Things in the library 6 January...

Harry New Year to you all

Things about e-books...

We have bought the following e-books which you can access for free using your NHS Open Athens account - let us know if there are other resources you would like us to purchase and don't forget you can browse 1000s of books for free for 5 mins.

• Training in Paediatrics
• How to Read a Paper : The Basics of Evidence-Based Medicine
• Nutrition and Bone Health
• The Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures : Professional Edition
• Lovell and Winter's Pediatric Orthopaedics
• Hodson and Geddes' Cystic Fibrosis, Fourth Edition
• Medical Statistics Made Easy
• Neonatology at a Glance
• Paediatrics at a Glance

Things pleasant...

A recent Health Technology Assessment was published by National Institute for Health Research  on 'Preventing and Lessening Exacerbations of Asthma in School-age children Associated with a New Term – a cluster randomised controlled trial and economic evaluation'. A medication reminder letter sent in July from general practitioners to parents/carers of school-age children with asthma did not reduce unscheduled contacts in September; but there appeared to be later effects and cost savings.

Things for physiotherapists...

A Cochrane review protocol has been published  on  'Physiotherapy interventions for functional bladder and bowel dysfunctions in neurologically normal and otherwise healthy children' The authors believe this will be the first systematic review that aims to assess the effects of physiotherapy or physiotherapy-related interventions in childhood BBD

Things about personalised perioperative pediatric pain management...

Recent article in Journal of Pediatric Nursing discussing this topic summarises: "Genomics has revolutionized pharmacological science and furthering the possibility of personal pain management based on individual's genotype. However, the usefulness of a personalized pain management is not exclusively based upon the genetic code but further aspects of nature and environment (Manworren et al., 2015). Thus, additional pediatric research requires further exploration on how to safely apply genetic revelations in perioperative pain to improve outcomes in pediatric pain management. Pediatric nurses must advocate for children during the peri-operative period. Pediatric nurses can assess for adequate pain control by using appropriate pain and weaning scales. Alerting the intraprofessional health care team to subtle changes in the child's response after administration of narcotics can be the clue that something more is occurring. In addition, pediatric nurses can minimize the effects of the environment on the hospitalized child in an effort to enhance future pain control.

Things about end of life care...

Published in December by NICE 'End of life care for infants, children and young people with life-limiting conditions: planning and management' This guideline covers the planning and management of end of life and palliative care in for infants, children and young people (aged 0–17 years) with life-limiting conditions. It aims to involve children, young people and their families in decisions about their care, and improve the support that is available to them throughout their lives.

Things about respiratory distress syndrome...

A recent article in Frontiers in Pediatrics discusses 'Viral Infection in the Development and Progression of Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome'. This review outlines what is known about ARDS secondary to viral infections including the epidemiology, the pathophysiology, and diagnosis. In addition, emerging treatment options to prevent infection, and to decrease disease burden are outlined. They focused on RSV and influenza A (H1N1) viral-induced ARDS, as these are the most common viruses leading to pediatric ARDS, and have specific prophylactic and definitive treatment options.

and...

The effect of inhaled nitric oxide in acute respiratory distress syndrome in children and adults: a Cochrane Systematic Review with trial sequential analysis was published in Anaesthesia this month.  Their primary objective in this systematic review was to examine the effects of inhaled nitric oxide administration on mortality in adults and children with acute respiratory distress syndrome. They concluded "there is insufficient evidence to support inhaled nitric oxide in any category of critically ill patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome despite a transient improvement in oxygenation, since mortality is not reduced and it may induce renal impairment."

and also...

A Cochrane Review published in December looked to answer the question "Does NIPPV [nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation] confer greater short-term and long-term benefits without harm to preterm infants with or at risk of respiratory distress compared with [nasal continuous positive airway pressure] NCPAP? They concluded that "early NIPPV does appear to be superior to NCPAP alone for decreasing respiratory failure and the need for intubation and endotracheal tube ventilation among preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome. Additional studies are needed to confirm these results and to assess the safety of NIPPV compared with NCPAP alone in a larger patient population."

Things that disappear quickly...

I don't normally have time (or inclination) for bread making but I do enjoy making soda bread as it is so quick and easy. I made this Seeded wholemeal soda bread this week...but think I will be making some more tomorrow as it has all gone already!

...and what to go with it?

Has to be a nice cosy soup I think and this Butternut squash soup with chilli & crème fraîche is a favourite. 

Tip:If you find peeling a butternut squash awkward (the skins are so hard) you can make it easier by putting the squash in the sink and pouring boiling water over it first or by microwaving it whole for 30 seconds.