Can environmental interventions reduce the consumption of sugar sweetened drinks? A new Cochrane review.

Sugar‐sweetened beverages (SSBs) have become part of most people's everyday lives. They are cold and hot drinks containing added sugar. Typical SSBs are non‐diet soft drinks, regular soda, iced tea, sports drinks, energy drinks, fruit punches, sweetened waters, and sweetened tea and coffee.

Source: Unsplash

Environmental interventions to reduce the consumption of sugar‐sweetened beverages and their effects on health. Cochrane Systematic Review - Intervention Version published: 12 June 2019

Peter von Philipsborn,Jan M Stratil,Jacob Burns,Laura K Busert,Lisa M Pfadenhauer,Stephanie Polus, Christina Halzapel, Hans Hauner and Eva Rehfuess.

The authors of this review wanted to find out whether the measures taken so far have made a difference to the amount of SSBs people consume, and whether it's led to an improvement their health. They focused on measures that change the environment in which people make drink choices. They did not look at studies on educational programs or on SSBs taxes, as these are examined in separate reviews. They did however, look at the increased prices of SSBs that were not due to taxes.

The review shows that actions which change the environment in which people make beverage choices can help people drink less SSB. Based on the findings it is suggested that such measures may be used more widely. Government officials, business community members and health professionals implementing such measures should work together with researchers to find out more about their effects in the short and long term.

Read more here.

MNCLHD Newsletter

Paramedic PTSD double that of other health professionals

Rates of PTSD among Australian paramedics are estimated to be twice as high as other health professionals, according to a new study.

Research commissioned by the Ambulance Employees Association (AEA) and conducted by Flinders University, found that paramedics are the ‘forgotten profession’ within the healthcare system and are not receiving enough help to overcome psychological injuries caused by accumulated traumas they confronted by in their work.

The situation is often compounded by the fact that WorkCover (called Return to Work in South Australia) claims are prolonged, stressful and often difficult, as burden of proof is hard to establish and the onus is on an individual to provide evidence of psychological injury while they are unwell.

Read more here at Hospital and Healthcare

How to navigate complex ethical dilemmas

When our care system is in crisis, how do hospitals decide how to distribute scarce resources?

The recent crisis in Queensland’s hospital system shines a light on the complex challenges practitioners and administrators grapple with every day.

Hospitals were faced with multiple public health events, a glitch-ridden system upgrade, and a bed shortage that led to emergency departments dealing with a flood of people seeking help and waiting days for admission. Experts warned that the situation was heading to a point where lives were at risk.

How should hospitals tackle this impossible task? Click here to read more

                                                                                                          source: Hospital & Healthcare

Flashback Friday - Can you have your curry and eat it too?

Revisiting an article whose lead author is our very own Alan Tankel.

The VHOT (Vindaloo Hastens Outpouring of Tropinins) Study.

Alan S. Tankel, Yusuf Nagree, Peter Jones, David Mountain, Stephen P.J. MacDonald, Paul Hill, Martin Than. (2016) Emergency Medicine Australasia 28(6): 654-657.

In this study the authors considered that multiple cardiac and non-cardiac processes may cause elevation of highly sensitive troponin (hsTn), they postulated that the consumption of a seriously hot vindaloo might cause and increase in hsTn levels in healthy volunteers.

This study undertook to investigate the risks involved in consumption of "seriously hot" Lamb Vindaloo vs the mild yogurt and cream based curry "for those very odd people who do not like their curries too spicy" Butter Chicken. The 30 volunteer participants who were staff at the hospital where the study was undertaken, enjoyed a fabulous meal of butter chicken and this was followed up to weeks later with the seriously hot lamb vindaloo - side dishes accompanied both meals.

This was a prospective observational cohort study with pre-test post-test bloods drawn for hsTn levels. To cut to the chase so as not to ruin it all for you; it's fabulous for all of us spicy hot curry lovers, that eating vindaloo does not seem to be a risk factor for troponitis, and people may consume their curries safely with reasonable confidence that their meal will not cause significant damage to their myocardium.

The researchers were assisted by "Big Pharma", who demonstrated how to conduct a post hoc analysis, maximising the opportunity to obtain results to support the researchers' predetermined conclusions. However the study was still negative and therefore of no commercial value to anyone. The volunteers paid for their own meals and no external funding was obtained.

I very much enjoyed reading this article and have not spoiled all of the good bits for you. I'm visiting India later in the year so am very pleased that there will be no problem eating my way through various curries! If you would like to obtain the full text of this awesomely amusing yet informative article contact your Librarian at Coffs or Port Macquarie for a copy.

MNCLHD – Dorrigo Writing Retreat

It was with excitement that I set off with a colleague to attend this writer’s retreat. Having not attended anything like this before I did not know what to expect. We have been given a list of aims of the retreat and the format of how the days would be run.

