Behavior of Parents Seeking Care From Emergency Services Due to Fever in Children.

PURPOSE: To explore the behavior of parents, with and without health training, seeking care from emergency services due to their child's fever. DESIGN AND SETTING: A qualitative study based on Grounded Theory using a triangulated sample (theoretical sampling and snowball sampling) of parents of children 0 to 12 years old who received care for fever in the emergency primary care services of two Spanish municipalities. METHODS: Data saturation was achieved after eight focus groups segmented by gender, place of residence, and education (57 participants). Data analysis followed the constant comparative method and coding process. FINDINGS: The parents attended the emergency department when fever was high or persistent and to determine the cause. The reasons for avoiding the emergency department differed; whereas the health professional parents avoided consulting other colleagues as they felt questioned, for parents who were not healthcare professionals, there was a fear of acquiring an infection. CONCLUSIONS: Parents' search for healthcare differs according to their background and education. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: These results provide key information for the design of care plans to improve health care and patient satisfaction.

Web-Based Tools for Educating Caregivers About Childhood Fever: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVES: Fever is a common reason for an emergency department visit and misconceptions abound. We assessed the effectiveness of an interactive Web-based module (WBM), read-only Web site (ROW), and written and verbal information (standard of care [SOC]) to educate caregivers about fever in their children. METHODS: Caregivers in the emergency department were randomized to a WBM, ROW, or SOC. Primary outcome was the gain score on a novel questionnaire testing knowledge surrounding measurement and management of fever. Secondary outcome was caregiver satisfaction with the interventions. RESULTS: There were 77, 79, and 77 participants in the WBM, ROW, and SOC groups, respectively. With a maximum of 33 points, Web-based interventions were associated with a significant mean (SD) pretest to immediate posttest gain score of 3.5 (4.2) for WBM (P < 0.001) and 3.5 (4.1) for ROW (P < 0.001) in contrast to a nonsignificant gain score of 0.1 (2.7) for SOC. Mean (SD) caregiver satisfaction scores (out of 32) for the WBM, ROW, and SOC groups were 22.6 (3.2), 20.7 (4.3), and 17 (6.2), respectively. All groups were significantly different from one another in the following rank: WBM > ROW > SOC (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Web-based interventions are associated with significant improvements in caregiver knowledge about fever and high caregiver satisfaction. These interventions should be used to educate caregivers pending the demonstration of improved patient-centered outcomes.

Barriers and enablers to implementing clinical treatment protocols for fever, hyperglycaemia, and swallowing dysfunction in the Quality in Acute Stroke Care (QASC) Project--a mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: The Quality in Acute Stroke Care (QASC) trial evaluated systematic implementation of clinical treatment protocols to manage fever, sugar, and swallow (FeSS protocols) in acute stroke care. This cluster-randomised controlled trial was conducted in 19 stroke units in Australia. AIM: To describe perceived barriers and enablers preimplementation to the introduction of the FeSS protocols and, postimplementation, to determine which of these barriers eventuated as actual barriers. METHODS: Preimplementation: Workshops were held at the intervention stroke units (n = 10). The first workshop involved senior clinicians who identified perceived barriers and enablers to implementation of the protocols, the second workshop involved bedside clinicians. Postimplementation, an online survey with stroke champions from intervention sites was conducted. RESULTS: A total of 111 clinicians attended the preimplementation workshops, identifying 22 barriers covering four main themes: (a) need for new policies, (b) limited workforce (capacity), (c) lack of equipment, and (d) education and logistics of training staff. Preimplementation enablers identified were: support by clinical champions, medical staff, nursing management and allied health staff; easy adaptation of current protocols, care-plans, and local policies; and presence of specialist stroke unit staff. Postimplementation, only five of the 22 barriers identified preimplementation were reported as actual barriers to adoption of the FeSS protocols, namely, no previous use of insulin infusions; hyperglycaemic protocols could not be commenced without written orders; medical staff reluctance to use the ASSIST swallowing screening tool; poor level of engagement of medical staff; and doctors' unawareness of the trial. LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION: The process of identifying barriers and enablers preimplementation allowed staff to take ownership and to address barriers and plan for change. As only five of the 22 barriers identified preimplementation were reported to be actual barriers at completion of the trial, this suggests that barriers are often overcome whilst some are only ever perceived rather than actual barriers.

Description of a school nurse visit syndromic surveillance system and comparison to emergency department visits, New York City.

