https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Index ${session.getAttribute("locale")} 5 https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:29929 FEver, hyperglycaemia (Sugar) and Swallowing (the FeSS protocols) in stroke, previously demonstrated in the Quality in Acute Stroke Care (QASC) trial to decrease 90-day death and dependency, into all stroke services in New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state. Design: Pre-test/post-test prospective study. Setting: 36 NSW stroke services. Methods: Our clinical translational initiative, the QASC Implementation Project (QASCIP), targeted stroke services to embed 3 nurse-led clinical protocols (the FeSS protocols) into routine practice. Clinical champions attended a 1-day multidisciplinary training workshop and received standardised educational resources and ongoing support. Using the National Stroke Foundation audit collection tool and processes, patient data from retrospective medical record self-reported audits for 40 consecutive patients with stroke per site pre-QASCIP (1 July 2012 to 31 December 2012) were compared with prospective self-reported data from 40 consecutive patients with stroke per site post-QASCIP (1 November 2013 to 28 February 2014). Inter-rater reliability was substantial for 10 of 12 variables. Primary outcome measures: Proportion of patients receiving care according to the FeSS protocols pre-QASCIP to post-QASCIP. Results: All 36 (100%) NSW stroke services participated, nominating 100 site champions who attended our educational workshops. The time from start of intervention to completion of post-QASCIP data collection was 8 months. All (n=36, 100%) sites provided medical record audit data for 2144 patients (n=1062 pre-QASCIP; n=1082 post-QASCIP). Pre-QASCIP to post-QASCIP, proportions of patients receiving the 3 targeted clinical behaviours increased significantly: management of fever (pre: 69%; post: 78%; p=0.003), hyperglycaemia (pre: 23%; post: 34%; p=0.0085) and swallowing (pre: 42%; post: 51%; p=0.033). Conclusions: We obtained unprecedented statewide scale-up and spread to all NSW stroke services of a nurse-led intervention previously proven to improve long-term patient outcomes. As clinical leaders search for strategies to improve quality of care, our initiative is replicable and feasible in other acute care settings.]]> Wed 15 Dec 2021 16:10:19 AEDT ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:6972 Wed 11 Apr 2018 15:26:57 AEST ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:48570 Tue 21 Mar 2023 18:40:40 AEDT ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:41945 Tue 16 Aug 2022 14:24:17 AEST ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:34659 20%), but this was only statistically significant in adjusted analyses (unadjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI] , 0.58-1.07; P=0.13; adjusted HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.59-0.99; P=0.045). Older age (75-84 years; HR, 4.9; 95% CI, 2.8-8.7; P < 0.001) and increasing stroke severity (HR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.3-1.9; P < 0.001) were associated with increased mortality, while being married (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.49-0.99; P=0.042) was associated with increased likelihood of survival. Cardiovascular disease (including stroke) was listed either as the primary or secondary cause of death in 80% (211/264) of all deaths. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the potential long-term and sustained benefit of nurse-initiated multidisciplinary protocols for management of fever, hyperglycemia, and swallowing dysfunction. These protocols should be a routine part of acute stroke care.]]> Thu 03 Feb 2022 12:20:16 AEDT ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:15698 Sat 24 Mar 2018 08:22:27 AEDT ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:21364 11 mmol/L). We also recorded swallow screening and assessment during the first 24 h of admission. Results: Data for 718 (98%) patients were available; 138 (19%) had four hourly or more temperature readings and 204 patients (29%) had a fever, with 44 (22%) receiving paracetamol. A quarter of patients (n = 102/412, 25%) had six hourly or more glucose readings and 23% (95/412) had hyperglycemia, with 31% (29/95) of these treated with insulin. The majority of patients received a swallow assessment (n = 562, 78%) by a speech pathologist in the first instance rather than a swallow screen by a nonspeech pathologist (n = 156, 22%). Of those who passed a screen (n = 108 of 156, 69%), 68% (n = 73) were reassessed by a speech pathologist and 97% (n = 71) were reconfirmed to be able to swallow safely. Conclusions: Our results showed that acute stroke patients were: undermonitored and undertreated for fever and hyperglycemia; and underscreened for swallowing dysfunction and unnecessarily reassessed by a speech pathologist, indicating the need for urgent behavior change.]]> Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:51:25 AEDT ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:28777 11 mmol/l), and swallowing dysfunction in intervention stroke units. Results: Data from 1804 patients (718 preintervention; 1086 postintervention) showed that significantly more patients admitted to hospitals allocated to the intervention group received care according to the fever (n = 186 of 603, 31% vs. n = 74 of 483, 15%, P < 0·001), hyperglycemia (n = 22 of 603, 3·7% vs. n = 3 of 483, 0·6%, P = 0·01), and swallowing dysfunction protocols (n = 241 of 603, 40% vs. n = 19 of 483, 4·0%, P ≤ 0·001). Significantly more patients in these intervention stroke units received four-hourly temperature monitoring (n = 222 of 603, 37% vs. n = 90 of 483, 19%, P < 0·001) and six-hourly glucose monitoring (194 of 603, 32% vs. 46 of 483, 9·5%, P < 0·001) within 72 hours of admission to a stroke unit, and a swallowing screen (242 of 522, 46% vs. 24 of 350, 6·8%, P ≤ 0·0001) within the first 24 hours of admission to hospital. There was no difference between the groups in the treatment of patients with fever with paracetamol (22 of 105, 21% vs. 38 of 131, 29%, P = 0·78) or their hyperglycemia with insulin (40 of 100, 40% vs. 17 of 57, 30%, P = 0·49). Interpretation Our intervention resulted in better protocol adherence in intervention stroke units, which explains our main trial findings of improved patient 90-day outcomes. Although monitoring practices significantly improved, there was no difference between the groups in the treatment of fever and hyperglycemia following acute stroke. A significant link between improved treatment practices and improved outcomes would have explained further the success of our intervention, and we are still unable to explain definitively the large improvements in death and dependency found in the main trial results. One potential explanation is that improved monitoring may have led to better overall surveillance of deteriorating patients and faster initiation of treatments not measured as part of the main trial.]]> Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:23:45 AEDT ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:32413 Mon 23 Sep 2019 12:03:48 AEST ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:47867 Fri 03 Feb 2023 14:14:59 AEDT ]]>