When I first scanned the format I thought well we are going to be doing a lot of eating, writing, talking and then writing eating and talking some more! We had to take along something that we had already been working on for further development into something that could be published.

I can say that I was impressed with the location selected as I had stayed there previously and thought that it would be very conducive to a writing focus.

The aims of the retreat were achieved one hundred percent! The other participants were friendly and sharing of both their skills and experiences as well as their perceived shortcomings. I think that some of the attendees were selling themselves short at the beginning, but by the end of the retreat walked away with confidence in their ability to complete and publish an academic paper lifted. We learned how to target a journal suitable for our work and to write to that journal, what to do with reviewer comments and feedback and much more.

The learning environment was an informal style suited to health professionals and was passed on by the facilitators who told of their own experiences while learning and writing, and how their writing had helped others. The message was clear that there is no point in researching and learning if the knowledge gained was not shared to enable it to be put to use by others. As a Librarian I know that there are many people who present at conferences and never write up their research. How do I know this? It’s because others find the abstracts or posters, are interested in the work and ask me to find the paper that came from it. The number of times I have to tell them that there is no paper is almost unbelievable. Sometimes I think that people think I just can't find it but, trust me!... I'm a Librarian.

I would not hesitate to recommend this retreat to anyone interested in pushing themselves into taking that step to publish. There is another Writer's Retreat coming up in June from 26th to 28th. There are limited places available. Contact Alycia Jacob for further information Alycia.Jacob@newcastle.edu.au

Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety: the key clinical issues.

Joseph E. Ibrahim

First published: 19 May 2019 https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.50168

This article reflects on the perceived lapses of care in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). The author argues that ‘RACF business models are moving away from a perceived medically dominated model of care provision. This trend does not serve the rights of the elderly in residential care to equal access to health care’. 

Source: pixabay.com

In discussing some of the shortcomings of care and possible solutions, the Ibrahim concludes that ‘Optimal health care is an essential requirement for maintaining and improving the lives of older people and this should be one of the basic roles of RACFs. This requires the medical profession to establish new standards, identifying and bridging gaps in empirical knowledge, using performance data and advocating for the structural solutions that support promoting the use of evidence‐based practice at the point of care".

MNCLHD employees can find this article in CIAP or contact their Network Librarian.

                                                                 

Research space : do you have it?

Research isn't something that can be done in a restricted space. Articles everywhere, paper critiques, these all need space and it's here for you in the Library. You may think that you need to restrict yourself to a limited area but that is not the case.

Check out this picture taken when the researcher was at lunch. This is research. It's not a tidy thing until it's finished and the rewards are reaped. Take advantage of this space that is yours to use. Who knows, you may even need to get one more paper that the Librarian can provide. You are welcome in the Library.

Referencing – and the referencing perfection complex

As a Librarian I get asked questions about referencing quite frequently and have personal experience of losing valuable marks for putting that one full stop in the incorrect place in a foot-note - never to be done again... The following is a story related to me by a co-worker.

Referencing – and the referencing perfection complex.

There is one thing that I really remember about my first week at university as an undergrad. I sat in lectures, in every single one of my four classes, where the academics up the front tried to scare me blind about the consequences of plagiarism and ‘bad referencing’. Not only could incorrect referencing harm my grades, but sage nods and stern faces accompanied the assurance that if I did not reference correctly it would also harm both my academic reputation and career. Understandably, and very quickly, I developed a reference perfection complex. I bought the referencing handbooks for all of the referencing styles that I ‘might’ ever be asked to use and I struggled to adhere to them with painful detail. I learnt all about commas and semi colons and the correct positioning of initials and titles. I became an expert in italics and positioning brackets in paragraphs. Yet, for all my attempts at gramatic perfection, my natural inclination towards free flowing writing could not be suppressed and what my lecturers had once assured me were ‘career damaging’ errors in citation continued to be found hiding on my pages. No matter how hard I tried, there was always at least one comma that was out of place. While my mind was thriving on the intellectual content of my assignments, my inner child was throwing a temper tantrum over my inability to just get it right.

A few years in to my studies, I was feeling particularly down. I had an assignment to write that was not going well and I just could not find the evidence to prove that what I believed to be correct was true. It was late at night, in the back of the library- just me, the security guard wandering outside and the incessant buzzing of the fluorescent lights. I was reading through the third page of references for a dry, government report when I found it-

In the middle of a government report- published by a well reputed government organisation, there was a glaring error: the author of the report had put their own email address at the end of a completely unrelated reference. Seeing that referencing error in a government report really brought something home for me. I had an ‘ah ha’ moment in the lonely library. When people talk about referencing as being important- it is. But when people talk about referencing as being the ‘be all and end all’ of an academic career- it isn’t. You can still get a job with well-respected government organisations even if you make a tiny referencing mistake- or a massive one! So don’t let your lack of DOI numbers get you down. Never stop learning.

Send us pictures of your biggest referencing fails to share the academic struggle. 

