ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the effect of head nurses′tutoring and commenting on nursing ward round. Methods The nursing ward rounds performed during August 2013 to July 2014 were assigned as the control group and those nursing ward rounds during August 2014 to August 2015 as observation group: in the former group routine nursing ward rounds were done once a week and in the latter the rounds were performed by head nurses′tutoring and commenting once every week. The two groups were compared in terms of examination performances of nursing ward rounds, doctors′ and nurses′ satisfaction degree, nurses′ and student nurses′evaluation on the ward rounds and their critical thinking ability. Results The examination performances and the satisfaction degree in the observation group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). The nurses in the observation group thought the head nurse′s commenting at ward rounds could be more effective than those from the control group in their improvement of theoretical knowledge and clinical ability (P<0.05). In terms of critical thinking by California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory-Chinese Version), the total score and the scores on its dimensions in the observation group were significantly higher than those of the control group. Conclusion The nursing ward rounds by head nurses′tutoring and commenting can help the nurses to strengthen their ability in nursing ward rounds and improve their theory and clinical practice so that the nursing quality is improved.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Kyphoplasty-assisted bone cement augmentation can be used in lumbar pedicle screw fixation of osteoporotic patients.OBJECTIVE: To assess the fixation strengths of loosened sacral screws augmented with kyphoplasty-assisted and traditional bone cement techniques.METHODS: Fresh sacra were harvested from nine osteoporotic cadavers. After testing bilaterally placed unicortical and bicortical pedicle screws, two unicortical pedicle screws with the traditional and kyphoplasty-assisted cement augmentations were established on the same sacrum. Following 2000 cyclic compression loading to screw head on a MTS machine, their maximum pull-out forces were recorded and compared. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The bone mineral densities of nine specimens were ranged from 0.61 to 0.77 g/cm2 (0.71 g/cm2 in average). The mean maximum pull-out forces of unicortical and bicortical screws, and traditional and kyphoplasty-assisted cement screws were 203, 325, 437, and 565 N, respectively. The pull-out force was significantly higher in bicortical screw compared with unicortical (P < 0.05); however, these two fixations exhibited markedly lower pull-out strength compared with two cement augmentation techniques (P < 0.05). The pull-out strength was significantly higher in kyphoplasty-assisted cement augmentation group compared with traditional bone cement technique (P < 0.05). In addition, a significant positive correlation was exhibited between bone mineral density and pull-out force for the four fixations (P < 0.05). Results demonstrated that traditional and kyphoplasty-assisted cement augmentations can serve as the salvage technique for loosening sacral screw. However, kyphoplasty-assisted augmentation can provide higher stability.