Care regimes of the study and control groups
The care regimes for the two groups were different only as
far as mobilisation was concerned. While the control group
patients had to remain in bed with the back rest in an
elevated position, in consistence with our normal care regime,
the study group patients were given a certain degree of
freedom to move around. They were allowed to take short,
gently paced walks around the ward without getting out of
breath, fetch their own meals and refreshments and take care
of their own personal hygiene (Table 1: points 1–3). Other
precautions, which were identical for both groups, accorded
with our conventional regime (Table 1: points 4–10), which
requires patients to sleep with elevated back rests, sneeze with
open mouths, avoid bending the head down and other
activities that may cause an increase of the blood pressure in
the nose. Furthermore, they were served only liquidised or
soft food at cold or lukewarm temperatures, instructed to
avoid picking their noses and to take only short, lukewarm
showers. Any new bleeding incidents were recorded, and
conventional treatment was initiated: ice sucking to induce
the contraction of blood vessels in the nose, the application of
an ice pack on the outer part of the nose and, if necessary, a
compress. In addition, the participants had to remain in bed
for two hours after bleeding had ceased, allowing the first
coagulation to take place (Karle & Birgens 2002).
Registration of study variables
Basic demographic data were registered on individual data
forms with records of new bleeding episodes defined as the
visible, continuous drip of fresh blood from the nose and/or
visible traces of fresh blood or even heavier bleeding on the
back wall of the pharynx. Several factors, such as the type of
nasal packaging used, hypertension, bleeding disorders,
prescription of peroral anticoagulants and diabetes, were