Subspecialty Clinic Scheduling for Emergency Room Follow-ups: A Focus on Provider Satisfaction.

Inaccurate patient scheduling disrupts the continuity of care between patient and provider, diminishing satisfaction. One clinic had 19% of patients scheduled incorrectly after follow-up from emergency room visits. The purpose of this project was to reduce the number of incorrectly scheduled patients following up from emergency room visits that required orthopaedic consultations from advanced practice providers (APPs) and monitor the impact the change process had on APP job satisfaction. The design was nonexperimental, did not have a control group for comparison, and used standardized electronic health record documentation. A pretest and posttest design was used for the job satisfaction survey. Postimplementation data showed patients were correctly scheduled 97% of the time. Provider satisfaction improved from 2.375 to 3.125 on a 0- to 5-point scale as it pertains to clinic scheduling. Organizations can benefit from the use of standardized communication documentation to ensure proper follow-up for patients, improve continuity of care, and positively impact provider satisfaction.

Influences on Skeletal Health and Bone Mineralization in Children.

Bone is in its most active formation phase of mineralization in the pediatric and adolescent population. Peak bone mass is achieved around the late teens to early 20s. Deficient bone mineralization and decreased peak bone mass acquisition predispose an individual to childhood fractures or lifelong fracture risk. Adolescent fragility or stress fractures should prompt a secondary evaluation for the causes of a low bone mineral content, the root of a fracture. The purpose of this article is to review published literature that discusses the risk factors associated with a decreased bone mineral content in children from birth to the age of peak bone mass. The article also includes a public health planning model for pediatric osteoporosis.

The Future of Nursing: Application of Health Equity in Orthopaedics.

The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity report was released in May 2021 by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The goal is attainment of health equity in the United States using nursing capacity and expertise by designing a pathway for the nursing profession to generate a culture of health, reduce health disparities, and improve the nation's health and well-being. The focus of this article is to develop an awareness and understanding of the nine Future of Nursing recommendations for attaining health equity over the next decade with an application to orthopaedic nursing.

Orthopaedic Nursing and Heart Failure: A Review of Pathophysiology and Management.

Heart failure prevalence increases with age and is one of the most common reasons for inpatient hospitalizations. There are many opportunities for orthopaedic nurses to recognize the risks and symptoms of heart failure during an episode of orthopaedic care. In the context of bundled care, the orthopaedic nurse plays a key role in the prevention and early identification of complications that can prolong hospitalization and increase hospital readmission. This article presents two cases of patients with heart failure. The pathophysiology and management of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction are reviewed. Opportunities for orthopaedic nurses to impact care of patients at risk for or with heart failure are also highlighted.

Low-Fidelity Code Blue Simulation on the Orthopaedic Unit.

Orthopaedic nurses care for a range of patients with comorbid conditions, but because of the implementation of Rapid Response Teams, rarely do orthopaedic patients experience cardiac or respiratory arrest. Rapid Response Teams decrease emergent arrest situations on nursing units by intervening to treat clinical deterioration or move patients to a higher level of care prior to cardiac or respiratory arrest. Orthopaedic nurses still need to be prepared to act emergently with basic life support skills, which are only renewed every 2 years. Review of actual code blue events and the implementation of low-fidelity code blue simulation may improve comfort levels and performance of basic life support skills. The purpose of this article is to describe how educators designed a low-fidelity mandatory annual code blue simulation exercise for nurses to help increase confidence when faced with the rare cardiac or respiratory arrest emergency. The low-fidelity code blue simulation has been repeated annually and has been an effective exercise for orthopaedic nurses.

Oxytocin levels are lower in premenopausal women with type 1 diabetes mellitus compared with matched controls.

