Griffith University

About: Griffith University is a education organization based out in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 13830 authors who have published 49318 publications receiving 1420865 citations.

Use of short peripheral intravenous catheters: characteristics, management, and outcomes worldwide

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) use in health care is common worldwide. Failure of PIVCs is also common, resulting in premature removal and replacement. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the characteristics, management practices, and outcomes of PIVCs internationally. SETTING/PATIENTS: Cross-sectional study. Hospitalized patients from rural, regional, and metropolitan areas internationally. MEASUREMENTS: Hospital, device, and inserter characteristics were collected along with assessment of the catheter insertion site. PIVC use in different geographic regions was compared. RESULTS: We reviewed 40,620 PIVCs in 51 countries. PIVCs were used primarily for intravenous medication (n = 28,571, 70%) and predominantly inserted in general wards (n = 22,167, 55%). Two-thirds of all devices were placed in non-recommended sites such as the hand, wrist, or antecubital veins. Nurses inserted most PIVCs (n = 28,575, 71%); although there was wide regional variation (26% to 97%). The prevalence of iIn this study, we found that many PIVCs were placed in areas of flexion, were symptomatic or idle, had suboptimal dressings, or lacked adequate documentation. This suggests inconsistency between recommended management guidelines for PIVCs and current practice.dle PIVCs was 14% (n = 5,796). Overall, 10% (n = 4,204) of PIVCs were painful to the patient or otherwise symptomatic of phlebitis; a further 10% (n = 3,879) had signs of PIVC malfunction; and 21% of PIVC dressings were suboptimal (n = 8,507). Over one-third of PIVCs (n = 14,787, 36%) had no documented daily site assessment and half (n = 19,768, 49%) had no documented date and time of insertion. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we found that many PIVCs were placed in areas of flexion, were symptomatic or idle, had suboptimal dressings, or lacked adequate documentation. This suggests inconsistency between recommended management guidelines for PIVCs and current practice.

A prospective longitudinal study of the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from childbirth events

Abstract: Background: Childbirth has been linked to postpartum impairment. However, controversy exists regarding the onset and prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth, with seminal studies being limited by methodological issues. This longitudinal prospective study examined the prevalence of PTSD following childbirth in a large sample while controlling for pre-existing PTSD and affective symptomatology. Method: Pregnant women in their third trimester were recruited over a 12-month period and interviewed to identify PTSD and anxiety and depressive symptoms during the last trimester of pregnancy, 4–6 weeks postpartum, 12 weeks postpartum and 24 weeks postpartum. Results: Of the 1067 women approached, 933 were recruited into the study. In total, 866 (93%) were retained to 4–6 weeks, 826 (89%) were retained to 12 weeks and 776 (83%) were retained to 24 weeks. Results indicated that, uncontrolled, 3.6% of women met PTSD criteria at 4–6 weeks postpartum, 6.3% at 12 weeks postpartum and 5.8% at 24 weeks postpartum. When controlling for PTSD and partial PTSD due to previous traumatic events as well as clinically significant anxiety and depression during pregnancy, PTSD rates were less at 1.2% at 4–6 weeks, 3.1% at 12 weeks and 3.1% at 24 weeks postpartum. Conclusions: This is the first study to demonstrate the occurrence of full criteria PTSD resulting from childbirth after controlling for pre-existing PTSD and partial PTSD and clinically significant depression and anxiety in pregnancy. The findings indicate that PTSD can result from a traumatic birth experience, though this is not the normative response.

A porous nitrogen and phosphorous dual doped graphene blocking layer for high performance Li–S batteries

Abstract: Conductive confinement of sulfur and polysulfides via carbonaceous blocking layers can simultaneously address the issues of low conductivity, volume expansion of sulfur during the charge/discharge process and the polysulfide shuttling effect in lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. Herein, a conductive and porous nitrogen and phosphorus dual doped graphene (p-NP-G) blocking layer is prepared via a thermal annealing and subsequent hydrothermal reaction route. The doping levels of N and P in p-NP-G as measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are ca. 4.38% and ca. 1.93%, respectively. The dual doped blocking layer exhibits higher conductivity than N or P single doped blocking layers. More importantly, density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that P atoms and –P–O groups in the p-NP-G layer offer stronger adsorption of polysulfides than the N species. The electrochemical evaluation results illustrate that the p-NP-G blocking layer can deliver superior initial capacity (1158.3 mA h g−1 at a current density of 1C), excellent rate capability (633.7 mA h g−1 at 2C), and satisfactory cycling stability (ca. 0.09% capacity decay per cycle), which are better than those of the N or P single doped graphene. This work suggests that this synergetic combination of conductive and adsorptive confinement strategies induced by the multi-heteroatom doping scheme is a promising approach for developing high performance Li–S batteries.