Health Care Environment (health + care_environment)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Medical Sciences


Selected Abstracts


Creating a Safe, Secure Health Care Environment

NURSING FOR WOMENS HEALTH, Issue 1 2004
Understanding HIPPA & Exploring Its Implications
No abstract is available for this article. [source]


A guide to knowledge translation theory

THE JOURNAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, Issue 1 2006
Carole A. Estabrooks RN
Abstract Despite calls over several decades for theory development, there remains no overarching knowledge-translation theory. However, a range of models and theoretical perspectives focused on narrower and related areas have been available for some time. We provide an overview of selected perspectives that we believe are particularly useful for developing testable and useful knowledge-translation interventions. In addition, we discuss adjuvant theories necessary to complement these perspectives. We draw from organizational innovation, health, and social sciences literature to illustrate the similarities and differences of various theoretical perspectives related to the knowledge-translation field. A variety of theoretical perspectives useful to knowledge translation exist. They are often spread across disciplinary boundaries, making them difficult to locate and use. Poor definitional clarity, discipline-specific terminology, and implicit assumptions often hinder the use of complementary perspectives. Health care environments are complex, and assessing the setting prior to selecting a theory should be the first step in knowledge-translation initiatives. Finding a fit between setting (context) and theory is important for knowledge-translation initiatives to succeed. Because one theory will not fit all contexts, it is helpful to understand and use several different theories. Although there are often barriers associated with combining theories from different disciplines, such obstacles can be overcome, and to do so will increase the likelihood that knowledge-translation initiatives will succeed. [source]


The power of partnership to shape the future of nursing: the evolution of the clinical nurse leader

JOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2008
FAAN, FACHE, JOLENE TORNABENI MA
Aim(s), This article describes the evolution of the clinical nurse leader role and demonstrates the vital nature of partnerships between academia and practice in the design and implementation of this new role. Background, The health care system as it exists in the United States may put patients at risk in terms of safety and quality of care. Nursing leadership from across the US recognized a need for nursing practice and academia to work in partnership to develop workable and effective solutions. The vision was of a nurse generalist who would be prepared to address the complexities that make the current systems dysfunctional. Evaluation, Review, share experiences and discuss the benefits of engaging stakeholders with broad and diverse viewpoints. Key issues, Engaging a group of stakeholders with diverse backgrounds, varied world views and experiences for the purpose of developing common mutually beneficial goals, creates synergy and greater commitment to the goals, which results in success. Conclusion(s), The power of partnership in the development and implementation of the CNL is evident. Old ways of trying to ,go it alone' are no longer viable in a complex health care environment. Implications for nursing management, With continued collaboration, practice and academia can continue to confront challenges and develop effective solutions. [source]


Nursing Leadership in the Boardroom

JOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 3 2004
Kathleen E. Thorman BSN
It is critical that nurse leaders, including chief nurse executives and service line directors, be part of the institutional decision-making process about resource allocation, strategic direction, and planning for the future. Nurse leaders can use numerous strategies to influence decisions made in the boardroom that affect the women's service line, including perinatal and women's health. These strategies include building on the importance of women's services to the organization, working in collaboration with senior leaders and key physician leaders, marketing, and reaching out to governing boards with information. Nurse leaders must continue to prepare for the future to thrive in the increasingly complex health care environment. [source]


Reflections on a Decade of Outcomes Management in Women's Services

JOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 1 2001
CNAA, Susan Houston RN
Outcomes management was theorized as a strategy for redesigning and continually enhancing interdisciplinary health care processes through the use of outcomes measurements. Regardless of the rapidly changing and oftentimes turbulent health care environment, this strategy successfully facilitated positive outcomes in one women's service for 10 years. Outcomes affected during these years included reduction in cost per case, length of stay, infant prematurity, and cesarean delivery rates. [source]


Nurse Practitioners and Physicians: Patients' Perceived Health and Satisfaction with Care

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS, Issue 6 2000
Jo-Allyn Pinkerton PhD
ABSTRACT The advent of managed care has created changes in the health care environment and nurse practitioners have found a need to evaluate their care. Perceived health and patient satisfaction were measured in a multiethnic sample of 160 clinic patients, ages 18 to 89, in a managed care setting. Results of the Medical Outcomes Study SF-20 and the Nurse Practitioner Satisfaction Instrument indicated no statistically significant difference in perceived health and satisfaction with care, whether the care was given by a nurse practitioner or a primary care physician. The findings warrant further study and may mean that nurse practitioners placed in managed care environments can be expected to perform as effectively as they have in non-managed care environments. [source]


Isolation of clinically relevant fungal species from solid waste and environment of dental health services

