With new national targets for patient flow in public hospitals designed to increase efficiencies in patient care and resource use, better knowledge of events affecting length of stay will support improved bed management and scheduling of procedures. This paper presents a case study involving the integration of material from each of three databases in operation at one tertiary hospital and demon...

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Online evidence retrieval systems are one potential tool in supporting evidence-based practice. We have undertaken a program of research to investigate how hospital-based clinicians (doctors, nurses and allied health professionals) use these systems, factors influencing use and their impact on decision-making and health care delivery. A central component of this work has been the development an...

BACKGROUND Published literature documents the substantial burden of hereditary angioedema (HAE) with C1 inhibitor deficiency on the quality of life and work productivity of patients. However, despite advances in the field and the availability of guidelines to advise health care providers (HCP) on the diagnosis and management of HAE, there are still many challenges to overcome. For example, dela...

My half-century journey started from synthetic organic chemistry. During the first stage of my journey, my interest in stereochemistry was initiated through the investigation on the participation of steric effects in reactive intermediates, cylophanes, strained heterocycles, and organic compounds for photography. In chemoinformatics as the next stage of the journey, I proposed the concept of im...

This paper analyzed three middle grade novels and a short story from two cultures using the journey motif as the vehicle for the analysis. The three novels are Bud Not Buddy and The Watsons Go to Birmingham both by Paul Curtis   and Journey to Jo’burg by Naidoo (1986). The short story is My Two Dads by M. Lee.  The three novels and a short story were chosen because these no...

This case describes a patient with advanced dementia and an unrealistic spouse, presenting an apparent dilemma about nutrition for physicians. By eliciting the perspective of the caregiver, the physicians can gain insight and rebuild trust that protects the interests of both the patient and the spouse. Their goal needs to shift from resolving the professional ethical dilemma to affirming the im...

Cancer genetic counsellors typically work in hospitals and participate in multidisciplinary clinical teams. However, in their training, genetic counsellors seldom have much exposure to the medical environments in which their clients receive their cancer treatment. Although there is a general understanding about screening, learning a diagnosis, surgical, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy treatments...

Breast cancer patients face challenges throughout the journey of diagnosis, treatment, post-treatment, and recovery. The breast cancer patient is exposed to a multidisciplinary team including doctors, nurses, therapists, counselors, and psychologists. While the team assembled together aims to address multiple facets in breast cancer care, the sub-specialized nature of individual professional pr...