Dilemmas in providing patient-focused care.

The provision of patient-focused care to the elderly is often fraught with many ethical and challenging dilemmas. However, for health care professionals, these dilemmas can be magnified when the chronic disease is accompanied by dementia. Such was the case of Mrs. A. The multidisciplinary team of a 36-bed acute care unit identified the challenges they experienced while caring for a 65-year-old female with multiple medical problems: diabetes; hypertension; cardiovascular disease; end stage renal disease and dementia probably due to cardiovascular and metabolic causes. Mrs. A. was admitted to start hemodialysis treatments. Her care was complicated by frequent outbursts of verbal and physical aggression towards staff. Mrs. A. was deemed incapable with regard to personal care and property. Her son believed she required long-term placement, and control of her property was assumed by the Public Guardian and Trustee. Mrs. A. vehemently objected to this total loss of control. This paper will describe how the multidisciplinary team implemented a variety of strategies to help staff intervene more effectively in meeting the care needs of Mrs. A.

A change to radiological peritoneal dialysis catheter insertion: three-month outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Best practices for peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheter insertion call for timely placement of catheters to reduce complications and increase the likelihood of a successful initiation of PD. The purpose of our study was to assess if a change in approach to PD catheter insertion, including a switch to radiological insertion of PD catheters and introduction of a dialysis access nurse to coordinate all patient care, was associated with more outpatient procedures and achievement of guideline-based outcomes, including timelier PD starts. ♢ METHODS: We conducted a single-center retrospective chart review of all patients that had their first PD catheter inserted at our center over a 7-year period ending in 2007. ♢ RESULTS: PD catheters were placed in 88 patients by interventional radiology and in 125 patients by surgical insertion during an earlier period. Insertion of PD catheters by interventional radiology was significantly associated with a higher rate of outpatient procedures (70% vs 32%, p < 0.0001) than surgical placement. At PD start, 82% of patients that underwent radiological insertions had an estimated glomerular filtration rate of over 8 mL/minute/1.73 m(2) and their mean serum albumin level was 38.2 g/L. ♢ CONCLUSIONS: The new procedure of radiological insertion of PD catheters, coordinated by a dedicated dialysis access nurse, was associated with more outpatient procedures than the earlier surgical method and allowed patients to receive a PD catheter with timing consistent with clinical practice recommendations.