Foreword: Introducing the eJIFCC Special Issue on "POCT - Making the Point"

Essential infection prevention measures are based on the knowledge of the infection chain, the modes of transmission in healthcare settings, and the use of the best practices in all healthcare settings. Compulsory public reporting of healthcare-associated infection rates is needed to allow individuals and the community to make informed choices regarding selecting a healthcare facility.
The best practices for preventing healthcare-associated infections include hand hygiene, patient risk...

Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune condition affecting neuromuscular transmission, causing generalized weakness in skeletal muscles. Initial diagnoses rely on patients' signs, symptoms, and medical history. The challenge lies in distinguishing myasthenia from other muscular dystrophies. An important diagnostic feature is the significant improvement of symptoms after administering anticholinesterase inhibitors.
The edrophonium test is a diagnostic tool for myasthenia gravis. It involves...

Nurses bear specific legal responsibilities under several federal statutes, including:

Federal statutes profoundly impact nursing practice, providing critical guidelines to ensure patient care is equitable, accessible, and of the highest quality. The following laws address distinct aspects of healthcare provision and patient rights:

A healthcare provider can diagnose a urinary tract infection (UTI) through several methods:Medical History and Symptoms: The provider will take a detailed medical history and ask about symptoms such as frequent urination, burning sensation during urination, and lower abdominal pain.Urinalysis: A clean-catch urine sample is collected in a sterile container and tested for the presence of bacteria, white blood cells (leukocytes), nitrites, blood, and protein. The presence of leukocytes and...

Different methods, such as visual observance of metal-ion indicators, spectroscopic techniques, and potentiometric methods, can determine the endpoint of an EDTA titration.
In the visual method, metal-ion indicators (metallochromic dyes), which have distinct colors in their free and complex forms, are added to the mixture to signal the titration's end point. They form stable complexes with metal ions, but these complexes are weaker than the corresponding metal–EDTA complexes. As a...