The SAVE Trial: Securing All IntraVenous Devices Effectively In Hospitals. A Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$980,393.00
Summary
Going to hospital usually means having an IV drip in your hand or arm vein. Almost half of all IV drips fall out or fail because they are not well secured to the skin. This means patients miss out on treatment and have additional painful needlesticks to insert new devices. Serious infections can also occur. This study will find the best dressings to use on IV drips. Patients will have their drips glued in with medical superglue, or have one of two new dressings, compared with current usual care.
The Centre for Research Excellence in Nursing Interventions for Hospitalised Patients will provide evidence to improve the nursing care of a broad range of hospitalised patients who are at risk of complications related to compromised skin integrity and poor pain/anxiety management. Systematic reviews and clinical trials will provide the basis for developing clinical practice guidelines to assist nurses in providing high quality care to the 3.5 million Australians admitted to hospital each year.
Adequate nutrition is necessary for recovery from illness. 30-40% of hospitalised patients may be malnourished. The critically ill are at higher risk because of increased energy requirements yet often receive less than 50% of required nutritional intake. Adequate nutrition therapy is associated with improved patient outcomes, such as reduced mortality and reduced infectious complications. Robust strategies to implement of evidence-based recommendations for nutrition therapy are required.
Intravascular Device Administration Sets: Replacement After Standard Versus Prolonged Use (The RSVP Trial)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,611,239.00
Summary
Most hospital patients need an IV drip, a small plastic tube in a vein, often the hand/arm. 14 million/yr are used in Australia. IV drips are connected to plastic tubing through which fluid & medicine is given. IV tubing is needed for a week or more, but is only used for 3-4 days as it was thought this might prevent infection. It is now thought that IV tubing can be used for a week. This would save $1 billion/year & reduce nurses workload. The research will test the safety of this approach.
Use Of Molecular Resistance Assays To Provide Alterative Oral Treatment Strategies For Gonorrhoea In Indigenous And Other High-risk Populations; A Randomised Cluster Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$828,671.00
Summary
Gonorrhoea has now developed resistance to almost all antibiotics that have been used to treat it. In this study, we will investigate a new treatment approach that selects antibiotics on a patient-by-patient basis. We will use new molecular assays to first test if a gonorrhoea strain infecting a patient is susceptible to an antibiotic, and will then treat on the basis of this result. By doing so, we will optimize our use of antibiotics and improve treatment strategies for gonorrhea.
Evaluation Of SCID-I In The Diagnosis Of Mental Disorders In Indigenous Australians
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$988,007.00
Summary
Current estimates of mental disease among Indigenous Australians are inadequate. This research will examine the use of a structured interview tool that is promoted globally for diagnosing mental disorders, and then use the tool to quantify the burden of mental illness among Indigenous Australians. The findings will provide accurate estimates of occurrence of mental disorders, thereby help inform policy making and planning of services for Indigenous Australians.
Life Cycle Measures of Cost Effectiveness for 4 D CAD in Design and Construct Projects across Industry Sectors. The effective and efficient delivery of complex construction projects will be transformed by the increased application of virtual design and construction technologies, including 4D CAD. By combining a 3D computer model of a design with the time dimension of the construction schedule, 4D CAD enables risks and opportunities to be better managed during the design phase and hence avoid co ....Life Cycle Measures of Cost Effectiveness for 4 D CAD in Design and Construct Projects across Industry Sectors. The effective and efficient delivery of complex construction projects will be transformed by the increased application of virtual design and construction technologies, including 4D CAD. By combining a 3D computer model of a design with the time dimension of the construction schedule, 4D CAD enables risks and opportunities to be better managed during the design phase and hence avoid costly issues during construction. However this requires addition design costs which currently represent a barrier to the uptake of this transforming technology. This project will overcome this by developing a flexible framework that allows the benefits gained across the life cycle of a project through using 4D CAD to be set against the additional costs and thus make this emerging technology more attractive to industry. Significantly this research will be based on comparative cases studies across different industry sectors including civil, building, and process engineering.Read moreRead less
Bacterial Pathogenomics: Whole-genome Sequencing To Investigate Infection Transmission, Pathogenesis And Antibiotic Resistance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$475,946.00
Summary
As bacterial superbugs – resistant to multiple antibiotics – dominate the headlines, the pipeline for new antibiotics has all but dried up. High-throughput DNA sequencing heralds a golden opportunity for infectious disease research. By studying the entire collection of genes - the genome - of large numbers of multidrug resistant bacterial strains, we aim to better understand the genetic changes that govern the emergence and global spread of superbugs and translate these findings into the clinic.
Evolution And Pathogenicity Of NDM-1 Positive Escherichia Coli
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$643,275.00
Summary
Antibiotic resistance (AR), as highlighted by the WHO, is the most pressing medical need of the 21C – some infections are now untreatable. Our research will focus on the new "superbug" NDM-1 positive E. coli. We will correlate AR and pathogenicity and explore the evolution of these "superbugs" using state-of-the-art sequencing. This research will benefit Australian medicine by predicting timelines of AR epidemics and by conducting the first analyses on the virulence potential of these strains.
Understanding The Role Of The Two Major Bacterial Pathogens In The Upper And Lower Airways Of Indigenous Children With Chronic Lung Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$743,282.00
Summary
Lung infections are a major disease burden worldwide. Indigenous Australians are affected more; adults with severe lung disease can die in their 30s and 40s. These diseases start early, yet no in-depth studies of bacteria causing lung infections in children have been done. Our expert team proposes to use existing lung fluids from nearly 500 children with chronic lung disease (58% Indigenous), and state-of-the-art laboratory methods, to inform the design of vaccines to prevent lung disease.