Neil thank you for sharing. It is a pity the articleis not open access!
In one study, as recently as 2019, the observationwas similar to your experience in the field, that ‘Dehydration is prevalent within the healthcaresetting and in the community, and appears associated with increased morbidityand mortality.’ And that, ‘Althougha seemingly simple problem of “too little water”, dehydration is ofteninadequately identified and managed’.(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7877883/).For health and social care professionals themselves,it’s worth remembering just how damaging dehydration can be. In its mildestform, dehydration manifests itself through dizziness, headaches and tiredness. Fluiddepletion of just 5% can reduce capacity for physical work by as much as30%. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9623173/. ...
The lesson here includes that as children areaffected (with more devastating result), adult patients, and even healthworkers themselves are affected too, even though less dangerously compared tochildren, but all the same with increased morbidity and mortality. And we agreewith the finding in a 2022 Systematic Reviewwhich found ‘strong support for the importance of providing hydration educationon a routine basis and the need for hydration awareness to be raised amonghealthcare workers so that they are encouraged to act as the agents of changeof the hydration education in our community’.( Florence Nightingale J Nurs. 2022Oct; 30(3): 310–321. doi: 10.5152/FNJN.2022.21313).
Joseph Ana.
CHIFA Profile: Joseph Ana is the Lead Consultant and Trainer at the Africa Centre for Clinical Governance Research and Patient Safety in Calabar, Nigeria. In 2015 he won the NMA Award of Excellence for establishing 12-Pillar Clinical Governance, Quality and Safety initiative in Nigeria. He has been the pioneer Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) National Committee on Clinical Governance and Research since 2012. He is also Chairman of the Quality & Performance subcommittee of the Technical Working Group for the implementation of the Nigeria Health Act. He is a pioneer Trustee-Director of the NMF (Nigerian Medical Forum) which took the BMJ to West Africa in 1995. He is particularly interested in strengthening health systems for quality and safety in LMICs. He has written Five books on the 12-Pillar Clinical Governance for LMICs, including a TOOLS for Implementation. He established the Department of Clinical Governance, Servicom & e-health in the Cross River State Ministry of Health, Nigeria in 2007. Joseph is a member of the HIFA Steering Group. Website: www.hriwestafrica.com
jneana AT yahoo.co.uk
