Gift of giving

As I type this post I'm lying on a rather comfortable bed/chair.

Sticking into my left arm is a needle, drawing blood which is going into a machine and then back into me.

I'm donating platelets.

This is my third platelet donation, I made 11 whole blood donations previous to this.

The process is a bit mote complicated donating platelets, but equally, if not more rewarding.

On your first visit you go through a donor assessment, which includes all the usual checks and questions, followed by a quick platelet count blood test.

If all is well you go into a clinic area, sit on these very comfy chairs (might get one for infront of the tv) another couple of checks and the needle is in before you know it.

Depending on your platelet count and how many units you want to donate the process of the donation can take from an hour to 90 mins. Today I'm giving 3 units, total time 78 mins, Ive 27 remaining.

Understanding the process takes some getting used to, there are times to squeeze the stress ball and times when you shouldn't, but all the staff are extremely friendly and helpful.

After its all done there is a lovely seating area where you rest and have drink in a bite to eat, before making and appointment for your next donation......don't forget to pick up a pen on the way out ;-)

I encourage each and everyone of you to make either a whole blood or a platelet donation, a short space of time from your day could mean all the difference to someone else.

Academia (Research Part A)

I know a fair few of you are interested in the recent topic I brought up about nurses preforming BLS, a lot of you offered me help and guidance on twitter, which is very much appreciated.

Here is the 500ish word Part A of the assignment I submitted, for your reading pleasure.

Research Enquiry:

Part A: Identification of a problem and development of research question

The problem identified for this piece of work relates to the ability of nurses to provide effective Basic Life Support (BLS) to patients suffering an in-hospital cardiac arrest in an acute general hospital.

The reason this particular problem was chosen is that for every minute BLS is delayed the patient’s chance of survival drops by as much as 10% (Koster et al. 2010). Basic Life Support refers to maintaining airway patency and supporting breathing and circulation (Koster et al 2010), including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). CPR refers to providing chest compressions to pump blood around the body and ventilations to breathe for the patient (Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council 2011a). In a hospital setting staff nurses are often first on scene of a cardiac arrest and as such, their ability to perform effective CPR is essential in maximising the patient’s chance of survival. The chain of survival is a series of steps in maximising patient’s chance of survival. The steps are: 1: Early access, 2: Early CPR, 3: Early Defibrillation, 4: Early Advanced Life Support, 5: Early Post Resuscitation Care (Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council 2011b). Nurses can implement the first two or three steps depending on training. Literature shows nurses often lack confidence in performing BLS (Kakora-Shiner 2009) and skills are not practiced nor perfected often enough (Krahn 2011). The author is a fourth year general nursing student, who has been involved in the pre-hospital emergency care as a volunteer for six years and is also an instructor involved in teaching CPR to fellow volunteers and lay persons to deal with Pre-Hospital cardiac arrests and this area is of particular interest to him.

The question that this piece of work aims to answer is:

“Are nurses trained and able to effectively perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation to patients experiencing an in-hospital cardiac arrest?”

The proposed search strategy will involve use of the authors own personal text books as well as searching a number of academic journal databases including but not limited to, CINAHL, ScienceDirect and Wiley Online Library. The keywords “Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation”, “CPR”, “Basic Life Support”, “BLS”, “Training”, “Nursing” and “Cardiac Arrest” shall be used. Articles identified in the search will be reviewed for their reference to the question; also their reference lists will be reviewed to identify applicable secondary references which may help in answering the research question.

The themes I expect to identify from the literature review are:

• The training nurses receive in CPR and BLS
• The measurement of the effectiveness of training nurses receive
• CPR and BLS skills retention in nurses
• Nurses impression of their ability and willingness to preform CPR

When I've finished part B I wont bore you with 1500 words of academic writing but will post the findings of my literary review for you reading pleasure

Tis the season for a ronnie, fa la la la la

The most wonderful time of the year is almost upon us again, I know what youre thinking where did the year go?

We've seen the ad's, the special offers, the stock in shops changing....but ignore all that as it has nothing to do with Movember!

I'm pretty sure most of you havn't spent the last few years living under a rock and are well aware this is a charity event, where men begin Nov 1st clean shaven and then proceed to grow a moustache for charity.

Some go for handlebars, others a black and white movie villain narrow moustache.......me I'm going for the "skanger tache" or the "giveus 10 jonny blue ronnie" (hey I know my limitations, bit of bum fluff on the top lip will be the height of it)

Why am I concerned about mens health?? And why am I donating my top lip for charity? Heres why

*1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their life

*This year more than 2000 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed

*1 in 3 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime

*In Ireland only 26% of men attend their GP for regular check ups

Funds raise will help make a tangible difference to the lives of others. Through the Movember Foundation and our men's health partner, Action Prostate Cancer, an initiative of the Irish Cancer Society, Movember is funding world class awareness, research, educational and support programmes which would otherwise not be possible.

Find out more at http://ie.movember.com/?home

Or visit my Mospace to donate http://mobro.co/theSmurse

Or is you're old school, send a cheque payable to "Irish Cancer Society Movember" reference my name and Registration Number 1552614 and send it to: Movember, Irish Cancer Society, 43-45 Northumerland Road, Dublin 4, Ireland

Please donate and spread the word, stay tuned for Tachetastic updates