OBJECTIVES: We compared school nurse visit syndromic surveillance system data to emergency department (ED) visit data for monitoring illness in New York City schoolchildren. METHODS: School nurse visit data recorded in an electronic health record system are used to conduct daily surveillance of influenza-like illness, fever-flu, allergy, asthma, diarrhea, and vomiting syndromes. We calculated correlation coefficients to compare the percentage of syndrome visits to the school nurse and ED for children aged 5 to 14 years, from September 2006 to June 2011. RESULTS: Trends in influenza-like illness correlated significantly (correlation coefficient = 0.89; P < .001) and 72% of school signals occurred on days that ED signaled. Trends in allergy (correlation coefficient = 0.73; P < .001) and asthma (correlation coefficient = 0.56; P < .001) also correlated and school signals overlapped with ED signals on 95% and 51% of days, respectively. Substantial daily variation in diarrhea and vomiting visits limited our ability to make comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with ED syndromic surveillance, the school nurse system identified similar trends in influenza-like illness, allergy, and asthma syndromes. Public health practitioners without school-based surveillance may be able to use age-specific analyses of ED syndromic surveillance data to monitor illness in schoolchildren.

Fever in children--a concept analysis.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To undertake a concept analysis to clarify the meaning of the term 'fever' in children and to identify models of fever-related belief that may help in understanding the response of parents and professionals to fever in children. BACKGROUND: This concept analysis was undertaken because the approach to the treatment of fever varies widely and in particular that there is often a difference between what parents want for their children, official guidelines and what professionals do in practice. DESIGN: Concept analysis. METHODS: The study used a modified evolutionary method of concept analysis. The analysis was based on data from medical, nursing, popular and biological literature and used an iterative process to clarify the term. RESULTS: Fever has a number of distinct uses based on its meaning and history; these include its use to indicate an illness itself, as a beneficial symptom associated with disease, and a diagnostic sign. Three models of fever-related practice emerged from the analysis, these being a phobic-fearful approach that drives routine treatment, a scientific approach that sees fever as a potentially adaptive and beneficial response and a scientific but pragmatic approach that recognises potential benefit but results in treatment anyway. These different uses, which are often not clarified, go some way to explaining the different approaches to its treatment. CONCLUSIONS: When parents, clinicians, physiologists and guideline writers discuss fever, they attribute different meanings to it, which may go some way to explaining the dissonance between theory and practice. In the absence of new knowledge, the emphasis of practitioners should therefore be on their safe use. RELEVANCE TO PRACTICE: When discussing the meaning and treatment of fever, it is important to understand what is meant in different circumstances. The models of fever-related beliefs outlined here may go some way to helping this process.

Nursing personnel's attitudes towards fever and antipyresis of adult patients: cross-sectional survey.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the attitudes of nurses caring for hospitalised adult patients towards fever and antipyresis and to identify the predictors of these attitudes. BACKGROUND: Fever is a host defence mechanism, whose harmful effects are limited to specific patients. Findings about antipyretic treatment have further challenged the need for routine or aggressive fever suppression. Unfortunately, nurses continue to be fever phobic, while their attitudes towards fever and antipyresis considerably affect antipyretic practice. DESIGN: Prospective, cross-sectional, multicentre survey. METHODS: A convenience sample of registered and assistant nurses employed in surgical/medical wards and intensive care units of nine Greek hospitals was enrolled. The developed questionnaire included 10 multiple-choice, knowledge-evaluating items about fever and antipyresis, 10 Likert-type attitude-evaluating items towards fever and 10 towards antipyresis. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify the predictors of attitudes towards fever and antipyresis. RESULTS: The attitudes of the 458 participants were found to be relatively positive towards both fever and antipyresis. Lower fever/antipyresis knowledge score predicted both negative attitude towards fever (p = 0·001) and positive attitude towards antipyresis (p < 0·001), while longer professional experience predicted positive attitude towards antipyresis (p = 0·002). CONCLUSIONS: Advancing nurses' evidence-based knowledge about fever and antipyresis is expected to limit their tendency to overtreat fever and favour fever care based on the assessment of actual patient demands. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: These findings highlight the need for continuing education programmes to eliminate fever phobia and improve nurses' competency for individualised fever care.

Determining fever in children: the search for an ideal thermometer.

Body temperature measurement is most commonly taken to confirm the presence or absence of fever. Many decisions concerning the investigation and treatment of children are based on the results of temperature measurement alone. Determining the presence of fever in young children is particularly important. A missed fever is serious, but a false-positive fever reading can result in unnecessary septic workups. The axillary, rectal, oral and tympanic membrane sites are most commonly used to record body temperature, and electronic and infrared thermometers are the devices most commonly used. Each site and device has numerous advantages and disadvantages, which are described in this article. The search for the means of measuring body temperature that best combines accuracy, speed, convenience, safety and cost-effectiveness goes on. The infrared thermometer and the tympanic site appear to offer such a combination. Electronic thermometers are also suitable when used orally or at the axilla in newborn babies.

