A Novel Agent for Management of Agitated Delirium: A Case Series of Ketamine Utilization in the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Control of the agitated patient in the emergency department is challenging. Many options exist for chemical sedation, but most have suboptimal pharmacodynamic action, and many have undesirable adverse effects. There are reports of ketamine administration for control of agitation prehospital and in traumatically injured patients. Ketamine is a noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor antagonist, making it an effective dissociative agent. We present 5 cases of ketamine administration to manage agitated adolescent patients with underlying psychiatric disease and/or drug intoxication. Ketamine, as a dissociative agent, may be an alternative pharmacological consideration for the control of agitation in patients with undifferentiated agitated delirium.

Influence of self-care education on illness behaviors and health locus of control of Mexican American women.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of self-care education on illness behaviors and health locus of control of Mexican American women. Participants were randomly assigned to a control (n = 60) or experimental group (n = 60). Subjects completed the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control questionnaire and an Illness Behavior Assessment at pretest and 6-months. The experimental group received a self-care manual and participated in two 2-hour seminars on how to effectively use the textbook. The experimental group demonstrated a significant increase in self-care behaviors, and significant changes in Internal Health Locus of Control and Powerful Others Health Locus of Control. Chance Health Locus of Control was found to have a low, direct correlation with age, and a low, indirect correlation with education. The conclusion of this investigation is that self-care education can positively influence illness behaviors and Health Locus of Control in Mexican American women.