BACKGROUND: Oxytocin, a hormone most commonly associated with parturition and lactation, may have additional roles in diabetes complications. We determined oxytocin levels in premenopausal women with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) compared with non-diabetic controls and examined associations of oxytocin with health behaviours, clinical factors, biomarkers, kidney function and bone health. Lower oxytocin was hypothesized for T1DM. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of premenopausal women with T1DM (n = 88) from the Wisconsin Diabetes Registry Study, a population-based cohort of incident T1DM cases, and matched non-diabetic controls (n = 74) was conducted. RESULTS: Women with T1DM had lower oxytocin levels than controls adjusting for caffeine and alcohol use (p = 0.03). Health behaviours associated with oxytocin differed between women with and without T1DM: oxytocin was negatively associated with hormonal contraceptive use (quantified as lifetime contraceptive oestrogen exposure) in women with T1DM (p = 0.003), whereas positively related to hormonal contraceptive use (quantified as never/former/current) in controls (p < 0.001). Oxytocin had a positive association with adiposity (waist-to-hip ratio and leptin) in women with T1DM and a negative relationship with adiposity (weight gain) in controls. In T1DM only, oxytocin was positively associated with caffeine intake (p = 0.01) and negatively associated with alcohol use (p = 0.01). Oxytocin was not related to glycemic control, kidney function or bone health in T1DM. CONCLUSIONS: Oxytocin levels are lower in women with T1DM than matched controls. Oxytocin also has opposing associations with hormonal contraceptives and adiposity in women with and without T1DM. Research is needed to determine if the altered oxytocin milieu in T1DM is associated with oxytocinher health outcomes.

Different health behaviours and clinical factors associated with bone mineral density and bone turnover in premenopausal women with and without type 1 diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Women with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) have an elevated fracture risk. We therefore compared the associations of health behaviours and clinical factors with bone mineral density (BMD) and bone remodelling between premenopausal women with and without T1DM to inform potential interventions. METHODS: Participants included women with T1DM (n = 89) from the Wisconsin Diabetes Registry Study and age-matched and race-matched controls without diabetes (n = 76). Peripheral (heel and forearm) and central (hip and spine) BMD, markers of bone resorption and formation, bone cell signalling, glycaemic control, and kidney function were assessed. Health behaviours and medical history were self-reported. RESULTS: In controls, but not in women with T1DM, older age was associated with lower bone resorption (p ≤ 0.006) and formation (p = 0.0007). Body mass index was positively associated with heel and forearm BMD in both controls and T1DM women (all p < 0.0001), but with hip and spine BMD only in controls (p ≤ 0.005). Worse glycaemic control during the previous 10 years, greater alcohol intake, history of smoking, and lack of physical activity were associated with poorer bone outcomes only in women with T1DM (all p ≤ 0.002), whereas use of hormonal contraceptives was related to low bone formation in both women with and without T1DM (all p ≤ 0.006). Diabetes duration, insulin dose, residual C-peptide, and kidney function were not associated with bone in T1DM. CONCLUSIONS: Age and body mass index may not predict bone health in T1DM women. However, modifiable behaviours such as optimizing glycaemic control, limiting substance and hormonal contraceptive use, and increasing physical activity may improve bone health in T1DM women.

Diabetes distress may adversely affect the eating styles of women with type 1 diabetes.

The aim of this study was to determine the relationships among diabetes distress, fear of hypoglycemia, and eating styles in women with type 1 diabetes (T1DM). Fifteen women (mean age 37 ± 13.5 years) with T1DM completed surveys measuring diabetes distress, fear of hypoglycemia (FOH), and eating style. Height, weight, and A1C were obtained, and open-ended comments regarding hypoglycemic concerns and experiences were recorded. Diabetes distress was positively associated with A1C (r = .655, p = .008). High levels of external (73 %), emotional (47 %), and restrained (53 %) eating styles were reported. Emotional and external eating styles were positively associated with diabetes distress (r = .575 and r = .622; p < .05). Those with poorer glycemic control (A1C > 7 %; 53 mmol/mol) had higher levels of restrained eating behavior (F = 10.69, p = .006) and greater interpersonal distress (F = 5.916, p = .03) than those with better glycemic control (A1C < 7 %; 53 mmol/mol). A nonlinear relationship was identified between interpersonal distress and FOH (behavior subscale, p = .0383) indicating that fewer behavioral approaches were employed to avoid hypoglycemia at higher distress levels. The women in this sample were emotionally burdened by their disease. Distress was associated with eating styles linked with overeating and poor glycemic control. High levels of emotional and external eating styles may have important clinical implications for those with T1DM.