ABSTRACT
Background: In most countries’ nurses are in short supply, but not as acute as in developing countries. An advanced world fulfils its role by attracting nurses from other countries, while developing countries cannot compete with higher wages. Aims & Objective: The current study was undertaken to analyse the reason for attrition and strategies for retention among staff nurses working at Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Chennai. Material & Methods: The subjects from the hospital about 50 nurses were selected for this study by simple random sampling method. The research design was organized and analyzed in terms of both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The study findings showed that a vast majority of nurses i.e. 35 samples (70%) had high attrition rate and 15 samples (30%) had moderate attrition rate. The attrition rate may vary in association with demographic variables results of the research showed that recommended counselling and social assistance will help and improve the quality of life of nurses and allow them to retain in the same hospital. Conclusion: The nurse administrator should motivate the staff nurses by conducting programs for their good lifestyle. Many service education programs should be organized for nurses to update their knowledge.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Meningococcal disease is caused by Neisseria meningitidis that can present as fever or respiratory infection developing into a fulminant course. In February 2005, WHO experts confirmed that the Cordillera Administrative Region of the Philippines experienced an outbreak of Serogroup A Meningococcal Disease where there was an unusually large proportion of meningococcemia cases. Objectives: This study aims to describe the clinical profile of pediatric patients discharged from a tertiary hospital with a diagnosis of meningococcal disease and to identify the etiologic agent. Methodology: This is a retrospective descriptive study involving chart review of patients 0-18 years of age discharged from October 2004 to October 2006 with a diagnosis of either meningococcemia, meningococcal meningitis or both. Results: There were 217 discharges with this diagnosis. Of these, 100 (46.08%) belonged to the 0-18 years of age, 47% of who were male, 64% were Baguio residents, 28% were 0-1 year old, 19% were between 2-5 years old and 26% were 15-18 years old. 100% had a history of fever and 90% had rashes. 51% had a discharge diagnosis of Meningococcemia. 32% died due to septic shock, DIC. The etiologic agent was identified as Neisseria meningitidis. Conclusion: Of the study population, 53% were female. Children 0-5 years of age were most affected (47%). 100% had a history of fever. 32% died of septic shock. 62% were confirmed by laboratory. The culprit of this epidemic was a hypervirulent strain of Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup A Subtype A 1.9 sensitive to Penicillin.