Fever and feverish illness in children under five years.

This article discusses the causes and management of fever in children. In line with guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, it explores the importance of identifying children at risk of serious illness and those that can be managed safely at home. The article also identifies the skills and knowledge required by paediatric and general nurses working with children, alongside the need to offer parents guidance on antipyretics and how to care for their child at home.

Childhood fever management program for Korean pediatric nurses: A comparison between blended and face-to-face learning method.

BACKGROUND: A blended learning can be a useful learning strategy to improve the quality of fever and fever management education for pediatric nurses. AIM: This study compared the effects of a blended and face-to-face learning program on pediatric nurses' childhood fever management, using theory of planned behavior. METHODS/DESIGN: A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. A fever management education program using blended learning (combining face-to-face and online learning components) was offered to 30 pediatric nurses, and 29 pediatric nurses received face-to-face education. RESULTS/FINDINGS: Learning outcomes did not significantly differ between the two groups. However, learners' satisfaction was higher for the blended learning program than the face-to-face learning program. CONCLUSION: A blended learning pediatric fever management program was as effective as a traditional face-to-face learning program. Therefore, a blended learning pediatric fever management-learning program could be a useful and flexible learning method for pediatric nurses.

Nurse-driven protocols for febrile pediatric oncology patients.

INTRODUCTION: Infection is a frequent complication experienced by many children with cancer, with potentially life-threatening consequences that may result in hospitalization, prolonged length of stay, and increased mortality. The need for prompt assessment and early intervention for infection is widely recognized by ED staff as best practice; however, the average length of time to antibiotic administration varies widely in published studies. METHODS: An interdisciplinary quality improvement initiative including physician, nursing, and pharmacy leaders was created to streamline the identification and treatment for this high-risk population. Based on published evidence for best practice and national recognition of the need for rapid treatment, the goal was set for administration of antibiotic therapy to less than 60 minutes after ED arrival. This project was conducted at 2 emergency departments in a pediatric health care system with 520 beds and a level I and level II trauma designation. Approximately 154,000 patients are seen annually. In the emergency departments, 271 staff members, including registered nurses, paramedics, and patient care technicians, required education about using the newly designed process. Records from all patients with fever and a known history of pediatric cancer who presented to the emergency departments were included in the retrospective review, including patients with solid tumors, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, and chronic myelogenous leukemia. Exclusion criteria included patients in known remission, those with prior antibiotic therapy at another facility, congenital neutropenia, or parental concern or objection to treatment. A retrospective medical record review of febrile oncology patients treated from September 2008 until May 2012 was conducted to evaluate the impact of this evidence-based practice change to streamline the "door to drug" process. The average length of time until antibiotic administration, nurses' compliance initiating the protocol, and ED length of stay were determined. RESULTS: The review included 2758 medical records. During the study period from 2008 to 2012, one emergency department's average time for drug administration dropped from 103 to 44 minutes, and the second dropped from 141 to 61 minutes. Both campuses also improved their protocol compliance, with ED 1 increasing from 24% to 78% and ED 2 improving from 30% to 84%. DISCUSSION: This quality initiative has direct application for all ED leaders who treat children with cancer. High-risk patients can benefit from a streamlined nurse-initiated process that decreases negative consequences of fever. Collaboration by interdisciplinary leadership within the health care facility, as well as key stakeholder buy-in, is imperative to achieve a process that may lead to decreased hospital stay and reduced systemic infection or mortality for these vulnerable patients.

The incidence of fever in US Critical Care Air Transport Team combat trauma patients evacuated from the theater between March 2009 and March 2010.

