Factors Contributing to Rationed Nursing Care in the Slovak Republic—A Secondary Analysis of Quantitative Data

Rationed nursing care is a significant problem in healthcare facilities worldwide. Awareness of contributing factors to rationed care might support the development and implementation of strategies for reducing this phenomenon from clinical practice. The study examined the association between selected hospital, unit, and staff variables and the prevalence of rationed nursing care. Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data collected between December 2017 and July 2018 from 895 registered nurses in seven acute care hospitals in the Slovak Republic was performed. Data were collected using the questionnaire Perceived Implicit Rationing of Nursing and analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics in the statistical program SPSS 25.0. Statistically significant associations were found between rationed nursing care and unit type, education, shift type, nurses’ experience in the current unit, overtime hours, missed shifts, intention to leave the position, perceived staff adequacy, quality of patient care, and job satisfaction. Differences in rating rationed nursing care, quality of patient care, and job satisfaction were identified based on hospital type. Together with top hospital management, nurse managers should develop targeted interventions focusing on mitigating rationed nursing care from the clinical practice with a focus placed on university hospitals. Quality and safe care might be ensured through constant monitoring of the quality of patient care and job satisfaction of nurses as these factors significantly predicted the estimates of rationed nursing care.

Evaluation of a novel communication and consultation skills model (WISE COACH) on dog owner perceptions of veterinarians and projected spending on veterinary care

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of a novel communication and consultation skills model (WISE COACH [WC]) on dog owner perceptions of veterinarians and projected spending on veterinary care. SAMPLE 1,200 US dog owners who had visited a veterinarian within the prior 18 months. PROCEDURES Video recordings of 2 staged client consultations were made, with the veterinarian following the WC recommendations in one video and not following them in the other (control). Participants were randomly assigned to view one of the videos and completed an online survey to assess their perceptions and projected spending. Qualitative responses were coded to identify themes. RESULTS The veterinarian was rated significantly higher in the WC video than in the control video for the characteristics first impression, skilled and knowledgeable, cares about me, cares about my pet, and communicates clearly, and was rated significantly lower for the characteristic rushed or abrupt. Participants who viewed the WC video were significantly more likely to follow the veterinarian’s recommendations, return to see the veterinarian, and recommend the veterinarian. They were also approximately 1.4 times as likely to approve the full recommended treatment plan, and their projected total spending was approximately 15% higher than projected spending for participants who viewed the control video. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results showed improved client perceptions, client retention, quality of patient care, and financial metrics when the veterinarian followed the WC recommendations. Further study is needed to determine whether this model may also improve veterinarian well-being by improving client relationships and decreasing resistance to recommendations.

Hospital accreditation processes in Saudi Arabia: a thematic analysis of hospital staff experiences

BackgroundHospital accreditation by an international organisation can play an important role in health quality and safety. However, little is known about how managers and front-line employees experience and perceive the effects of accreditation. Their views could inform quality improvement processes and procedures.ObjectiveTo explore perceptions of employees at the managerial level on the Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation process and its impact on quality of patient care in Saudi Arabian JCI-accredited hospitals.MethodsWe undertook a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews to explore the perspectives of senior staff from three accredited public hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Interviews were transcribed prior to thematic analysis.ResultsTwenty managers participated in the interviews. The following inter-related themes emerged concerning the JCI accreditation process and its impact on quality of patient care: drivers for the change; the plan for the change; the process of the change; maintaining changes post-accreditation and patients’ issues. Participants were positive in their accounts of: drivers for the change; planning for the change needed to achieve accreditation and managing patients’ issues. However, participants reported less favourably on: the process of the change; and maintaining changes post-accreditation.ConclusionThe planning stage was perceived as the easiest component of JCI accreditation. Implementing and maintaining changes post-accreditation that demonstrably promote patient safety and quality of care was perceived as more difficult. When planning for accreditation, institutions need to incorporate strategies to ensure that improvements to care continue beyond the accreditation period.

