INTRODUCTION Pain is a common symptom presented in the emergency department (ED) although it is often underestimated, poorly evaluated and treated. The application of a protocol for timely pain management ensured by the nurse can avoid the delays in the analgesic treatment and improve the patient's quality of waiting. AIMS To check the effectiveness and efficiency of the protocol aimed at ear...

Hospital readmissions contribute significantly to the cost of medical care, and may reflect unresolved problems at discharge or a lack of resources in post-hospital care. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of patient characteristics at discharge, the need for nursing care, discharge planning program, post-hospital care arrangements, and caregiver characteristics on readmissions ...

AIMS The aim of the present study was to investigate the changes of left and right ventricular (RV) dimensions and function after MitraClip implantation in high-risk surgical patients with severe functional mitral regurgitation (MR). METHODS AND RESULTS Study population included 35 patients with functional MR. All the patients underwent clinical and echocardiographic evaluation at baseline, b...

The high theoretical gravimetric capacity of the Li-S battery system makes it an attractive candidate for numerous energy storage applications. In practice, cell performance is plagued by low practical capacity and poor cycling. In an effort to explore the mechanism of the discharge with the goal of better understanding performance, we examine the Li-S phase diagram using computational techniqu...

AIM We aimed to summarize the pooled effect of early discharge compared with ordinary discharge after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on the composite endpoint of re-infarction, revascularization, stroke, death, and incidence of rehospitalization. We also aimed to compare costs for the two strategies. METHODS The study was a systematic review and a meta-analysis of 12 randomized cont...

STUDY OBJECTIVES To assess the influence of inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) on mortality in COPD patients, which is currently a controversial topic. SETTING Manitoba Health maintains a population-wide research database that includes pharmaceutical information. DESIGN AND PATIENTS We examined mortality in people 90 to 365 days after hospital discharge for COPD, comparing those persons who rec...

Abstract Recurrent hospitalizations are responsible for considerable health care spending, although prior studies have shown that a substantial proportion of readmissions are preventable through effective discharge planning and patient follow-up after the initial hospital visit. This retrospective cohort study was undertaken to determine whether telephonic outreach to ensure patient understandi...

OBJECTIVE To examine the effectiveness of Integrated Care and Discharge Support for elderly patients in reducing accident and emergency department attendance, acute hospital admissions, and hospital bed days after discharge. Factors that compromise its effectiveness were investigated and cost analysis was performed. DESIGN Cohort prospective study. SETTING Integrated Care and Discharge Supp...