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Objective This study examined the perception and experience of hospitalized palliative care eligible patients receiving massage therapy from specially trained massaged therapist. Design Twenty hospitalized palliative care eligible patients received three differing doses of massage therapy from specially trained massage therapists. Patients were interviewed about their experience and perception related to the massage. Open-ended data were collected and analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Setting 912-bed tertiary hospital center in Washington, DC. Results Participants generally perceived the hospital-based massage experience positively. Participants noted how the massage experience provoked reflection on the overall hospital experience in two ways: first, as a reference point to the inpatient environment itself, and second, in terms of how massage reduces this distress and creates a sense of peace, at least temporarily. Conclusion The data collected in these semi-structured interviews showed that massage therapy can uniquely ameliorate some of the most pervasive challenges to quality of life for hospitalized patients affected by chronic and serious illness.

Falls are a common cause of serious injury and injury-related death in the older adult population, and may be associated with multiple risks such as age, history of falls, impaired mobility, balance and gait problems, and medications. Sensory and environmental factors as well as the fear of falling may also increase the risk of falls. The purpose of this article is to review current best practice on screening fall risks and fear of falling, fall prevention strategies, and fall prevention resources to assist gerontological nurses in reducing falls by their older adult clients.

A 56-year-old man was referred to the neurology service by his general practitioner for further management of his migraine. His symptoms had begun 6 years earlier with a fairly sudden onset headache on waking with associated nausea, vomiting, photophobia and neck stiffness. He was admitted to hospital under the general internal physicians; a CT brain scan was normal. He declined a lumbar puncture. He improved over 3 days and was discharged with a presumed diagnosis of viral meningitis. However, shortly afterwards he began to experience stereotyped headaches, which continued over the ensuing 6 years, about three attacks per week, with up to 2 weeks between attacks. He described the attacks as beginning with ‘lights floating’ in front of his eyes; he couldn't clearly recall if this was monocular or not. He also volunteered a description of ‘white patches floating in front of my vision’. These progressed in intensity over 20 min and then improved, always within an hour. This was then consistently followed by an evolving, throbbing headache, generally focused retro-orbitally on the left, frequently extending posteriorly to the vertex and occiput and also on occasion involving the right side. It would worsen over around 30 min to a severe throbbing pain during which he would lie or sit still. There was associated profound nausea, frequently with vomiting, photophobia and phonophobia. Typical headache duration was around 4 h, with a maximum of 7 h. The only triggers he recognised were coitus, when he would get an attack shortly after orgasm, and ‘artificial light’. There were no additional features, in particular any red eye, tearing, rhinorrhoea or nasal stuffiness. Between these attacks he was entirely headache free, with no systemic, neurological or visual symptoms. There was a background of …

Partial nasal obstruction was performed during a morning of quiet sleep (QS: non-REM) and active sleep (AS: REM) at ages 1 week, 2 weeks, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 months on 12 normal infants, 15 subsequent siblings of victims of the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and 12 infants admitted for investigation of infant apnoea (‘near-miss’ SIDS). In all three groups the numbers failing to arouse after 240 s (FTA-240) in QS were significantly greater than those in AS. After 2 months of age all groups showed a decrease in the number FTA-240 in AS, whereas in QS the number did not change significantly. Subsequent siblings of SIDS had a significantly higher number FTA-240 in QS than controls. There was no significant difference in FTA-240 in QS between controls and infant apnoeas, although there was a trend for this to be higher in subsequent siblings of SIDS than infant apnoeas. It was concluded that arousal from AS is more marked than from QS, that after 2 months of age the ability to arouse from AS increases, and that in relation to SIDS, QS is the sleep state in which the infant is less able to arouse. Furthermore, subsequent siblings of SIDS differ from normal infants in their ability to arouse from QS.