Reducing Falls After Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Quality Improvement Project.

Falls after electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in patients 60 and older have been long recognized as a major clinical care issue across many mental health care settings. The evidence base for fall prevention strategies after receiving ECT is sparse. The risk factors for falls after ECT are vast and complex in nature, especially considering existing comorbid medical conditions. The dearth of research in guiding practitioners on fall reduction interventions for this patient population illuminates a gap in mental health care quality and safety. The purpose of the current nurse-led quality improvement project was to reduce falls in patients undergoing ECT by enhancing safety measures through education and a post-ECT treatment protocol. The project did not prove to be as efficacious as anticipated as measured by fall rate outcomes. Several factors that may account for the project's findings are discussed. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 55(7), 20-29.].

[Electroconvulsive therapy and nursing support]. / Électroconvulsivothérapie et accompagnement infirmier.

Electroconvulsive therapy is a therapeutic option offered as part of the global treatment of certain severe forms of psychiatric disorders. Carried out under general anaesthesia, this treatment is subject to specific clinical monitoring and support in which the nurse plays an active role.

[Nursing care of acute and transient psychotic disorder]. / Prise en charge infirmière d'une bouffée délirante aiguë.

Around the clinical situation of a patient presenting an acute and transient psychotic disorder, the importance of team work becomes evident. Nursing care is present in all phases of the patient's care, from admission to discharge, including in the isolation room and the electroconvulsive therapy sessions. Presence, support, reassurance as well as the bond with the family are cornerstones of the nursing care.

Waiting for oblivion: women's experiences with electroshock.

This article presents findings and analysis stemming from a two-year qualitative study that explored, in their own voices, women's lived experience of electroshock. Feminist standpoint theory frames and provides the moorings for both the validity and methodology of this woman-centered inquiry. In addition, nurses' experiences with and views of ECT are explored and compared to the experiences reported by the women recipients themselves. Vulnerability and disconnection as emergent themes are presented for the nursing profession's sober consideration. The nurses interviewed believed electroshock culminated in a net gain for patients, but for the majority of the women interviewed, electroshock resulted in damage and devastating loss. This article closes with pressing questions for nurses to ask ourselves as we enter the second decade of this new and promising millennium.