ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Until today there existed no major studies about the wide range of currently utilized methods or potential sociodemographic and institutional influences on utilization despite an immense interest among nurses in alternative nursing methods (in this study referred to as home remedies). METHODS: In this study, from standardized questionnaires with a convenience sample of three different settings of nursing practice, i.e. acute-care, nursing homes, and home health care were analyzed using the statistical program SPSS. RESULTS: Our analysis showed that a wide range of traditional home remedies is being utilized, e.g. application of heat and cold or herbal infusion (herbal teas). Furthermore, lay approaches such as aromatherapy were also commonly used. The statistical analysis revealed complex influences of age, duration of nursing practice and institutional setting in the utilization of home remedies. CONCLUSION: There is need for more systematic studies to further examine the alternative methods or home remedies so popular among nurses and their patients. Regarding a more consistent naming of the variety of different methods coming from naturopathy, folk and lay medicine, the authors suggest the term "integrative nursing care".
Subject(s)
Holistic Nursing/methods , Medicine, Traditional , Nurse-Patient Relations , Adult , Attitude of Health Personnel , Female , Germany , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Phytotherapy , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Eating and drinking become difficult for people afflicted with dementia. We have therefore analysed the mealtime constellation in five cases of institutionalised people suffering from Alzheimer using video in an open technique. The process of eating and drinking entailed intensive interaction between patients and their nurses. The demented were apparently in possession of extensive nonverbal communicative ability to both transmit and receive signals. It proved possible to identify behavioral factors that hinder or benefit the mealtime procedure of the analysed cases.
Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease/psychology , Drinking Behavior , Feeding Behavior , Aged , Alzheimer Disease/physiopathology , Communication , Geriatric Assessment , Humans , Kinesics , Videotape RecordingABSTRACT
The article reports radiological appearance and histopathological findings of interstitial pneumonias in 58 children with systemic malignancies under cytostatic treatment. The majority of cases suffered from acute lymphocytic leukemia, and at the time of pneumonia were in partial or complete remission. Eighteen children died of this radiological type of pneumonia. The autopsies of these cases revealed the presence of pneumocystis as the causative agent in 50% of the cases, also observed by other authors. It is concluded that the radiological appearance, as reported here is mostly due to pneumocystic pneumonias. It is therefore suggested that Pentamidine treatment should be given at an early stage. The cytostatic treatment should be discontinued till the pneumonia is completely cured.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use , Leukemia, Lymphoid/drug therapy , Pneumonia, Pneumocystis/complications , Autopsy , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Leukemia, Lymphoid/complications , Male , Pentamidine/therapeutic use , Pneumonia, Pneumocystis/diagnostic imaging , Pneumonia, Pneumocystis/drug therapy , Pneumonia, Pneumocystis/pathology , Radiography , Remission, Spontaneous , Time FactorsABSTRACT
The radiologic appearances of interstitial pneumonia are described as they appeared in 39 children treated with immunosuppressive and cytostatic substances given for malignant systemic disease. At the time most of the children were in a stage of remission of their basic illness. In most of them there may have been a pneumocystis carinii infection. 15 children died of this pneumonia. In the majority of post-mortem examinations pneumocysts could be detected.
