Few hospitals aggressively combat catheter-associated urinary tract infections

University of Michigan Health System and Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare Center study shows no-payment rule may not be enough to keep patients safe

Ann Arbour, Mich., USA (December 8, 2011) – Hospitals are working harder than ever to prevent hospital-acquired infections, but a nationwide survey shows few are aggressively combating the most common one – catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

2 out of 3 medical students do not know when to wash their hands

Washington, DC, USA (December 1, 2011) - Only 21 percent of surveyed medical students could identify five true and two false indications of when and when not to wash their hands in the clinical setting, according to a study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

Improving patient care by improving nurses' work environment

New study indicates physical environment, workgroup cohesion play significant roles in nurses' ratings of quality of patient care

New York, NY, USA (November 30, 2011) - While nurse-to-patient ratios are widely recognized as an important factor in determining the quality of patient care, those ratios are not always easy to change without significant cost and investment of resources. What's more, the projected nursing shortage will make it even more difficult for hospitals to increase nurse staffing. A study published in the current issue of Health Care Management Review indicates that there are other aspects of registered nurses' (RNs) work environments that RNs perceive can also have a significant impact on the quality of care they deliver. In order of influence, those factors are: physical work environment, workgroup cohesion, nurse-physician relations, procedural justice and job satisfaction. Nurses' ratings of patient care quality were also higher in hospitals with Magnet® recognition programs, and lower in work settings with greater organizational constraints such as lack of equipment and supplies.

Low Staffing and Poor Quality of Care at Nation’s For-Profit Nursing Homes

San Francisco (November 29, 2011) - The nation’s largest for-profit nursing homes deliver significantly lower quality of care because they typically have fewer staff nurses than non-profit and government-owned nursing homes. That’s the finding of a new UCSF-led analysis of quality of care at nursing homes around the country. It is the first-ever study focusing solely on staffing and quality at the 10 largest for-profit chains.

Can you feel her Pain?

"I can't go to work now because sitting down is worse than standing up"

A personal perspective from Ireland

She was a practising barrister in Dublin when she was hit from behind by a truck. What started off as numbness around the roof of her mouth would end up with Gina suffering from severe chronic pain: “I felt as though my fingers were stuck in an electric socket and the electricity was pulsing up and down my arm. The pain in my shoulder felt so severe I could have taken a knife to hack it off. At other times I felt as though my arm had been crushed against a concrete wall”. Because of the pain that was so severe she could not stand or sit or read for more than a few minutes she had to give up work. 

Pain Alliance Europe

New Alliance to lobby for 100 million Chronic Pain patients

Brussels, Belgium (November 29, 2011) - In the presence of several MEPs from major political parties, a representative from the Commission and the President of EFIC, the health pofessionals´ pan-European organisation on pain research, Pain Alliance Europe (PAE) was officially launched in the European Parliament. The aim of the new Patients´ Alliance - a network of 18 NGOs representing 11 European countries so far – is to raise awareness for people living under constant pain with neither adequate treatment nor the understanding of what this means to the life quality of the individual. Not to speak of the billions of Euro lost in working hours to the European economy each year.

Elderly at risk of hospitalizations from key medications

Promoting safe use of blood thinners and diabetes medications can protect patients

Atlanta, GA, USA (November 23, 2011) - Each year, there are nearly 100,000 emergency hospitalizations for adverse drug events in U.S. adults aged 65 years or older, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine . Of the thousands of medications available to patients, a small group of blood thinners and diabetes medications caused two–thirds of the emergency hospitalizations, the report said.

Meeting highlights from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) 14-17 November 2011

London, UK (November 18, 2011) - This page lists the opinions adopted at the November 2011 meeting of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) and other important outcomes.

Fatigue linked to safety problems among EMS workers, Pitt study finds

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA (November 17, 2011) – Fatigue and poor sleep quality, which affect many emergency medical services (EMS) workers, are linked to higher reported rates of injuries, medical errors and safety-compromising behaviors, according to a study by University of Pittsburgh researchers that is now available online in Prehospital Emergency Care and appearing in the January-March 2012 print edition.

Training in 'concrete thinking' can be self-help treatment for depression

Exeter, Devon, UK (November 17, 2011) - The study suggests an innovative psychological treatment called 'concreteness training' can reduce depression in just two months and could work as a self-help therapy for depression in primary care. Led by the University of Exeter and funded by the Medical Research Council, the research shows how this new treatment could help some of the 3.5 million people in the UK living with depression.

Worms reveal secrets of wound-healing response

San Diego, California, USA (November 17, 2011) - The lowly and simple roundworm may be the ideal laboratory model to learn more about the complex processes involved in repairing wounds and could eventually allow scientists to improve the body's response to healing skin wounds, a serious problem in diabetics and the elderly.

Presenteeism: A new word for working when sick

Some employees feel pressure to work when ill, according to study from Concordia's John Molson School of Business

Montreal, Canada (November 17, 2011) - Colleagues who work with runny noses, sore throats and clammy skin are as seasonal as the flu. Yet are sick employees workplace troopers or are they insecure about their jobs?

A new study from Concordia University, published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, has found that presenteeism, i.e. attending work when ill, isn't always a productive option.

