TUS: Midlands Nursing and Health Blog: April 2015

Friday, April 17, 2015

NQNBC: The Width of a room: The exceptional nurses are the ones I remember most vividly:

I’ve often been asked why I took the decision to become a nurse over the last few years, and I get the impression that most of the time my response is not quite what is expected.

My journey to become a nurse began the morning of New Year’s Eve, 2009, when I was rushed to hospital with acute abdominal pain - dramatic but true. I won’t go into the minutiae of my month-long stay, but perhaps the length of my visit gives some indication as to how ill I was. It was without doubt one of the worst and most miserable periods of my life, yet also one of the most life affirming and pivotal. There were many nurses who looked after me during that time, some bad, some good, and some exceptional.

The exceptional nurses are the ones I remember most vividly:

Seeing those nurses walk onto the ward in the morning was often all it took to immeasurably improve my mood and day, irrespective of whether they were my designated nurse for that shift or not. Their mere presence made me feel confident that I would be cared for and ultimately safe during a very frightening period of overwhelming illness and uncertainty.

NMBI statement regarding €150 payments

Friday 10 April 2015: Following the decision by the Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) to reverse the Annual Retention Fee (ARF) back to €100 for 2015, NMBI is to hold the additional €50 associated with the €150 payments in the registrants’ names as credit towards their fee for 2016. This will reduce registrants’ ARF payment for next year by €50.

Registrants should also be aware that they are entitled to a refund of the €50 as an alternative to this credit, and to seek this refund they can contact NMBI by emailing refund2015@NMBI.ie with the relevant PIN

Go to website

Alarm over use of security staff to restrain patients

Inspector’s report says restraint should only be carried out by health professionals

Inspectors have expressed alarm that a mental health unit has been using security staff to physically restrain residents.

In a report into the acute psychiatric unit of the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Ennis, Co Clare, the Inspector of Mental Health Services found two security staff were engaged in ordering and initiating the restraint of patients in some instances.

While this practice was originally introduced for the management of one individual, the 39-bed unit had since used security personnel in restraint of other residents.

Facilities for patients with acute psychiatric difficulties in Waterford University Hospital remain unsuitable despite a recent €1.2 million upgrade, according to a new report.

The Inspector of Mental Health Services reports for 2014 also outlined concerns over the admission of children to adult facilities as well as “careless” prescription practices in certain centres.

Despite being largely compliant across various categories the Waterford hospital came in for particular criticism, and inspectors concluded that attempted improvements to the acute unit at the Department of Psychology failed to address issues of design, layout and care facilities.

As a result, residents of the 10-person unit were left without dining facilities or adequate seating area
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Psychiatric nurses reject calls for increased productivity

Union says psychiatric nurses want ‘unfettered’ return of pay lost during recession

The Psychiatric Nurses’ Association has become the latest union to reject calls by Government ministers for increased productivity in return for pay increases.

PNA general secretary Des Kavanagh said his members wanted forthcoming talks between Government and unions to result in a reinstatement of previous pay levels without any strings attached.

INMO survey finds rise in bullying of nurses and midwives

A large-scale survey of more than 2,000 nurses and midwives in Ireland suggests 6% of respondents are being bullied on a daily basis.
The last survey on the incidence of workplace among nurses and midwives was carried out in 2010 and according to this latest study the problem has worsened significantly since then.

The survey of 2,400 members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation found that almost 6% of respondents reported being bullied on an almost daily
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Tuesday, April 7, 2015

HSE failed to act on Portlaoise safety risks – Hiqa

The Government “determined” Portlaoise hospital should have 24-hour surgery and critical care but did not ensure it was safely resourced to provide this level of service, according to a controversial draft report by the State’s health regulator.
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Thursday, April 2, 2015

3 Steps to Heal Adrenal Fatigue

Adrenal fatigue is estimated to affect around 80% of people in the world! According to James Wilson (author of “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome”) chronic stress and lifestyle affects the body’s ability to recuperate from physical, mental or emotional stress.

Whether for a short time, or a chronic condition, most people will struggle with adrenal fatigue at some point in their life.

Do you sometimes have:

body aches
trouble concentrating
racing thoughts
moodiness and irritability
constant tiredness
feeling overwhelmed
hormone imbalance
cravings for sweet and salty foods

These symptoms can be indicative of a few different disorders, and are often overlooked by doctors, but more and more people are starting to realize that a combination of these could indicate the onset of adrenal fatigue also known as adrenal insufficiency.

WebMD

Hep C patients clear virus after 'transformative' treatment

Around 80 patients with the Hepatitis C virus who were seriously ill with advanced liver disease, have cleared the virus from their blood after receiving new treatment under an early access programme introduced in December.

Of the patients who received the treatment, 95% have been found to have no evidence of the Hepatitis C virus in their blood.

Dr Suzanne Norris, Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, TCD and St James's Hospital described the results as "transformative".

A drugs firm has been accused of trying to block access to what some doctors believe is a cheap, safe and effective drug to treat a common eye condition.

The British Medical Journal claims it has revealed a campaign to derail research into the cancer drug Avastin.

The claim has been denied by Novartis, the firm which markets the officially licensed drug, Lucentis, in the UK.

Many doctors use Avastin as a cheaper but unlicensed alternative to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

AMD affects at least 26,000 people each year in the UK and if left untreated can cause blindness.

The latest research puts the number at around 40,000, of which around two-thirds are likely to need treatment.

Read More

Portlaoise hospital criticised in new report

Fewer than one in six patient complaints to the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise, is dealt with in the target time of 30 days, according to an unpublished HSE report.

Concerns over the hospital’s inability to deal with complaints and requests for information were identified by the hospital manager on 16 separate occasions between 2011 and 2014, but there was little evidence of any “purposeful action”, it says

A HSE-run care unit for people with disabilities was told to cease admissions and transfer residents that it was unable to care for following a highly critical inspection report.

Inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) conducted an unannounced inspection of St Peter’s Services in Castlepollard, Co Westmeath last December following concerns over the safety and welfare of residents.