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T Jaarsma

Publications and source records attributed to T Jaarsma.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[The nurse practitioner in the treatment of cardiac patients: successful job reallocation within health care].

There is an ever-growing need for medical staff to provide health care, and several tasks that have traditionally been carried out by physicians are increasingly being undertaken by specialized nurses. Both nurse practitioners and physician's assistants now commonly work in-hospital. In The Netherlands, there have been relatively few studies which have examined the potential role of specialized nurses. A study from Alkmaar shows that the care of patients who have recently had a myocardial infarction, which is normally done by a resident/physician-in-training, can also be carried out by a nurse practitioner, when working within the limits of well-defined protocol, and under the supervision of a staff cardiologist. Although no difference in clinical endpoints was found during the follow-up period, the study shows that patients who were under the care of the nurse practitioner were overall more satisfied with the information that was provided to them, than those under the care of the resident. These findings are important and need confirmation in larger studies and in other patient populations.

Career Mobility↗
PubMed2006

A 64-year old man who sustained many episodes of acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema successfully treated with Boussignac continuous positive airway pressure: a case report.

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is standard treatment for patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema. We describe a patient who had 21 episodes of acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema due to very poor patient compliance. This 64-year old man had end-stage congestive heart failure based on systolic left ventricular dysfunction following two myocardial infarctions. In addition to routine medical treatment 15 episodes of pulmonary edema were successfully treated with Boussignac continuous positive airway pressure (BCPAP). The BCPAP system is a simple, disposable, FDA-approved device that delivers positive pressure without a ventilator. This extraordinary case underscores the utility of the BCPAP system to avoid repeated intubation and mechanical ventilation in patients with cardiogenic pulmonary edema.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2006

Heart failure management programmes in Europe.

BACKGROUND: The ESC guidelines recommend that an organised system of specialist heart failure (HF) care should be established to improve outcomes of HF patients. The aim of this study was therefore to identify the number and the content of HF management programmes in Europe. METHOD: A two-phase descriptive study was conducted: an initial screening to identify the existence of HF management programmes; and a survey to describe the content in countries where at least 30% of the hospitals had a programme. RESULTS: Of the 43 European countries approached, 26 (60%) estimated the percentage of HF management programmes. Seven countries reported that they had such programmes in more than 30% of their hospitals. Of the 673 hospitals responding to the questionnaire, 426 (63%) had a HF management programme. Half of the programmes (n = 205) were located in an outpatient clinic. In the UK a combination of hospital and home-based programmes was common (75%). The most programmes included physical examination, telephone consultation, patient education, drug titration and diagnostic testing. Most (89%) programmes involved nurses and physicians. Multi-disciplinary teams were active in 56% of the HF programmes. The most prominent differences between the 7 countries were the degree of collaboration with home care and GP's, the role in palliative care and the funding. CONCLUSION: Only a few European countries have a large number of organised programmes for HF care and follow up. To improve outcomes of HF patients throughout Europe more effort should be taken to increase the number of these programmes in all countries.

Aftercare↗
PubMed2005

Nurse specialists in adult congenital heart disease: the current status in Europe.

AIM: Recommendations for the management of adults with congenital heart disease indicate that specialist referral centres should employ nurse specialists who are trained and educated in the care for these patients. We surveyed the involvement, education and activities of nurse specialists in the care for adults with congenital cardiac anomalies in Europe. METHODS: The Euro Heart Survey on Adult Congenital Heart Disease has previously showed that 20 out of 48 specialist centres (42%) have nurse specialists affiliated with their programme. Fifteen of these 20 centres (75%) validly completed a web-based survey tool. RESULTS: Specialist centres had a median number of 2 nurse specialists on staff, corresponding with 1 full-time equivalent. In most centres, the nurse specialists were also affiliated with other cardiac care programmes, in addition to congenital heart disease. The involvement of nurse specialists was not related to the caseload of inpatients and outpatient visits. Physical examination was the most prevalent activity undertaken by nurse specialists (93.3%), followed by telephone accessibility (86.7%), patient education (86.7%), co-ordination of care (73.3%), and follow-up after discharge (73.3%). Patient education covered mainly prevention and prophylaxis of endocarditis (100%), cardiovascular risk factors (92.3%), sport activities (92.3%), the type and characteristics of the heart defect (92.3%), the definition and aetiology of endocarditis (84.6%), cardiac risk in case of pregnancy (84.6%), and heredity (84.6%). Two third of the nurse specialists were involved in research. CONCLUSION: This survey revealed gaps in the provision of care for these patients in Europe and demonstrated that there is room for improvement in order to provide adequate chronic disease management. The results of this study can be used by individual hospitals for benchmarking.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Heart failure clinics in the Netherlands in 2003.