European Medicines Agency recommends suspension of all buflomedil-containing medicines

Benefits of vasoactive agents do not outweigh risks of serious cardiological and neurological side effects

London, UK (November 17, 2011) - The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) concluded a review of the safety and efficacy of buflomedil, saying that the risks of these medicines, particularly the risks of severe cardiological and neurological adverse reactions, are greater than their limited benefits in the treatment of patients with chronic peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD). The Committee therefore recommended that the marketing authorisations of all buflomedil-containing medicines be suspended in all European Union (EU) Member States where they are currently authorised.

CDC now tracking antibiotic use in hospitals

Get Smart About Antibiotics Week 2011 spotlights importance of appropriate antibiotic use

Atlanta, GA, USA (November 14, 2011) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is launching a new antibiotic tracking system allowing hospitals to monitor antibiotic use electronically, make better decisions about how to improve use, and compare themselves to other hospitals. Before now, CDC was only able to track antibiotic use in doctors′ offices.

Merck Sharp & Dohme (Europe), Inc. withdraws its marketing authorisation application for Janacti (sitagliptin and pioglitazone) and related trade names

London, UK, (November 14, 2011) - The European Medicines Agency has been formally notified by Merck Sharp & Dohme (Europe), Inc. of its decision to withdraw its application for a centralised marketing authorisation for the medicine Janacti (sitagliptin and pioglitazone) and related trade names, 100/30 mg and 100/45 mg fixed-dose combination tablets. Janacti was intended to be used for the treatment of adult patients with type II diabetes mellitus.

New study shows smokers underutilize proven treatment and services for quitting

70 percent of smokers want to quit as nation approaches the Great American Smokeout

Atlanta, GA, USA (November 10, 2011) - Most American adults who smoke wish they could quit, and more than half have tried within the past year, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report says 68.8 percent of current American adult smokers say they want to quit and 52.4 percent of adult smokers tried to quit within the past year. The report says 48.3 percent of smokers who saw a health professional in the past year recalled getting advice to quit and 31.7 percent used counseling and/or medications in the past year. The use of these effective treatments can almost double to triple rates of successfully quitting.

Groundbreaking study finds home treatment of pneumonia better than hospital care

Boston, Newengland, USA (November 10, 2011) — In a breakthrough study published online today in The Lancet, researchers from Boston University, Save the Children and the WHO found that young children treated at home for severe pneumonia by Pakistan's network of "lady health workers" were more likely to get well than children referred to health facilities.

New study challenges accepted approaches to research in senile dementia (Alzheimer's disease)

Amsterdam, NL (7. November 2011) - Impacting millions of families and devouring billions of dollars globally, Alzheimer's disease is the focus of exhaustive research to find a cure. Although intensely investigated over the last three decades using cutting-edge technologies, the "pathogenic cause" of Alzheimer's disease has not been found. While many research "breakthroughs" have been claimed and high-profile drugs trials carried out, why does the promised "cure" still seem to elude scientists?

Nutritional intervention helps in mild Alzheimer's disease

Clinical trial findings show memory improvement with daily intake of medical food product

San Diego, CA, USA (November 4, 2011) - A second clinical trial of the medical food Souvenaid confirmed that daily intake of the nutritional intervention improves memory in people with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). Results of the trial - called Souvenir II - were presented at the 4th International Conference on Clinical Trials in Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD) in San Diego, California on Friday, Nov. 4, 2011 by Philip Scheltens, MD, PhD, Professor of Cognitive Neurology and Director of the Alzheimer Center at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam.

Nurses’ Perceptions of Error Reporting and Disclosure in Nursing Homes

Error Reporting Found to be Very Difficult for Nurses in Nursing Home Settings

New York, NY, USA (November 4, 2011) - Nurses have an obligation to disclose an error when one occurs. While errors should be avoided as much as possible, the reality is the health care delivery system is not and will never be perfect; errors and adverse events are an inevitable part of care.

How We Create False Memories

Assessing Memory Performance in Older Adults

Washington, DC (November 4, 2011) - A new study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, published online October 26 addresses the influence of age-related stereotypes on memory performance and memory errors in older adults.

Nurse practiotioner reduces unnecessary emergency department visits

Clinical role improves continuity in care and utilization of resources

Maywood, Ill., USA (November 4, 2011) - Adding a nurse practitioner (NP) to a busy hospital staff can decrease unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits, according to a study published in the latest issue of Surgery by researchers at Loyola University Health System. Researchers found that the nurse practitioner reduced ED visits by improving the continuity in care and troubleshooting problems for patients. The addition of an NP also resulted in an improved use of resources and financial benefits for the health system.

Latex gloves lead to lax hand hygiene in hospitals, study finds

Chicago, Ill., USA (November 3, 2011) - Healthcare workers who wear gloves while treating patients are much less likely to clean their hands before and after patient contact, according to a study published in the December issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. This failure of basic hand hygiene could be contributing to the spread of infection in healthcare settings, the researchers say.

Researchers find anti-depressants reduce pain in opioid-dependent patients

Boston, Massachusetts, USA (November 3, 2011) - In what is believed to be the first study of its kind to demonstrate an association between the antidepressant escitalopram and improved general pain, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), have found that opioid-dependent patients treated with escitalopram experienced meaningful reductions in pain severity and pain interference during the first three months of therapy. These findings appear in the journal Pain.

Dirt prevents allergy

Copenhagen, Denmark (November 2, 2011) - If infants encounter a wide range of bacteria they are less at risk of developing allergic disease later in life. This is the conclusion of research from the University of Copenhagen, which suggests completely new factors in many modern lifestyle diseases.