Library Survey Results

Report on the MNCLHD Libraries 

Needs Assessment Survey

By Helen Miles, Melissa Buckman and Alycia Jacob

May 2019

Executive Summary

This report is of the 2019 MNCLHD Library Services Needs Assessment Survey. Primary objectives are to identify issues affecting the services users and potential users, to provide a way to measure services over time and to provide a safe feedback mechanism to users.

The main finding is that while the library service provides a quality service that facilitates access to evidence based information, and supports staff in their various patient care roles, there is a general lack of awareness around the library service that is available. Moving forward, this report supports the proposition that more information about the library service needs to be provided to staff, both on employment with the MNCLHD and on an ongoing basis.

The report also identifies areas that need improvement such as gaps in book resources.

One key area for improvement is in facilitating access to library services out of hours. Out of hours’ access needs to be improved to allow a user friendly experience for library clients. Swipe card access is already in place at the Coffs Harbour location, this should be available for Port Macquarie to ensure equal access for users across the LHD.

It is also recommended that:

•  the Library have a presence at both general and nursing orientations to provide new staff with an awareness of Library Services available to them and also to provide a forum where they can put a face on the service which will encourage use.
•  both Libraries have appropriate signage showing the location of the Library
• both Libraries have 24-hour swipe card entry
•  Library Services bi-monthly newsletter be distributed to all MNCLHD employees
• Library staff work toward filling gaps in resource collections as identified by feedback 

Contact your network librarian for a full report.

MNCLHD Oral Health Services

Oral health is essential to general health, well-being and quality of life. A healthy mouth allows people to eat, speak and socialise with confidence, without pain, discomfort or embarrassment. The effect of oral disease on a person's everyday life is subtle and persistent, effecting eating, sleep, work and social roles. Read more on the outcomes and impact of oral disease at the Australian Government Department of Health site.

Dental care is free and is available at NSW Health public dental clinics for children aged under 18. Children under 18 may also be eligible for the Child Dental Benefits Scheme (CDBS), which can be used at public or private dentists. Utilising these services can help children get a better start in life with good oral care.

Source: https://ncphn.org.au 

Public dental services are free for adults holders of a current Government Health Care Card, Pensioner Concession Card or Seniors Health Card.

Public dental clinics in the Mid North Coast Local Health District are located in
Coffs Harbour, Nambucca Heads, Kempsey and Port Macquarie. Child-only clinics are available in Wauchope and Laurieton.

Please advise your eligible patients to call 1300 651 625 to make an appointment with public oral health services.

Psychedelics to treat mental illness? Australian researchers are giving it a go

An estimated one in ten Australians were taking antidepressants in 2015. That’s double the number using them in 2000, and the second-highest rate of antidepressant use among all OECD countries.

Yet some studies have found antidepressants might be no more effective than placebo.

Later this year, a phase 2 study of psilocybin-assisted therapy for anxiety and depression in 30 terminally ill patients will begin at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne.

This trial, due to be completed in 2021, will look at the effects of psychedelic psychotherapy in people with terminal conditions other than cancer, in addition to those with cancer.

Read the full article here

                                                       Source: shutterstock.com

CHHC Health Services Library April 2019 Newsletter

5 ways to re-energise on a night shift

For many nurses and midwives working night shifts, it can be challenging to keep energy levels up and remain mentally alert. The ANMJ suggest five ways to re-energise and combat night shift fatigue here.

                                                          source: ANMJ

Recent article from Critical Care Medicine on the dangers of medication errors in the transition of care

Evaluation of medication errors at the transition of care from an ICU to non-ICU location

Tully AP, Hammond DA, Li C, Jarrell AS, Kruer RM 

Critical Care Medicine. 2019;47(4):543-9.

Transitions of care are a known source of risk. These are points where there can be a failure to communicate important information, failure to adequately transfer or hand over care of a patient between individuals, teams, units or services. This study looked at the specific issue of medication errors for patients transferred from intensive care units (ICUs). The study was a 7-day point prevalence study that encompassed 958 patients who were transferred from an ICU to a non-ICU location in a group of hospitals (34 in the USA and 2 in the Netherlands).

Source: Waitemata District Health Board website

The authors report that 450 patients (45.7%) had a medication error occur during transition of care. Further, among those patients who experienced a medication error, an average of 1.88 errors per patient occurred. The most common types of errors were continuation of medication with ICU-only indication (28.4%), untreated condition (19.4%), and pharmacotherapy without indication (11.9%). Seventy-five percent of errors reached the patient but did not cause harm. Renal replacement therapy during ICU stay and number of medications ordered following transfer were identified as factors associated with occurrence of error. Orders for anti-infective, hematologic agents, and IV fluids, electrolytes, or diuretics at transition of care were associated with an increased odds of error. Factors associated with decreased odds of error included daily patient care rounds in the ICU and orders discontinued and rewritten at the time of transfer from the ICU.

Request the article through the Library Website