Abstract: This article examines historical events within one hospital and compares them with contemporary risk management practices. The examples involve a nurse sustaining injury in the course of her work, a fire in the hospital and two instances of patient complaints – one concerning nursing care and the other relating to a time lag between admission to hospital and receiving medical attention. Analysis of the processes followed in investigating these occurrences reveals that these historic investigations were small in scale and less bureaucratic than contemporary practice, and were based on a culture of blame. This is contrasted with modern risk management practices which are more focused on understanding what can be learned from the incident with respect to preventing recurrence.

Abstract: The authors review the literature on the residual effects of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which can include fatigue, foot drop or numbness, reduced mobility and nerve tingling. In GBS the peripheral nerves are attacked by the body's defence system, an auto-immune attack, and as a result, the myelin sheath and axons of nerves are impaired. The pathophysiology of the illness and long term effects are presented, and implications for nursing care and rehabilitation are discussed. Two case studies are included which illustrate coping with the long-term effects of GBS, the effect of GBS residuals on extreme fatigue and depression.