A new working party report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) says there should be a national system for recognising very sick patients whose condition is deteriorating and who need more intensive medical or nursing care. The working party also developed and piloted a National Early Warning Score for this purpose, which if implemented across the NHS, would result in a step-change upwards in patient safety.
Visit the NEWS pages of the RCP website to download the report and resources.
Speaking at a press conference to launch the National Early Warning Score, Professor Bryan Williams, chair of the working party, estimated that 6,000 lives could be saved by its use.*
The report, National early warning score (NEWS); standardising the assessment of acute-illness severity in the NHS, was produced by a multidisciplinary working group including doctors, nurses and managers. Clinical observation charts and e-learning materials were also produced by the NEWS educational programme, a collaborative project funded by the RCP, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the National Outreach Forum, and NHS Training for Innovation.
Each acute hospital bed has a chart that is used to record measurements such as the patient

According to a recent study, shift work is associated with an increased risk of a heart attack or stroke. Analysing the results of dozens of studies involving more than two million people, researchers looked at the health impact of evening shifts, irregular or unspecified shifts, mixed schedules, night shifts and rotating shifts. They compared the findings with non-shift workers and the general population. It appeared that heart attacks and strokes were more common among shift workers. Shift work was associated with a 23% increased risk of a heart attack and a 5% increased risk of a stroke. Night shifts were associated with the steepest increase in risk for coronary events. Whether you work nights, evenings or regular office hours, eating healthily, getting active and quitting smoking can make a big difference to your heart health irrespective of whether one works nights, evenings or regular office hours. The study was published in the British Medical Journal.

Contrary to popular thought, regular exercise before and during pregnancy could have beneficial effects for women that develop high blood pressure during gestation, human physiology professor Jeff Gilbert said, summarising a new study by his research team.
Gilbert

Mini-courses designed to increase creative stimulation and variety in physicians’ daily routines can sharpen critical thinking skills, improve job satisfaction and encourage innovative thinking, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers who piloted a series of such courses.
‘For decades, career development theory has identified a stage that occurs at midlife, characterised by a desire to escape the status quo and pursue new ventures,’ said Kimberly Myers, Ph.D., associate professor of humanities. ‘It is increasingly clear that these mid-career professionals are yearning to explore ways of thinking that are outside of their usual responsibilities.’
The courses are an outgrowth of a pilot initiative called the Penn State Hershey Physician Writers Group, which Myers founded and facilitated. The group met every other week for three months and explored how medically related topics are featured in different literary genres. Participants wrote original pieces, which they discussed and edited with each other and Myers.
‘The process of literary analysis, which is both methodical and intuitive, helps to sharpen the cognitive processes inherent in medical diagnosis and treatment that are so vital in medical practice,’ said Myers. ‘Group discussions also provide a refreshing opportunity for collaboration, which help to form new alliances among colleagues.’
Many physicians’ writings were published in professional journals, and the physicians reported overwhelming satisfaction with the experience. As a result of the pilot program’s success, the researchers and their colleagues in the Department of Humanities developed and conducted eight mini-courses on different topics throughout 2010-2011.
Although each course had its own objectives, the overarching goal of the series was to provide humanities-related, clinically relevant learning opportunities for health care practitioners.
‘The topics covered fell into four general categories: reading, reflection, and discussion; creative expression; technology; and ethics,’ said Daniel George, Ph.D., assistant professor of humanities.
To accommodate busy schedules, the researchers scheduled these courses across an eight-month period and met three to five times total. Each hour of participation earned one Continuing Medical Education credit. Participants included physicians, nurses, administrative and support staff, medical and nursing students and health researchers and scientists.
Post-course surveys proved as favourable as the feedback from the Writers Group. Participants reported a high degree of satisfaction with learning new disciplines outside of biomedicine, using their training in uncustomary ways, forming new camaraderie with their colleagues, and enjoying a respite from the stressful flow of the workday.
‘These courses offer an opportunity for intellectual and social ‘play’ to those who participate, which fosters workplace satisfaction and creative, innovative thinking,’ said George. ‘Efforts that implement programs like these in other medical settings could potentially contribute to reviving the health care system, which would ultimately benefit both practitioners and their patients.’ EurekAlert