Management of Acute Stroke: A Debate Paper on Clinical Priorities. A Literature Review

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability globally. Also, it is expected that the burden of stroke will increase due to the rise of the elderly population within societal age structures. The aim of this literature review is to present in detail the important issues regarding contemporary management of stroke. For this reason, a thorough search was undertaken via Medline, CINHAL and ELIN from 2004 to 2014. Analysis of the search results led to the corresponding domains as presented below, namely: nursing implications for stroke, interventions in the acute phase, investigations/other treatment options and cost implications. In this context, a number of goals for more efficient care of stroke patients are now set, using advanced, integrated care plans and critical pathways. From the above, it can be concluded that stroke has a major impact on society and hospital resources and its high incidence and frequency of prolonged survival requires a heavy investment in human and financial recourses for provision of care. On the other hand, the rising hospital costs coupled with a growing elderly population are limiting the financial resources of the health care system, and therefore, an improved development of the long-term care continuum is required.