The ward laboratory

Common laboratory tests predict imminent death in ward patients.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the ability of commonly measured laboratory variables to predict an imminent (within the same or next calendar day) death in ward patients. DESIGN Retrospective observational study. SETTING Two university affiliated hospitals. PATIENTS Cohort of 42,701 patients admitted for more than 24 hours and external validation cohort of 13,137 patients admitted for more than 24...

A laboratory and in-ward evaluation of cholesterol assays on the Ames Seralyzer

The Big Ward

Velde. Neville Spearman. 10s. 6d. Life in a home for old people is vividly portrayed in this fine novel translated from the Dutch by Ellen and Roy Hulbert. The author, who knows her scene and subject well enough to be the daughter of her own story, presents a very convincing picture of the gradual decline of a group of elderly women in a large institution. There could be no more compelling stat...

Sleepless in the surgical ward.

Dying in the psychiatric ward.

General hospital staff is experienced in dealing with the death of a patient. However, aside from cases of sudden death among psychiatric inpatients, psychiatric medical staff faces such situations considerably less frequently. Many chronic psychiatric patients do not have a family or home, a situation which may become even more painful if the patient is dying of a physical illness. Coping with...