Search

Objective: To identify key nursing issues for paediatric patients suspected of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in relation to the family-centred model of nursing care and to develop a data-based model of paediatric nursing care to be better applied in situations of suspected SARS or where outbreaks of other infectious diseases occur. Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive case series, which analysed the medical and nursing records of all highly-suspected/suspected SARS patients admitted to a major acute hospital in Hong Kong. Key nursing personnel were also interviewed. Results: The study included a total of 17 highly-suspected and 49 suspected SARS paediatric patients (age: 1–16). None of the paediatric patients was eventually diagnosed of SARS. Most cases presented fever (highly-suspected: 76.5%/ suspected: 100%), cough (64.7%/71.4%), nausea and vomiting (35.3%/28.6%). Nursing care was provided to the patients as necessary. Both the children and parents experienced fear of SARS, as well as separation anxiety arisen from hospitalization in a strict isolation setting. Conclusions: Infection control overshadowed the family-centred nursing practices in the management of SARS paediatric patients. A major nursing care issue for SARS paediatric patients was to achieve a careful balance between attending to patients' physical and psychological needs and adhering to the infection control guidelines, while at the same time offering psychological support to family members. The current philosophy and practice of family-centred nursing model neglect the special needs of children with infectious diseases and predominantly apply to children with non-infectious diseases that family visits are allowed and nursing care by parents are encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to design a water quality monitoring network for the Keelung River in order to evaluate the effects of artificial cutoff across two bend channels. A steady-state water quality model was used to simulate the BOD and DO curves. The Kriging theory was applied to select the optimal locations for a water quality monitoring network. The sampling frequency was determined by the coefficients of variation of water quality and by considering the significance level and confidence interval. After calibration and verification of the water quality model, the model was applied and the simulation results indicated that the values of DO in the new channel would be higher than those of the old channel reaches. The critical point of the oxygen sag curve would shift to the mouth of river under O75 low-flow conditions, and the BOD values in the new channel would also slightly increase. The results further indicated that more monitoring stations would be needed in the downstream reaches.

The present report summarizes the results of a search for hemoglobinopathies in 142,171 persons in Xinjiang, the results of structural analyses of abnormal hemoglobins in 134 families, and the incidence and distribution of abnormal hemoglobins and the thalassemias in eight ethnic groups or nationalities.