Lenus,the Irish health repository

Lenus is Ireland’s foremost repository for health services research and grey literature. It was launched in 2009 and is managed by the Regional Library & Information Service in Dr Steevens’ Hospital, Dublin.

Lenus makes available the research output of the many organisations providing healthcare in the Republic of Ireland, along with their administrative, clinical and regulatory publications which together provide the background and context for Irish healthcare.

Connect to Lenus

Diabetes and Yogurt

Yogurt lovers may have reason to rejoice. A new study shows regular consumption of this dairy aisle favorite reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health followed more than 40,000 men and 150,000 women for one to two decades. Participants filled out food-frequency questionnaires at the start and then every two years, to help evaluate the association between dairy consumption and the incidence of type 2 diabetes in adults
Read more on Medline Plus Health Topics

So finally my patient died!

Once in a very long while you get somebody under your hands who ought to have been let go months before.

We had somebody like that the other month: multiple surgeries for a brain tumor that was not going to go away (grade IV glioblastoma), multiple rounds of chemo and radiation, and in the middle of all of that, a surgery for an abscess that led to wound-vac sponges all down one side of the poor sot's body.
Read more on Head Nurse Blog

New Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics

The new Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics has been developed by NMBI and is effective from 10 December 2014.   It replaces the Code of Professional Conduct for Each Nurse and Midwife (2000) and follows an extensive consultation process.

The purpose of the Code is to guide nurses and midwives in their day-to-day practice and help them to understand their professional responsibilities in caring for patients in a safe, ethical and effective way.

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Plans for mental health services at risk without adequate staffing

Mental Health Reform has warned that measures announced today (27/11/2014) in the HSE National Service Plan 2015 to improve mental health services will not be achievable without adequate numbers of staff. The Service Plan for 2015 commits to investing €35 million in community-based mental health services, 24/7 crisis responses, suicide prevention and mental health promotion.
Dr Shari McDaid, Director of Mental Health Reform, commented: “The HSE’s ability to provide people in mental and emotional distress with the support they need depends on having skilled staff in place. Mental health is a people business. Services cannot deliver the 24/7 crisis intervention support and community-based follow-up without an adequate number of skilled staff. Mental health services lost 1,000 posts in the early years of the recession, mostly nurses, and since December 2012 a further 133 nursing posts have been lost.”
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AIIHPC: All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care

AIIHPC strategically supports the delivery of outstanding, innovative research by building capacity, quality

and sustainability and translating research output into practical impact on policy and services.

We are dedicated to identifying and developing collaborations with other funding organisations and stakeholders to enhance the availability of funding for research in palliative care, and to create, where appropriate, opportunities for knowledge exchange and translation.

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Ireland facing ‘silent epidemic’ of superbugs, doctors told

Antibiotic use in Irish nursing homes is twice as high as any other country in Europe.

Ireland and other European countries are experiencing a “silent epidemic” of superbugs caused by rising resistance to antibiotics, a conference on primary care has been told.

The problem far exceeds the threat posed by Ebola, with over 25,000 deaths a year inEurope due to multi-drug resistant organisms, according to Dr Nuala O’Connor of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP).

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What I Wish You Understood About My Depression

There are many persistent misconceptions about depression. For instance, people assume depression is synonymous with sadness. (It’s not.)
They also assume that individuals with depression can simply snap out of it. (They can’t. Mild depression may abate with exercise, meditation and other self-help strategies. But most people’s clinical depression usually requires treatment.)
Such misconceptions can lead us to misinterpret what people need. It can lead us to make insensitive comments — “are you sure you want to get better?” — and to be dismissive of a disease that is actually devastating and really hard.
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Anger and Anorexia

It took an eating disorder to finally teach me how to get angry.
Many people with eating disorders are like me in that they feel reluctant — even downright refuse — to express anger. This is by and large a learned behavior.
I grew up in a home where anger was like the steam in a pressure cooker: we kept the lid on until it burst and sprayed boiling liquid everywhere. Consequently, the message I internalized was twofold: Anger is loud, unpredictable, and dangerous; and negative emotions should be concealed.

But if you’ve ever tried bottling your emotions, then you know it doesn’t work for long.

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Nursing Library Book of the Week

AIT Health Science Library Book of the Week     4 copies available

AUTHOR Drumm, Brendan, author.
TITLE The challenge of change : putting patients before providers / Brendan Drumm.
CALL NO. 362.109415 DRU



The Challenge of Change is a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of a major transition period in Ireland’s health system. Brendan Drumm records his experiences as chief executive of the Health Service Executive (2005-2010) and recounts his vision for Ireland’s health service. While acknowledging the problems with and criticisms of the HSE, Drumm’s vision has been and still is one of reform. The Challenge of Change discusses how the foundations for an integrated healthcare system were laid in Drumm’s five years in the HSE; highlights the obstacles to an integrated healthcare system and healthcare reform in Ireland, including the political and public service system, and the challenge of bringing doctors, nurses and other clinicians along with change; discusses all the major issues that Drumm dealt with in his role and that the HSE is still dealing with, including the National Children’s Hospital, developing primary care teams, the new consultants’ contract and major adverse events; and gives an insider’s view on the challenges to reform in a public sector context, which feeds into the wider problem of consensus in Ireland’s governance structures – in anything from the banks to the political system.

The Ultimate Antioxidant: Fight Premature Aging for Free

Do you notice you feel better when you walk barefoot on the Earth? Recent research has explained why this happens.

Your immune system functions optimally when your body has an adequate supply of electrons, which are easily and naturally obtained by barefoot contact with the Earth.

Research indicates that electrons from the Earth have antioxidant effects that can protect your body from inflammation and its many well-documented health consequences. For most of our evolutionary history, humans have had continuous contact with the Earth.

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Noel Edmonds exercises in dark every week 'for health'

Noel Edmonds puts his healthy looks down to a daily burst of electromagnetic energy, drinking health shakes and slowly exercising in the dark.

The 65-year-old Deal Or No Deal presenter, whose looks have hardly changed since he fronted Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Noel's House Party and Top Of The Pops in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, feels that he is ageing well.

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MHI launches new NFQ Level 6 Certificate Programme - Mental Health in the Communit

Mental Health in the Community

Commencing October 22^nd 2014 in Tralee Co. Kerry 

Recognising a growing interest in mental health, Mental Health Ireland and Adult Continuing Education, UCC have joined forces to offer a new and innovative part time evening course, the Certificate in Mental Health in the Community. The course will look at how communities can support and enhance mental and emotional wellbeing through good practice in mental health promotion and suicide prevention. It examines contemporary issues in mental healthcare in both policy and practice, exploring what can work for people who experience mental health difficulties in supporting their recovery.   

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Mental Health Matters

As mental health problems are increasing, it is now more important than ever for people to be introduced to the concept of positive mental health

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