PURPOSE: Heart failure (HF) care in the Netherlands is going through a lot of changes. Nurses have increasingly important roles in providing optimal care for these chronically ill patients. In this study, we describe the current number of HF management programs and the role of the nurses in these programs. METHOD: Data were collected by a national survey as part of a European HF clinic survey of the UNITE study group of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing between February and March 2003 to 142 hospitals in the Netherlands. RESULTS: In 60% of the hospital locations, there is a HF management program. Most of the programs are organized as HF outpatient clinics. In all HF programs, cardiologists and nurses are involved. Other health care providers involved are, amongst others, general practitioners (29%), dieticians (59%), physical therapists (47%), social workers (30%) and psychologists (17%). All programs offer follow-up after discharge from the hospitals and in most of the programs patients have increased access to a health care provider. Behavioural interventions (68%), psychosocial counselling (64%), patient education (88%) and support of the informal caregivers (59%) are important components. In 90% of the programs (restricted), physical examination is the responsibility of the HF nurse and in 65% of the programs nurses are involved in optimizing medical treatment. Financial support and education of HF nurses is still unstructured and diverse. CONCLUSION: There is a rise in the number of HF programs in the Netherlands. There is diversity in content and intensity of these programs and the role of the nurse is not clearly defined yet. Research and discussion on the subject of optimal effective HF care and the role of the HF nurse is still needed.

Heart Failure↗
PubMed2003

[Research set-up concerning the effectiveness of heart failure clinics in the Netherlands].

In the Netherlands, the number of patients with heart failure is increasing. Several heart failure management programs have been initiated to reduce the number of readmissions and to improve the quality of care for these patients. However, conclusive data have yet to be provided. In the 'Coordinating study evaluating outcomes of advising and counselling in heart failure', started in 16 Dutch hospitals, 1050 heart failure patients have been randomised into 3 arms: (a) care as usual, (b) care as usual + basic education and support, and (c) care as usual + intensive education and support. Patients will be recruited in 18 months with an 18 month follow-up. This study has three outcomes, namely, time to first major event (heart failure hospitalizations and death), quality of life, and costs.

Cardiology Service, Hospital↗
PubMed2003

Development and testing of the European Heart Failure Self-Care Behaviour Scale.

BACKGROUND: Improvement of self-care behaviour is an aim of several non-pharmacological nurse-led management programmes for patients with heart failure. These programmes are often evaluated based on their effects on readmission, costs and quality of life. It is, however, also important to know how patients changed their self-care behaviour as a result of such a programme. Therefore a comprehensive, reliable and valid measure of the self-care behaviour of HF patients is needed. OBJECTIVES: To develop a scale measuring the behaviour that heart failure patients perform to maintain life, healthy functioning, and well-being. METHOD: The European Heart Failure Self-Care Behaviour Scale (EHFScBS) was developed in three phases: (1) concept analysis and first construction; (2) revision of items and response and scoring format; and (3) testing of the new scale for validity and reliability. RESULTS: The European Heart Failure Self-Care Behaviour Scale is a 12-item, self-administered questionnaire that covers items concerning self-care behaviour of patients with heart failure. Face-validity and concurrent validity was established and the internal consistency of the scale was tested using pooled data of 442 patients from two centres in Sweden, three in the Netherlands and one in Italy. Cronbachs's alpha was 0.81. CONCLUSION: The instrument is a valid, reliable and practical scale to measure the self-reported self-care behaviour of heart failure patients. It is ready to use by investigators evaluating the outcome of heart failure management programmes that target changes in patients' self-care practices.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Research in cardiovascular nursing in Europe: toward a UNITED approach. Undertaking Nursing Interventions Throughout Europe Research Group.

This article describes the efforts of a recent initiative of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology. The Undertaking Nursing Interventions Throughout Europe (UNITE) Research Group represents a truly international team of nurses who collaborate on a number of research studies. The major focus of the group is to provide better care to patients in whom modern day treatment has proven to be ineffectual such as patients with chronic, intractable angina.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