Introduction. All over the world the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, has already begun. Very quick development and testing of medicinal preparations with such a high efficiency (94-95%), which can be administered to adult patients for mass immunization, makes this fight possible. The production and delivery of a huge number of vaccines remains a challenge, but an undoubtedly important aspect is the safe and compliant administration of medicinal preparations. People currently authorized to administer COVID-19 vaccines are doctors, paramedics, nurses, midwives, and school hygienists. However, there is a lot of conflicting information on how to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. Should the skin be folded or stretched? To aspire or not?Conclusion. Nurses have administered vaccination since many years, having proper education and experience. Nowadays available vaccines against COVID-19 are administered intramuscularly into the deltoid muscle. The recommendations say that administering of the vaccine must be performed with 90 degrees to the surface of the skin simultaneously stretching the skin with index finger and thumb, without aspiration after injection. This article presents basic information about the vaccine and the algorithm for administering the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the authors.

Background. Blood flow-mediated dilation (FMD) is a noninvasive assessment of vascular endothelial function in humans. The study of the FMD in hypertensive (HT) patients is an important factor supporting the recognition of the early mechanisms of cardiovascular pathologies, and also of the pathogenesis related to hypertension. Objectives.To investigate whether FMD measured on the radial artery (FMD-RA) using high-frequency ultrasounds can be used as an alternative to FMD assessed with the lower frequency system on the brachial artery in patients with HT. Materials and methods.The simultaneous measurements of FMD-RA and FMD measurements in the brachial artery (FMD-BA) were performed on 76 HT patients using 20 MHz and 7-12 MHz linear array probes, and were compared to the FMD measured in healthy groups. All quantitative data are presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD); the p-values of the normality and tests for variables comparisons are listed. The agreement of the FMD-RA and FMD-BA in HT patients was assessed with the Bland-Altman method, and using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). In some statistical calculations, the FMD-RA values were rescaled by dividing them by a factor of 2.Results. The mean FMD-RA and FMD-BA in HT patients were 5.16 ±2.18% (95% confidence interval (95% CI): [4.50%, 5.82%]) and 2. 13 ±1. 12% (95% CI: [1.76%, 2.49%]), respectively. The FMD-RA and FMD-BA values of HT patients were significantly different than those in respective control groups. The p-values of Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon tests were less than 0.05. The Bland-Altman coefficient for both measurement methods, FMD-RA and FMD-BA, was 3%, and the ICC was 0.69. Conclusions.Our findings show that FMD-RA, supplementary to FMD-BA measurements, can be used to assess endothelial dysfunction in the group of HT patients. In addition, the FMD-RA measurements met the criteria of high concordance with the FMD-BA measurements.

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Introduction. Delirium is one of the qualitative disorders of consciousness, characterized by, inter alia, changeable course, inability to focus or disorganized thinking. It can occur among patients from various age groups. The risk factors for delirium include: age over 60 years, polypharmacy, sleep disorders, simultaneous presence of dementia, pain syndromes or dehydration. There are various types of delirium (depending on the level of activity), as well as various forms (including Delirium Tremens, Excited Delirium Syndrome). Aim. The objective of this publication is to systematize knowledge about delirium and providing appropriate tools for assessing the occurrence of delirium in different patients, so as to simplify a quick and efficient detection of the disorder by medical personnel. Conclusions. This publication describes tools that can be used in pre-hospital and in-hospital practice, including departments caring for critically ill patients, requiring, for example, mechanical ventilation (intensive care units, cardiac intensive care units, intensive toxicological supervision units, etc.). In addition, practical aspects have been taken into account, and solutions taken from other publications that can be implemented in daily work with the patient have been proposed – a combination of several tools for quick, easy and reliable detection of delirium in the subject.