Hülya Bulut

How Much Do ED Patients Know About Medication Prescribed for Them on Discharge? A Pilot Study in Turkey

INTRODUCTION Hospital emergency departments provide health care to patients with various ailments and illnesses. If necessary, doctors write prescriptions for patients who visit emergency departments for their use after discharge from hospitals. It is important to inform patients about their prescribed medications because compliance with the prescription plays an important role in the success of the treatment. If a patient must use more than one medication, this might result in negative drug interactions. These undesirable developments may adversely affect the treatment process and cause many unplanned patient visits to emergency departments. This study was carried out to determine patient knowledge as related to the names, dosage, frequency, purpose and course of medications given on discharge from emergency departments. METHODS Study subjects were patients who came to the emergency department between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm during a period of 1 month. Data were collected through use of a questionnaire. RESULTS In this study, it was found that 37% of the patients (37 patients) had no knowledge at all about the prescribed medications; however, out of 63 patients, 61.9% had knowledge of when to take the medications, 57.1% knew the purpose of the particular medications, and 52.3% were aware of the appropriate dosage. Furthermore, 31.7% knew the name of the medications and 25.3% knew something about their prescribed course. CONCLUSION Upon discharge from emergency departments, patients should be fully and properly informed about their prescribed medications through a written document. Providing patients with information concerning the correct use of their prescribed medications enables them to use the medications appropriately, thereby increasing not only their satisfaction but also their compliance with the treatment plan. As a result, this vital information may help to decrease rehospitalizations.

The Effect of Cold Vapor Applied for Sore Throat in the Early Postoperative Period

PURPOSE This study was conducted for the purpose of determining the effect of cold vapor applied for sore throat in the early postoperative stage. DESIGN A quasi-experimental design was used. METHODS The study sample consisted of 60 patients who underwent lumbar disc herniation surgery in the Neurosurgery Clinic of Gazi University Health Research and Practice Center in Ankara, Turkey. The study involved two intervention groups and one control group. The study data were collected through questionnaire and observation forms. FINDINGS 65% (n = 39) of patients experienced sore throat. There were no statistical differences between the groups in terms of sore throat and hoarseness (P > .05); however, a significant difference was determined in the group to whom oxygen together with cold vapor was applied for dry throat (4th and 8th hours) and swallowing difficulties(8th and 12th hours) (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS Cold vapor did not have an effect on sore throat on its own; however, it decreased hoarseness and swallowing difficulties when applied together with oxygen.

The Problems Experienced by Parents Providing Postoperative Home Care Following Their Child's Surgery for Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip.

BACKGROUND: Families, especially mothers, experience problems providing home care after their childs surgery for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). PURPOSE: To assess the problems experienced by parents providing postoperative home care to their child after DDH surgery. METHODS: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 33 parents. Data were collected through a survey conducted at the hospital following the childs surgery and by telephone 4–6 weeks after surgery. Frequencies, means, percentages, and chi-square tests were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The parents (93.9% women) provided postoperative care for approximately 3 months. Nearly all of the parents (97%) had physical (96.9%), psychological (65.6%), and social (75.0%) problems in addition to child care problems. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend preparing a comprehensive discharge-training package for parents after their childs DDH surgery, supplementing home care instructions with visual training materials, and providing telephone counseling to parents after discharge.

The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicines Among Surgical Patients: A Survey Study

Purpose: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has increased around the world. This study evaluates CAM use in surgery patients. Design: Cross‐sectional and descriptive study. Methods: This study was conducted in a university hospital in Turkey between January 1 and June 30, 2016, on volunteer inpatients who were scheduled for surgery because of various complaints. Findings: In this study, 65.9% of the patients used CAMs, 87.4% of the patients used herbal methods, and 63.7% of the patients used cognitive‐behavioral methods. Conclusions: Health care providers, and nursing staff, in particular, should have adequate knowledge of societal approaches to CAMs, as well as the possible benefits and harms CAM may cause.

Nursing students' perspectives on assisting cancer patients

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the experiences of student nurses who have provided care to cancer patients. Methods: A mixed method approach consisting of semistructured focus groups (n = 61) and a survey questionnaire (n = 129) was used in the study. Student nurses were first interviewed, and then, a questionnaire was developed for them to answer. Following the content analysis, three themes and 19 subthemes were identified. Frequency and percent were used for qualitative data. Results: Among the student nurses, 80.6% reported that working with cancer patients was “difficult.” Difficulties experienced by the student nurses included patients rejecting their care, a large number of problems cases encountered when providing care to cancer patients, communication problems (38.0%), working with patients and attendants who fear death, and problems arising from family attendants who obstruct care. The majority of students experienced patients fearing death (28.7%) and felt feelings such as pity (71.1%), sadness (50.0%), and fear of cancer (41.9%) during their internships in oncology clinics. Conclusions: Students should be supported by instructors and oncology nurses, and nursing curricula should contain topics on how to best approach cancer patients.

Beyin cerrahi yoğun bakım ünitesinde çalışan hemşirelerin hastane enfeksiyonların önlenmesine ilişkin uygulamaları

Regional anaesthesia has advantages such as, control of postoperative pain, early mobilization, and does not affect respiratory function. In recent years, regional anaesthesia had improved by the application of the peripheral nerve stimulator and ultrasound guided blocks, new local anaesthetic drugs with the use of additional adjunctive agents. Especially in emergency conditions, combination of regional anaesthesia may avoid the complications of general anesthesia in patients with chronic disease who suffer from upper and lower extremity injuries. In this paper, we present two cases who underwent combined regional anaesthesia techniques for the lower and upper extremity surgery.Iki tarafli ses teli felci (ISTF) siklikla tiroid ve paratiroid cerrahisi gibi iyatrojenik bir hasar sonucu olusur. Fakat serebral infarkt sonrasi hava yolu tikanikligina neden olan BVKP nadir olarak bildirilmistir. Bu yazida tekrarlayan serebral infarktin, gec ortaya cikan ve hayati tehdit eden bir komplikasyonu olarak solunum durmasi ile sonuclanan bir ISTF olgusu sunduk. Atmis yedi yasinda erkek hasta, son 3-4 aydir giderek artan solunum yetmezligi sikayetiyle acil servisimize basvurdu. Ozgecmisinde kalp yetmezligi ve kronik obstruktif akciger hastaligi oykusu olmayan hasta, yaklasik bir yil once bir ayda iki kez serebral infarkt gecirmisti. Yapilan solunum sistemi muayenesinde bilateral wheezing ve stridor; norolojik muayenesinde ise sag tarafta kuvvet kaybi mevcuttu. Ust solunum yolu obstruksiyonunu degerlendirilmek uzere endoskopik laringoskopi yapildi. Laringoskopide iki tarafli ses tellerinin orta hatta sabit ve hareketsiz oldugu goruldu. Solunum yetmezliginde artma ve tekrarlayan solunum durmasi nedeniyle hastaya trakeostomi acildi. Operasyon sonrasi hastanin solunum yetmezligi geriledi. Solunum fonksiyonlari normale donen hasta taburcu edildi.Dysphagia aortica is a rare etiological factor of dysphagia resulting from extrinsic compression of the esophagus by thoracic aorta. There is no gold standard diagnostic proscedure for dysphagia aortica. Dysphagia aortica is usually escaped to attention in the differential diagnosis of dyssphagia. Here, we reported compression of the esophagus by thoracic aorta in a 54 years-old male patient who comsplained from dysphagia.