Background-Nurse led clerking is currently practiced in a growing number of UK centres, but there is a paucity of evidence to underpin the safety of this innovation. Aim-To assess the safety of nurse led clerking in paediatric day case and minor surgery. Methods-Children aged 3 months to 15 years were randomly assigned to clerking by either a nurse or a senior house oYcer (SHO) (resident). All children were then independently reassessed by a specialist registrar anaesthetist to provide a "gold standard" against which practitioner performance could be judged. Results-In 60 children studied, nurses identified a significantly greater proportion of the detectable abnormalities present in the sample (p = 0.16). This difference is attributable to nurses' greater accuracy in history taking (p = 0.04); no conclusions regarding the comparability of nurses' and SHOs' skills in physical examination can be derived from the current study. Conclusion-Evidence attests to the likelihood of nursing having superior skills in history taking to SHOs. Exploration of nursing safety in undertaking physical examination, however, requires the conduct of a large scale equivalence study. Only then can conclusions be drawn as to whether nurse led physical assessment oVers children a standard of care equivalent to that which they currently receive from SHOs.
Introduction
Tonsillectomy and adenotonsillectomy are together the most common pediatric surgical procedure and are increasingly performed as day cases. Postoperative pain is commonly severe for 1–2 weeks, but parental analgesia concerns lead to poor analgesia prescription compliance and under administration. This service evaluation assessed parental compliance with analgesia, elicited parental concerns, and obtained parental suggestions for improving the current written advice.
Methods
Telephone questionnaires were completed on postoperative Days 3/4 and 7 with 42 parents of pediatric (adeno)‐tonsillectomy patients over a 6‐month period, peri‐pandemic. The questionnaire collected categorical data on: analgesia prescribed and administered, the child's symptoms, and healthcare resource use. Qualitative data on barriers to analgesia administration and suggestions for written advice improvement were grouped thematically.
Results
Sore throats were reported by 93.3% parents between discharge and Day 3/4 but only 43.3% parents had 100% compliance with regular paracetamol and ibuprofen in the same time period. Parents frequently avoided morphine administration, expressing concerns about side effects, addiction, and previous experience. Parents were also concerned about using ibuprofen, discrepancies between weight‐based and bottle instruction doses, and the length of the analgesia course. Parents would like further written information and reassurance on these topics as well as guidance on tapering or stopping analgesics and whether to wake their child at night.
Conclusion
The breadth of unmet information needs identified in this service evaluation, alongside parental suggestions, will be used to improve the current written advice with the aim to improve the postoperative pain experience at home. These include information on length of analgesic course, safety of ibuprofen and paracetamol coadministration for analgesia, and details about morphine administration, including safety, side effects, and indication.
Patients with congenital heart disease are surviving well into adulthood thanks to advances in medical and clinical care. We present a patient with Ebstein anomaly who underwent surgical tricuspid valve replacement and suffered early valve stenosis due to her unique anatomy. This case highlights the importance of the "unnatural" anatomy that can be encounter in this challenging patient population.
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