運用品管手法改善藥師在職教育課程的辦理成效

<p>目的：改善在職教育課程的辦理成效，期能強化部內藥事人員專業技能以提升病人的照護品質。</p> <p>方法：本專案結合Kern課程規劃循環(Kern curriculum cycle)與品管手法PDCA的概念，由課堂的課後資料與 問卷進行現況分析與學習者需求調查，找出「課程參與度與完成度低」之主要因，並擬定對策。課程參與度之目標設定為每堂課平均出席人數過半達64位，課程完成率達85%。（課程完成之定義為限期內完成課後評值且分數高於80分，以及滿意度填寫）</p> <p>結果：課程內容與品質改善後，平均出席人數由56位增加到65位，目標達成率112.5%；課程完成率由83.2%增加到87.3%，目標達成率227.8%。</p> <p>結論：藉由優化課程內容與品質，改善在職教育課程的辦理成效，進一步再將特定發展的課程主題以帶狀系列或社群模式進行，能提高同仁自主學習意願、促進自我成長，亦能強化同仁專業技能，進而提升病人照護品質，且有助於部門內人才師資培育兼顧員工職涯發展，並預做準備將全人照護概念向下扎根於藥學實習生。</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>Objective: To improve the effectiveness of on-the-job education programs for strengthening the professional skills of the pharmacists in our department and further enhance the quality of patient care.</p> <p>Methods: This project integrated the Kern curriculum cycle and the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) concept of quality control. We used post-class evaluations and questionnaires to do a situation analysis and survey learners’ needs to identify the main reasons for low course participation and completion and to develop countermeasures to these problems. The course participation targets were an average attendance of 64 pharmacists per class and a course completion rate of 85%. Course completion was defined as completing both the postcourse evaluation (80 points to pass) and the satisfaction questionnaires by the stipulated deadline.</p> <p>Results: After we improved the content and quality of the courses, the average attendance increased from 56 to 65, and the target achievement rate was 112.5%. In addition, the course completion rate increased from 83.2% to 87.3%, and the target achievement rate was 227.8%.</p> <p>Conclusion: By optimizing the content and quality of the courses, improving the effectiveness of the on-the-job education programs, and developing courses on specific topics within a series or community model, we cultivated independent learning and self-growth among our pharmacists, strengthened their professional skills, and improved the quality of patient care. Moreover, talents and teachers were fostered while taking into account the career development of our pharmacists, and preparations were made to root the concept of holistic care down in pharmacy interns.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Information Science in the Analytics of Healthcare Data

Information science is an interdisciplinary field that deals with the effective collection, storage, retrieval, and use of information for better decision making through related technologies. Today, healthcare organizations are looking for more efficient and sophisticated means of collecting, managing, analyzing data, and delivering medical information to physicians, clinicians, and nurses. The role of information science in the healthcare domain is to improve the quality of patient care, reduce operational cost, and make the entire internal management process well organized for better decision making. Through the application of technology, data analytics and information science practitioners help drive data-informed healthcare decisions. Hence, this chapter covers the techniques that are useful for data analytics and information management in healthcare such as data mining, machine learning, cloud computing, and data visualization.

運用藍牙定位科技提升某病房醫材設備點班之效率

<p>本專案目的為運用藍牙定位系統追蹤儀器提升病房護理人員點班管理之效率。專案過程利用規劃重整器械放置處、建置藍牙定位追蹤儀器系統、規範醫材設備點班管理辦法等材料與方法，點班時間可由28.7分鐘縮短為14.7分鐘，將精實的時間回歸於臨床工作上，進而使病人獲得更完善的照護品質。</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>This study aimed to increase the efficiency of equipment counting by nurses by using a Bluetooth positioning system to track instruments. Counting medical equipment is often time-consuming; the proposed solution involves reorganizing equipment placement locations, constructing a Bluetooth positioning system to track the instruments, and developing a standardized operating procedure for equipment counting. After the plan was implemented, the time required for the nurses to count medical equipment was reduced from an average of 28.7 to 14.7 minutes, reflecting a substantial increase in efficiency. Consequently, the nurses had more time for clinical work, resulting in a higher quality of patient care.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Knowledge, Use and Practices of Licensed Dietitians Related to Dietary Supplements in Lebanon

