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The use of the DOS and Delirium Prevalence: a quantitative longitudinal study at a Swiss-German central hospital Abstract: Background: With a prevalence of 12-64%, delirium is a common complication in acute care, associated with negative outcomes such as increased mortality and prolonged length of stay. Many hospitals have guidelines to improve the delirium management. The Delirium Observation Screening Scale (DOS) Score is collected in the study hospital from all patients ≥ 70 years at each shift for at least 3 days. Delirium is diagnosed by a physician and coded according to ICD-10. Purpose: Evaluation of the delirium screening with the DOS according to internal guideline in terms of number of DOS assessments performed, prevalence of delirium (DOS score ≥ 3 points, CD-10 code delirium). Method: This retrospective quantitative single-centre longitudinal study used 2017 and 2018 data of 10046 cases. Statistical analysis methods were used to analyse prevalence of delirium and subgroup comparisons. Results: At least one DOS score was documented in 92% of cases aged ≥ 70-years (n = 5038). DOS implementation varied between 60% in the early, 49% in the late and 38% in the night shift. The prevalence of delirium was 12% according to DOS score ≥ 3 and 4% according to physician diagnosis of a delirium. Cases with a DOS score ≥ 3 were significantly older, more often female, had more comorbidities and were depressed. Conclusions: DOS is performed in most patients when indicated. The DOS implementation frequency varied depending on the shift.

"Feeling secure at home" starts in the hospital: A qualitative study about the experience of patients with a APN hematology Abstract. Background: High dose chemotherapy (HDC) and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are complex procedures bringing about physical and mental stress for the persons affected. In preparation for the time after their stay in the hospital, patients need individual support and education already during their hospital stay. Aim: The study investigated how patients after HDC with or without HSCT experienced the preparations by a hematology Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) for the post hospitalization phase and how they experienced managing their day-to-day life back at home. Methods: The qualitative research approach "Interpretive Description" was applied by conducting and subsequently transcribing eleven individual interviews with six participants. The texts were read multiple times before being coded. They were continuously compared with each other and similar contents were assigned the same codes. Results: Patients find themselves in a "process of increasingly feeling secure". This process is supported by the preparation of the APN. This is reflected in three themes during their hospitalization: the relationship of trust with the APN, the comprehensive overview of the APN and the APN strengthening the feeling of security. The experience of finding back to daily life at home shows that the process of "increasingly feeling secure" is ongoing. Themes within this phase were: arriving at home, resuming daily routines and implementing the information received from the APN. Conclusions: The companionship provided by the APN enables patients to appropriately cope with their day-to-day life at home. The findings suggest that the preparations of the APN facilitate the transition from the hospital to day-to-day life back home.

Conflicts between persons with opioid dependency and professionals in an acute hospital: A qualitative document analysis Abstract: Background: Opioid dependency is a chronic disease with severe health and social consequences. Patients often suffer from chronic infectious diseases, the consequences of which require treatment in an acute care hospital. On hospital wards, conflicts between patients with opioid dependency and professionals can be observed frequently. Aim: This study explores in which situations and for which reasons conflicts arise. Methods: Entries of professionals in patient charts were analysed qualitatively according to the Thematic Analysis. Results: Entries of 177 cases were analysed and three themes were identified. "Different priorities in the context of an acute hospital" showed that patients and professional teams often had divergent views on what is important during hospitalisation. "Self-medicating" provided evidence that patients suffered from symptoms that were inadequately treated and therefore self-medicated. The basic need "to be perceived as a human being" was not always met in the acute care hospital. Conclusions: Our results show causes and types of conflicts. Divergent values, under-treatment of addiction-specific symptoms and pain, and incomplete expertise among professionals appear to be causal, as does the lack of implementation of harm reduction.