INTRODUCTION: Most critically ill injured patients are transported out of the theater by Critical Care Air Transport Teams (CCATTs). Fever after trauma is correlated with surgical complications and infection. The purposes of this study are to identify the incidence of elevated temperature in patients managed in the CCATT environment and to describe the complications reported and the treatments used in these patients. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of available records of trauma patients from the combat theater between March 1, 2009, and March 31, 2010, who were transported by the US Air Force CCATT and had an incidence of hyperthermia. We then divided the cohort into 2 groups, patients transported with an elevation in temperature greater than 100.4°F and patients with no documented elevation in temperature. We used a standardized, secure electronic data collection form to abstract the outcomes. Descriptive data collected included injury type, temperature, use of a mechanical ventilator, cooling treatment modalities, antipyretics, intravenous fluid administration, and use of blood products. We also evaluated the incidence of complications during the transport in patients who had a recorded elevation in temperature greater than 100.4°F. RESULTS: A total of 248 trauma patients met the inclusion criteria, and 101 trauma patients (40%) had fever. The mean age was 28 years, and 98% of patients were men. The mechanism of injury was an explosion in 156 patients (63%), blunt injury in 11 (4%), and penetrating injury in 45 (18%), whereas other trauma-related injuries accounted for 36 patients (15%). Of the patients, 209 (84%) had battle-related injuries and 39 (16%) had non-battle-related injuries. Traumatic brain injury was found in 24 patients (24%) with an incidence of elevated temperature. The mean temperature was 101.6°F (range, 100.5°F-103.9°F). After evaluation of therapies and treatments, 80 trauma patients (51%) were intubated on a mechanical ventilator (P < .001). Of the trauma patients with documented fever, 22 (22%) received administration of blood products. Nineteen patients received antipyretics during their flight (19%), 9 received intravenous fluids (9%), and 2 received nonpharmacologic cooling interventions, such as cooling blankets or icepacks. We identified 1 trauma patient with neurologic changes (1%), 6 with hypotension (6%), 48 with tachycardia (48%), 33 with decreased urinary output (33%), and 1 with an episode of shivering or sweating (1%). We did not detect any transfusion reactions or deaths during flight. CONCLUSION: Fever occurred in 41% of critically ill combat-injured patients evacuated out of the combat theater in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fewer than 20% of patients with a documented elevated temperature received treatments to reduce the temperature. Intubation of patients with ventilators in use during the transport was the only factor significantly associated with fever. Serious complications were rare, and there were no deaths during these transports.

Assessment of body temperature measurement options.

Assessment of body temperature is important for decisions in nursing care, medical diagnosis, treatment and the need of laboratory tests. The definition of normal body temperature as 37°C was established in the middle of the 19th century. Since then the technical design and the accuracy of thermometers has been much improved. Knowledge of physical influence on the individual body temperature, such as thermoregulation and hormones, are still not taken into consideration in body temperature assessment. It is time for a change; the unadjusted mode should be used, without adjusting to another site and the same site of measurement should be used as far as possible. Peripheral sites, such as the axillary and the forehead site, are not recommended as an assessment of core body temperature in adults. Frail elderly individuals might have a low normal body temperature and therefore be at risk of being assessed as non-febrile. As the ear site is close to the hypothalamus and quickly responds to changes in the set point temperature, it is a preferable and recommendable site for measurement of body temperature.

Principles of temperature monitoring.

Maintaining optimum body temperature is essential to life, and taking and recording a patient's temperature is a fundamental nursing skill. Deviation from the normal range of body temperature can be an important clinical indicator of altered physiological status requiring further investigation. Correct technique and careful recording are important for accuracy because clinicians rely on clinical observations to make diagnoses and decide on treatment. Nurses need to be able to interpret single stand-alone temperature recordings as well as sequential pattern recordings in the context of safe and acceptable physiological boundaries.

[Taking the temperature, a procedure which should not be trivialized]. / La prise de la température, un geste a ne pas banaliser.

Along with blood pressure, temperature is one of the fundamental parameters most frequently measured by nurses in their daily practice. Different sites of the body are suitable. They are reviewed here with their respective methodologies, advantages and disadvantages in order to adapt nurses' clinical practice as best as possible.

