A Role of The Nursing Counseling Room for Chemical Sensitivity

Nami Imai, Ph.D, R.N., Yukari Taneda, M.S., R.N. Akiko Segawa M.S.,R.N., Yoshiharu Imai, M.Eng.

The International Conference on Community-Oriented Healthcare

Mar. 21-22, 2009, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung City, Taiwan

INTRODUCTION

Chemical Sensitivity (CS) syndrome occurs by a little chemical substance in our environment. CS patients are estimated about over seven hundred thousand people in Japan. We have reported that there are two psychosocial factors of aggravate CS. 1.There are few specialized hospital of CS in Japan. 2.Patients have difficulties finding a physician who can diagnose. We manage the Nursing Counseling Room for CS (NCR) to improve these conditions of Japanese society. The NCR is only one place in Japan. We report some opinions from the present case study about the effect of the nursing support.

BACKGROUND

METHOD 1

Consultation at Nursing Counseling Room

METHOD 2

The Check of Health Status for Patients

METHOD 3

The Check of QOL status for Patients

QUIK-RSelf-Completed Questionnaire for QOL developed by Iida and Kohashi Revised at Kansai University (1991)

This tool is a six- tiered scale, excellent (point 0), good (ranged from point 1 to3),Fair (4-9), poor (10-18), very poor (19-29), and grossly impaired (more than point 30),so that lower QUIK-R scores reflected a higher QOL level.

METHOD 4

The Check Of Mental Status For Patients

CMICornell Medical Index developed by Brodman, Erdmann, Wolff at Cornell University Medical College(1949)

This tool has 144 items of body symptoms in total, and those include digestive organs, the heart, the tiredness levels, and respiratory organs. On the other hand, it also has 51 items of mental symptoms, and those include maladaptive, depression, uneasiness, anger, and the tension. The present study used only the items of mental symptom.

(Time axis)

Nov.2005 Jun.2006 Jan.2007 May.2007

Exposure

Recognition CS by newspaper Patients get the right diagnosis

Patients struggle CS symptoms Recover

Mar.2008

Counseling starts at the NCR

RESULT 1

Progress of Patients’ Conditions

The participants of present study were fifty-years-old couple. Their symptoms’ onset was the disinfectant of the septic tank. After they got the information about CS from a newspaper by chance, they got more information from the NCR web-site. The nurse introduced the specialized CS physician, and made the patients get the right diagnosis immediately. They had used NCR over and over, and accepted advice by the nurse for one year.

Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, Japan

RESULT 3

Outcomes of QEESI

RESULT 2

Nursing Intervention at the NCR

Nurse provided

1. Information about symptom status

2. Information on specialized hospital for CS

3. Information on alternative treatment

4. Information for improving in living environment

5. Information for taking safety foods and daily goods

6. How to make relationship with neighbors

7. The mental support

RESULT 4

Outcomes of QUIK-R

RESULT 5

Outcomes of QEESI

Case A

Case B

Case A

Case B

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Nurses can improve the physical and mental condition for CS by accurate advice, and the NCR is very important for CS patients in Japanese society.

However, in these cases, the patients needed a very long time to establish a diagnosis and to improve the symptoms of CS because they needed certain while to find NCR.

The nurses must develop various ideas so that the patients can quickly find the NCR and go to quickly specialized hospital.

Acknowledgments:I am grateful to the participants in the present study. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Asphodel Yang of the International Conference on Community-Oriented Healthcare, because she gave me the opportunity of this poster presentation. I was planning to go to Taichung city and to explain about my research, but I am pregnant in three month now, and I can not go abroad. I am sorry I did not see everyone at this conference. If you have any question, please send me your e-mail: nami-i@nurse.medic.mie-u.ac.jp

Nami Imai, Ph.D., RN. , Mie University, JAPAN