Stroke Care

Stroke is common, complicated to manage, and, until recently, remarkably neglected. Over the past 30 years, good evidence has emerged that thorough and organised care from teams of health professionals on stroke units leads to substantially fewer deaths and better recovery than other types of care. In fact, stroke medicine is emerging as a separate specialty for health professionals, creating a need for learning and training materials specifically designed to capture and pass on this expertise. Aimed at all the members of the stroke team, including doctors, nurses, stroke co-ordinators, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech and language therapy members, this new edition provides a holistic approach to the care of patients with transient ischemic attacks (TIA) and stroke. It covers the wide range of knowledge and skills needed to tackle problems that may lead up to, or follow on from a stroke, and follows the course of a patient's journey from diagnosis to life at home, incorporating recent changes in the field and the latest clinical trials. It also covers the principles of rehabilitation, as well as secondary prevention, discharge planning, specific interventions, prognosis for various neurological deficits, and longer terms problems, including spasticity and psychiatric complications. This pocket-book manual is a useful reference for practitioners, providing sound evidence to support recommendations for intervention ... With its bullet-list style, the book will suit clinicians who wish to access it rapidly. It is multidisciplinary and all healthcare professionals will find it useful. Nursing Standard1. Is it a stroke?; 2. What to do in the first few days; 3. The first two weeks; 4. Subarachnoid haemorrhage; 5. Neuroimaging in stroke; 6. Making difficult decisions; 7. Terminal care; 8. Rehabilitation; 9. Discharge; 10. Preventing strokes and other vascular events; 11. Outcomes and prognosis; 12. Longer-term problems and their management; Appendices