Implementation of evidence-based treatment protocols to manage fever, hyperglycaemia, and swallowing dysfunction in acute stroke (QASC): a cluster randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: We assessed patient outcomes 90 days after hospital admission for stroke following a multidisciplinary intervention targeting evidence-based management of fever, hyperglycaemia, and swallowing dysfunction in acute stroke units (ASUs). METHODS: In the Quality in Acute Stroke Care (QASC) study, a single-blind cluster randomised controlled trial, we randomised ASUs (clusters) in New South Wales, Australia, with immediate access to CT and on-site high dependency units, to intervention or control group. Patients were eligible if they spoke English, were aged 18 years or older, had had an ischaemic stroke or intracerebral haemorrhage, and presented within 48 h of onset of symptoms. Intervention ASUs received treatment protocols to manage fever, hyperglycaemia, and swallowing dysfunction with multidisciplinary team building workshops to address implementation barriers. Control ASUs received only an abridged version of existing guidelines. We recruited pre-intervention and post-intervention patient cohorts to compare 90-day death or dependency (modified Rankin scale [mRS] ≥2), functional dependency (Barthel index), and SF-36 physical and mental component summary scores. Research assistants, the statistician, and patients were masked to trial groups. All analyses were done by intention to treat. This trial is registered at the Australia New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ANZCTR), number ACTRN12608000563369. FINDINGS: 19 ASUs were randomly assigned to intervention (n=10) or control (n=9). Of 6564 assessed for eligibility, 1696 patients' data were obtained (687 pre-intervention; 1009 post-intervention). Results showed that, irrespective of stroke severity, intervention ASU patients were significantly less likely to be dead or dependent (mRS ≥2) at 90 days than control ASU patients (236 [42%] of 558 patients in the intervention group vs 259 [58%] of 449 in the control group, p=0·002; number needed to treat 6·4; adjusted absolute difference 15·7% [95% CI 5·8-25·4]). They also had a better SF-36 mean physical component summary score (45·6 [SD 10·2] in the intervention group vs 42·5 [10·5] in the control group, p=0·002; adjusted absolute difference 3·4 [95% CI 1·2-5·5]) but no improvement was recorded in mortality (21 [4%] of 558 in intervention group and 24 [5%] of 451 in the control group, p=0·36), SF-36 mean mental component summary score (49·5 [10·9] in the intervention group vs 49·4 [10·6] in the control group, p=0·69) or functional dependency (Barthel Index ≥60: 487 [92%] of 532 patients vs 380 [90%] of 423 patients; p=0·44). INTERPRETATION: Implementation of multidisciplinary supported evidence-based protocols initiated by nurses for the management of fever, hyperglycaemia, and swallowing dysfunction delivers better patient outcomes after discharge from stroke units. Our findings show the possibility to augment stroke unit care. FUNDING: National Health & Medical Research Council ID 353803, St Vincent's Clinic Foundation, the Curran Foundation, Australian Diabetes Society-Servier, the College of Nursing, and Australian Catholic University.

Clinical management of fever by nurses: doing what works.

AIMS: The specific aims were to (1) define fever from the nurse's perspective; (2) describe fever management decision-making by nurses and (3) describe barriers to evidence-based practice across various settings. BACKGROUND: Publication of practice guidelines, which address fever management, has not yielded improvements in nursing care. This may be related to differences in ways nurses define and approach fever. METHOD: The collective case study approach was used to guide the process of data collection and analysis. Data were collected during 2006-7. Transcripts were coded using the constant comparative method until themes were identified. Cross-case comparison was conducted. The nursing process was used as an analytical filter for refinement and presentation of the findings. FINDINGS: Nurses across settings defined fever as a (single) elevated temperature that exceeded some established protocol. Regardless of practice setting, interventions chosen by nurses were frequently based on trial and error or individual conventions -'what works'- rather than evidence-based practice. Some nurses' accounts indicated use of interventions that were clearly contraindicated by the literature. Participants working on dedicated neuroscience units articulated specific differences in patient care more than those working on mixed units. CONCLUSIONS: By defining a set temperature for intervention, protocols may serve as a barrier to critical clinical judgment. We recommend that protocols be developed in an interdisciplinary manner to foster local adaptation of best practices. This could further best practice by encouraging individual nurses to think of protocols not as a recipe, but rather as a guide when individualizing patient care. There is value of specialty knowledge in narrowing the translational gap, offering institutions evidence for planning and structuring the organization of care.

Hemodynamic and oxygenation changes in surgical intensive care unit patients with fever and fever lowering nursing interventions.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of fever and nursing interventions to lower fever on hemodynamic values and oxygenation in febrile (temperature greater than 38.3°C) surgical intensive care unit patients. This retrospective study was conducted in 53 febrile patients out of 519 patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit at a university hospital. Data were obtained from the medical records, laboratory files and nursing notes. Statistical analysis of the data was analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance and a paired sample t-test. The average hourly urine output (F = 5.46; P = 0.002) and systolic blood pressure (F = 2.87; P = 0.03) were significantly lower after fever onset. Heart rate, respiratory rate, positive end-expiratory pressure settings and FiO(2) settings were unchanged after the development of fever. Diastolic blood pressure and oxygen saturation had non-statistically significant decreases. Nursing interventions for febrile patients consisted of medication administration (69.8%), ice (62.3%) and sponging with tepid water (62.3%). The present results showed that fever was associated with an increase in heart rate, decreased systolic arterial pressure, mean arterial pressure, oxygen saturation and hourly urine output.

Improving evidence-based care for patients with pyrexia.

Fever or pyrexia is a common clinical condition which nurses treat regularly. Fever and hyperpyrexia are defined in this article with a physiological explanation for this adaptive response. Suppression of temperature elevation prevents the production of antibodies and inhibits cell repair. The aim of this literature review is to encourage nurses to support patients with pyrexia by meeting their subjective needs, providing comfort and avoiding complications.