonged physical restraint.

The rising prevalence of physical restraint warrants careful examination of the moral, ethical, and legal dimensions of the practice. For the frail elderly, quality of life, decision making, and informed consent are significant issues. The ethical dilemmas created by the use of physical restraints, and the need to consider restraint as an issue fundamental to the nursing home milieu and beliefs about quality of life, require understanding of and commitment to care that is individualized and person-centered. The elements identified in care settings where restraints are rarely, if ever, used evolve from an awareness of the needs of the individual resident, continuous monitoring of health status, and appropriate adjustments in the care plan.

Reducing physical restraints: developing an educational program.

1. Philosophical premises for an educational program aimed at restraint reduction include beliefs about quality of care, commitment to understanding the meaning of behavior, and desire to shift practice from control of behavior to individualized approaches to care. 2. If change is to occur, an educational program aimed at restraint reduction must recognize the potential contributions of all staff members, use an interactive teaching style, and promote discussion and problem solving. 3. Results of testing a Restraint Education Program suggested that altering staff beliefs and increasing knowledge produced a change in restraint practices, at least in the short term.

Nursing consultation to reduce restraints in a nursing home.

Consultation is an important function of advanced practice nurses. Within nursing practice, the process of providing consultation has been studied primarily in acute care settings. A CNS in a 180-bed, nonprofit nursing home implemented the intervention for a controlled clinical trial of nursing interventions to reduce physical restraint use. The consulting process undertaken by the CNS is described, and conclusions are offered regarding the most effective approaches to consultation by advanced practice nurses in nursing homes.

The efficacy of chlorhexidine gluconate in canine skin preparation - practice survey and clinical trials.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the use in practice and efficacy of different concentrations of chlorhexidine gluconate for canine pre-operative skin preparation. METHODS: Questionnaires were used to establish which antiseptics and techniques were used for patients undergoing elective neutering. In a clinical study, five different concentrations of chlorhexidine gluconate - 0 per cent (tap water, as a control) 1, 2, 3 and 4 per cent - were tested on 50 dogs undergoing elective ovariohysterectomies and orchidectomies. RESULTS: A variety of preparation practices occurred but only 21 per cent of the veterinary nurses surveyed were aware of the concentration and contact time they used whilst preparing animals. The clinical study revealed there was a significant difference (P<0.001) between the different concentrations used. All concentrations of chlorhexidine were significantly more effective than the control tap water. There was a tendency towards increasing efficacy as concentration increased from 1 to 4 per cent but this was not statistically significant. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The lack of significant differences in efficacy between the different concentrations of chlorhexidine gluconate means that current practices may be adequate, although if the chlorhexidine gluconate concentrations and contact times used are unknown, they may be lower than those tested here and, possibly, ineffective, especially if contact times are short.