Diagnosis and management of hepatic encephalopathy
Overt and covert hepatic encephalopathy (HE) are debilitating complications of cirrhosis. HE results in a poor quality of life for patients and their caregivers and, unless there is access to liver tr...
Hepatic Encephalopathy: Causes and Health-Related Burden
Patients with cirrhosis are at risk of hepatic encephalopathy (HE). While its pathogenesis is not fully understood, the circulation of increased levels of ammonia through the bloodstream to the brain ...
Managing atrial fibrillation to prevent stroke
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an important risk factor of stroke and contributes to 20% of strokes in the UK; however, with appropriate intervention, the risk can be reversed. For patients with a diagno...
Electronic recording of vital signs for mental health inpatients
The use of electronic monitoring of vital signs is becoming increasingly widespread in general hospital settings in the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom, and numerous advantages whe...
Treating chronic constipation and faecal incontinence using transanal irrigation
Transanal irrigation, also known as anal or rectal irrigation, has been used for some years in the treatment of both chronic constipation and faecal incontinence. The procedure involves insertion of a...
The assessment and care of patients with hepatic encephalopathy
This article provides an overview of the metabolic brain dysfunction hepatic encephalopathy (HE). HE is caused by severe liver cirrhosis and patients will often be treated in a liver unit, but patient...
Heart failure self-management with the House of Care model
Health-care models must evolve in order to deliver proactive care to the growing numbers of patients with long-term conditions. The House of Care model seeks to do this through championing person-cent...
The development of a ‘wet leg’ pathway for chronic oedema
Chronic oedema and leaking lymphorrhoea can be distressing and challenging for patients to live with. This article introduces the Chronic Oedema ‘Wet Leg’ Pathway, which became an output from the Lymp...
Accelerated detection and treatment of atrial fibrillation in stroke patients by changing clinical pathways
Atrial fibrillation (AF), a major cause of thromboembolic stroke, is under-detected. Our aim was to compare the established pathway of AF detection, reporting to point-of-treatment decision, with a pi...
RCN competence framework for health professionals caring for people with liver disease
Liver disease is the third highest cause of premature mortality in the UK (Williams et al, 2014). The revised Royal College of Nursing (RCN) competence framework for health professionals caring for pe...
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy—genetic causes and ethical challenges for clinical care
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young adults and often occurs without warning as the primary disease event. The autosomal dominant inheritan...