Objective To evaluate Lebanese licensed dietitians’ (LDs) knowledge, prevalence of use and recommendation of dietary supplements (DS), and their associated factors. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Dietitians across Lebanon were contacted through the telephone and were asked to participate in the study. An online self-administered questionnaire was designed and sent to dietitians either by email or by WhatsApp, between March 4th and May 4th, 2020. Participants This study included 319 dietitians randomly selected from the dietitians’ list that was provided by Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. Results Around 75% of dietitians had a knowledge score above 50%. Overall, 73.7% of them have used DS and 46.1% have recommended them. Higher knowledge score was associated with less years of experience, using scientific articles as source of information on DS, and participating in research. Resorting to pharmacists was significantly associated with both nutrient supplements (NS) and herbal supplements’ (HS) use, whereas referring to health food stores was associated with HS use only. NS recommendation to patients was associated with personal NS use (OR=3.38, P<0.001), considering pharmacists as a source of information on DS (OR=2.29, P=0.01) and discussing DS with patients (OR=3.82, P=0.01). Having personally used HS (OR=12.23, P<0.001) and having discussed DS with patients (OR=8.51, P=0.01) increased the likelihood of recommending HS. Conclusions A proper DS education, the elaboration of national scientific guidelines and the implementation of concise laws regarding the regulations of DS would play a crucial role in supporting dietitians’ practices and improving the quality of patient care with respect to DS.

The relationship between the nurses’ work environment and the quality and safe nursing care: Slovenian study using the RN4CAST questionnaire

Introduction The safety and quality of patient care are basic guidelines in finding new and improved solutions in nursing. Important and influential factors shape the nurses’ work environment in hospitals. Purpose With the study, we intended to investigate whether the perception of nurses’ work environment is related to the safety culture and the quality of patient care and whether it differs according to nurses’ level of education. Methods of work The study with a quantitative research method was conducted at the six clinical departments of the University Medical Centre, Ljubljana in 2019. We used a survey questionnaire from the European survey Nurse forecasting in Europe (RN4CAST). Results 270 nurses were included in the study. The response rate was 54%. The study confirmed that there is a correlation between the assessment of the nurses’ work environment and the general assessment of patient safety (r = 0.36; p <0.001), the general assessment of the quality of nursing care (r = 0.32; p <0.001), the confidence in patient self-care at discharge (r = 0.29; p <0.001) and the quality of patient care in the previous year (r = 0.27; p = 0.001). The results showed frequent verbal abuse of nurses, in 44.9% by patients and their relatives and in 35.4% by staff. Graduate nurses rated the work environment more negatively than healthcare technicians (p = 0.003). Discussion and conclusion We confirmed the correlation between the assessment of nurses’ work environment and patient safety and the quality of health care, and that employees’ education influences the assessment and perception of the work environment.

Study of Sharing Patient Information by Nurses Between Inpatient and Outpatient Wards in Japan

Shortening hospital stays increases communication needs between nurses in inpatient and outpatient wards. Smooth information sharing is required to reduce the workload of nurses and improve the quality of patient care. However, electronic medical records (EMR) system does not have sufficient functions to support information sharing between wards, because EMR has been developed mainly for recording. This study led to three improvements; unified communication tool, common patient list linked to EMR, and outpatient nursing diagnosis.

The Effect of Transcultural Nursing Course on Students’ Moral Sensitivity: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Introduction: The moral sensitivity of nurses positively affects the quality of patient care. For this reason, nursing students are expected to gain moral sensitivity skills during their education. The aim of the study is to examine the impact of transcultural nursing course (TNC) on the moral sensitivity levels of students. Methods: This study had a quasi-experimental design. The sample consisted of 100 nursing students (intervention: 36 and control: 64). The intervention group was composed of students who had enrolled in the TNC. The data were collected through the Sociodemographic Information Form and the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire. Independent samples t-test and analysis of variance were used in data analysis. Results: The moral sensitivity levels of the students who received the TNC were significantly higher than those who did not. Discussion: The TNC is an effective teaching method in increasing the moral sensitivity levels of nursing students.