CASE PRESENTATION: An ophthalmic trainee performed an Ozurdex™ intravitreal injection into a 48-year-old Asian man's right eye under aseptic conditions. This patient was then followed up for further management. On day 7 post-procedure, a slit lamp examination revealed that the Ozurdex™ implant was injected into the intralenticular structure of his right eye and had fractured into two pieces. The posterior capsule of the right lens was breached, with one half of the Ozurdex™ implant stuck at the entry and the other stuck at the exit wound of the posterior capsule. This patient underwent right eye cataract extraction and repositioning of the fractured implant; he made an uneventful recovery.
CONCLUSIONS: Ophthalmologists should be aware of the potential risk of injecting an Ozurdex™ implant into an anatomical structure other than the vitreous cavity. Adequate training and careful administration of the Ozurdex™ implant are necessary to avoid such a complication, which fortunately is rare.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on nurses' knowledge of sedation assessment and management.
DESIGNS AND METHODS: A quasi-experimental design with a pre- and post-test method was used. The educational intervention included theoretical sessions on assessing and managing sedation and hands-on sedation assessment practice using the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale. Its effect was measured using self-administered questionnaire, completed at the baseline level and 3 months following the intervention.
RESULTS: Participants were 68 registered nurses from an intensive care unit of a teaching hospital in Malaysia. Significant increases in overall mean knowledge scores were observed from pre- to post-intervention phases (mean of 79·00 versus 102·00, p < 0·001). Nurses with fewer than 5 years of work experience, less than 26 years old, and with a only basic nursing education had significantly greater level of knowledge improvement at the post-intervention phase compared to other colleagues, with mean differences of 24·64 (p = 0·001), 23·81 (p = 0·027) and 27·25 (p = 0·0001), respectively. A repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed a statistically significant effect of educational intervention on knowledge score after controlling for age, years of work and level of nursing education (p = 0·0001, ηp (2) = 0·431).
CONCLUSION: An educational intervention consisting of theoretical sessions and hands-on sedation assessment practice was found effective in improving nurses' knowledge and understanding of sedation management.
RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study highlighted the importance of continuing education to increase nurses' understanding of intensive care practices, which is vital for improving the quality of patient care.
AIM: To understand whether critical care nurses' critical thinking disposition affects their clinical decision-making skills.
METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study in which Malay and English translations of the Short Form-Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory-Chinese Version (SF-CTDI-CV) and the Clinical Decision-making Nursing Scale (CDMNS) were used to collect data from 113 nurses working in seven critical care units of a tertiary hospital on the east coast of Malaysia. Participants were recruited through purposive sampling in October 2015.
RESULTS: Critical care nurses perceived both their critical thinking disposition and decision-making skills to be high, with a total score of 71.5 and a mean of 48.55 for the SF-CTDI-CV, and a total score of 161 and a mean of 119.77 for the CDMNS. One-way ANOVA test results showed that while age, gender, ethnicity, education level and working experience factors significantly impacted critical thinking (p<0.05), only age and working experience significantly impacted clinical decision-making (p<0.05). Pearson's correlation analysis showed a strong and positive relationship between critical care nurses' critical thinking and clinical decision-making (r=0.637, p=0.001).
CONCLUSION: While this small-scale study has shown a relationship exists between critical care nurses' critical thinking disposition and clinical decision-making in one hospital, further investigation using the same measurement tools is needed into this relationship in diverse clinical contexts and with greater numbers of participants. Critical care nurses' perceived high level of critical thinking and decision-making also needs further investigation.
METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively the performance of pediatric colonoscopies in a training center in Malaysia over 5 years (January 2010-December 2015), benchmarked against five quality indicators: appropriateness of indications, bowel preparations, cecum and ileal examination rates, and complications. The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy guideline for pediatric endoscopy and North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition training guidelines were used as benchmarks.
RESULTS: Median (± SD) age of 121 children [males = 74 (61.2%)] who had 177 colonoscopies was 7.0 (± 4.6) years. On average, 30 colonoscopies were performed each year (range: 19-58). Except for investigations of abdominal pain (21/177, 17%), indications for colonoscopies were appropriate in the remaining 83%. Bowel preparation was good in 87%. One patient (0.6%) with severe Crohn's disease had bowel perforation. Cecum examination and ileal intubation rate was 95% and 68.1%. Ileal intubation rate was significantly higher in diagnosing or assessing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) than non-IBD (72.9% vs 50.0% P = 0.016). Performance of four trainees was consistent throughout the study period. Average cecum and ileal examination rate among trainees were 97% and 77%.
CONCLUSION: Benchmarking against established guidelines helps units with a low-volume of colonoscopies to identify area for further improvement.
METHODS: Consecutive female IBD subjects aged 18-45 years were prospectively recruited from two dedicated IBD-pregnancy clinics, two multidisciplinary IBD clinics and nine general gastroenterology clinics. Subjects completed the validated CCPKnow [score 0-17] with questions on demographics, medical history and pregnancy knowledge. The primary outcome was knowledge per clinic-type and per geographical region.
RESULTS: Surveys were completed by 717 subjects from 13 hospitals across ten countries. Dedicated IBD-pregnancy clinics had the highest knowledge, followed by multidisciplinary IBD clinics then general IBD clinics (median CCPKnow 10.0 [IQR: 8.0-11.0], 8.0 [IQR: 5.0-10.5] and 4.0 [IQR:2.0-6.0]; p
METHODS: A cross-sectional pilot survey (Pakistan, Morocco, Nigeria, Malaysia) of health professionals' working in rehabilitation in hospital and community settings. A situational-analysis survey captured assessment of clinical skills required in various rehabilitation settings. Responses were coded in a line-by-line process, and linked to categories in domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).
RESULTS: Respondents (n = 532) from Pakistan 248, Nigeria 159, Morocco 93 and Malaysia 32 included the following: physiotherapists (52.8%), nurses (8.8%), speech (5.3%) and occupational therapists (8.5%), rehabilitation physicians (3.8%), other doctors (5.5%) and prosthetist/orthotists (1.5%). The 10 commonly used clinical skills reported were prescription of: physical activity, medications, transfer-techniques, daily-living activities, patient/carer education, diagnosis/screening, behaviour/cognitive interventions, comprehensive patient-care, referrals, assessments and collaboration. There was significant overlap in skills listed irrespective of profession. Most responses linked with ICF categories in activities/participation and personal factors.
CONCLUSION: The core skills identified reflect general rehabilitation practice and a task-shifting approach, to address shortages of health workers in low-and middle-income countries.