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Solis J, Marshall J, Nairon E, Joseph S, Adegbola M, Olson DM. Length of Stay Does Not Predict Change in Epilepsy Monitoring Unit Comfort Questionnaire Scores. J Neurosci Nurs 2023; 55:217-221. [PMID: 37931085 DOI: 10.1097/jnn.0000000000000727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: The epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) is a clinical setting designed to help diagnose and analyze the nature behind a patient's seizures in a hospitalized unit. Patients admitted to an EMU may experience sleep deprivation, withdrawal of antiepileptic medications, and the use of a continuous electroencephalogram. The purpose of this study was to explore change in patient comfort during an EMU admission. METHODS: The Epilepsy Monitoring Unit Comfort Questionnaire (EMUCQ) was used to evaluate the initial stress level of EMU patients on their date of admission versus their fourth day on the unit. RESULTS: The average EMUCQ score from the admission date was 196.6 (26.28), whereas the mean EMUCQ score on the fourth day was 197.8 (24.79). The P value of .802 and t value of 0.25 indicated that the scores were not statistically significantly different. CONCLUSION: Although some scores indicated there was a large change between baseline and follow-up, these scores could not be readily attributed to the patient's length of stay in the unit. Future studies should examine the role of specific variables hypothesized to impact comfort in the EMU.
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Egger-Rainer A, Hettegger SM, Feldner R, Arnold S, Bosselmann C, Hamer H, Hengsberger A, Lang J, Lorenzl S, Lerche H, Noachtar S, Pataraia E, Schulze-Bonhage A, Staack AM, Trinka E, Unterberger I, Zimmermann G. Do all patients in the epilepsy monitoring unit experience the same level of comfort? A quantitative exploratory secondary analysis. J Adv Nurs 2021; 78:2004-2014. [PMID: 34837405 PMCID: PMC9299695 DOI: 10.1111/jan.15105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2021] [Revised: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Aims To find out which variables may be associated with comfort of patients in an epilepsy monitoring unit. Design Exploratory, quantitative study design. Methods Data were collected from October 2018 to November 2019 in Austria and Southern Germany. A total of 267 patients of 10 epilepsy centres completed the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit Comfort Questionnaire which is based on Kolcaba's General Comfort Questionnaire. Secondary data analysis were conducted by using descriptive statistics and an exploratory model building approach, including different linear regression models and several sensitivity analyses. Results Total comfort scores ranged from 83 to 235 points. Gender, occupation and centre turned out to be possible influential variables. On average, women had a total comfort score 4.69 points higher than men, and retired persons 28.2 points higher than high school students ≥18 years. Comfort scores of younger patients were lower than those of older patients. However, age did not show a statistically significant effect. The same could be observed in marital status and educational levels. Conclusion When implementing comfort measures, nurses must be aware of variables which could influence the intervention negatively. Especially, high school students ≥18 years should be supported by epilepsy specialist nurses, in order to reduce uncertainty, anxiety and discomfort. But, since the identified variables account only for a small proportion of the inter‐individual variability in comfort scores, further studies are needed to find out additional relevant aspects and to examine centre‐specific effects more closely. Impact Nurses ensure patient comfort during a hospital stay. However, there are variables that may impair the effectiveness of the nursing measures. Our study showed that the experience of comfort was highly individual and could be explained by sociodemographic variables only to a limited extent. Nurses must be aware that additional factors, such as the situation in the individual setting, may be relevant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Egger-Rainer
- Institute of Nursing Science and Practice, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.,Department of Neurology, Christian-Doppler Medical Centre, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | | | - Raphael Feldner
- Department of Mathematics, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Stephan Arnold
- Epilepsy Unit, Department of Neurosurgery, Schön Klinik Vogtareuth, Vogtareuth, Germany
| | - Christian Bosselmann
- Department of Neurology and Epileptology, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Eberhard-Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hajo Hamer
- Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Center, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Anna Hengsberger
- Department of Neurology 1, Kepler University Hospital, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - Johannes Lang
- Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Center, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Stefan Lorenzl
- Institute of Nursing Science and Practice, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Holger Lerche
- Department of Neurology and Epileptology, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Eberhard-Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Soheyl Noachtar
- Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Center, University of Munich Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | | | | | | | - Eugen Trinka
- Department of Neurology, Christian-Doppler Medical Centre, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.,Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Iris Unterberger
- Department of Neurology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Georg Zimmermann
- Department of Neurology, Christian-Doppler Medical Centre, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.,Team Biostatistics and Big Medical Data, IDA Lab Salzburg, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.,Department of Research and Innovation, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg Zimmermann
- Team Biostatistics and Big Medical Data, IDA Lab Salzburg, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
- Department of Mathematics, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
- Department of Research and Innovation, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Edgar Brunner
- Department of Medical Statistics, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Werner Brannath
- Competence Centre for Clinical Trials, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Martin Happ
- Team Smart Analytics, IDA Lab Salzburg, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Arne C. Bathke
- Department of Mathematics, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
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