LETTERS IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
C.D. Vieira
Abstract Aims:, This study was undertaken to detect, identify and determine antifungal susceptibility of yeast strains isolated from dental solid waste and to evaluate airborne fungi in the Brazilian dental health care environment and in the waste storage room. Methods and Results:, A group of 17 yeast strains were identified by macroscopic and microscopic characteristics, API 20C Aux system and Multiplex PCR. All 104 airborne fungal colonies were identified by macroscopic and microscopic morphology. The CLSI broth microdilution method was utilized as the susceptibility test. Candida parapsilosis was the prevailing yeast species recovered from waste, followed by Rhodotorula glutinis. Three strains of Candida guilliermondii presented minimal inhibitory concentration values considered to be susceptible dose dependent (2 ,g ml,1) to voriconazole. Of all airborne fungal species, 69% were recovered from the waste storage room and 31% were recovered from the clinical/surgical environment. Most of them were identified as Cladosporium spp. Conclusions:, These findings reinforce the potential risk of waste handling and point out the need for safe management to minimize the spread of these agents to the environment. Filamentous fungi isolation in almost all sampled environments indicates that a periodic monitoring of airborne microbiota in the dental health care service environment is required. Significance and Impact of the Study:, The survival of yeast strains for 48 h suggests that dental waste should be carefully controlled and monitored. [source]


Clinical teaching: maintaining an educational role for doctors in the new health care environment

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 10 2000
D Prideaux
Context and objectives Good clinical teaching is central to medical education but there is concern about maintaining this in contemporary, pressured health care environments. This paper aims to demonstrate that good clinical practice is at the heart of good clinical teaching. Methods Seven roles are used as a framework for analysing good clinical teaching. The roles are medical expert, communicator, collaborator, manager, advocate, scholar and professional. Results The analysis of clinical teaching and clinical practice demonstrates that they are closely linked. As experts, clinical teachers are involved in research, information retrieval and sharing of knowledge or teaching. Good communication with trainees, patients and colleagues defines teaching excellence. Clinicians can ,teach' collaboration by acting as role models and by encouraging learners to understand the responsibilities of other health professionals. As managers, clinicians can apply their skills to the effective management of learning resources. Similarly skills as advocates at the individual, community and population level can be passed on in educational encounters. The clinicians' responsibilities as scholars are most readily applied to teaching activities. Clinicians have clear roles in taking scholarly approaches to their practice and demonstrating them to others. Conclusion Good clinical teaching is concerned with providing role models for good practice, making good practice visible and explaining it to trainees. This is the very basis of clinicians as professionals, the seventh role, and should be the foundation for the further development of clinicians as excellent clinical teachers. [source]


Financing the Treatment of Chronic Pain: Models for Risk-sharing among Pain Medicine Physicians, Health Care Payers, and Consumers

PAIN MEDICINE, Issue 1 2000
FABPM, Richard L. Stieg MD
Chronic pain patients are among a growing group of medically underserved Americans. Despite increasing public awareness about pain and widespread legislative activity that is focusing on the needs of pain patients, there remain significant roadblocks in bringing the expertise of Pain Medicine specialists to these unfortunate people. This paper explores how the managed care revolution has impacted the practice of Pain Medicine in the United States. The dissolution of many prominent multi-disciplinary pain treatment centers has been paralleled by the evolution of pain management as an area of interest by several competing medical specialty societies. Despite this fragmentation, the American Academy of Pain Medicine continues to grow and to promote the needs of Pain Medicine specialists and their patients. The advantages and disadvantages of various practice patterns for Pain Medicine specialists is explored against a backdrop of discussions about: (1) the problems currently faced by chronic pain patients; (2) the role of organized Pain Medicine in helping patients to access and finance care; and (3) the future of American health care and the new responsibilities that will bring to physicians. Finally, we have some specific recommendations for pain medicine specialists about: (1) sharing risk; (2) exerting individual leadership; and (3) simplifying one's professional life in the new health care environment, that we hope will enable them to continue caring for as many chronic pain patients as possible. It is opined that the development of sophisticated regional specialty networks is the best model to accomplish this task in the future. [source]


Privacy protection, health care and quality control

QUALITY ASSURANCE JOURNAL, Issue 3 2002
Rudolf Bruppacher
Abstract In the past three decades, patient rights on the one hand, and health care and research activities in health services on the other hand, have experienced unprecedented development. Requirements of privacy protection, particularly the restrictions on ,secondary analysis' of health data, have become a problem in an increasingly complex health care environment and have become a hindrance to research. Legal regulations have developed differently in different countries. Recent attempts, such as the European Community directive on privacy protection promise effective harmonization, at least for developed countries. However, many questions regarding their interpretation remain and they are discussed in this article. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Reduction of asthma burden is possible through National Asthma Plans

ALLERGY, Issue 4 2010
M. Kupczyk
To cite this article: Kupczyk M, Haahtela T, Cruz AA, Kuna P. Reduction of asthma burden is possible through National Asthma. Allergy 2010; 65: 415,419. Abstract Despite increase in understanding of asthma patomechanisms the practical actions to lessen asthma burden in the communities are far behind of scientific knowledge. There are still reports of uderdiagnosis and poor treatment leading to repeated severe exacerbations, often demanding emergency care and hospitalisation, which cause most of the economic burden both for families and society. From the public health perspective, the key issue is to implement the best standards of care in every-day practice. The problems are different in high income compared to low- and middle-income countries, and the solutions have to be tailored to each country needs and resources. We present here examples from Finland, Poland and Brazil, to show that asthma burden can be reduced using varied strategies in quite different societal, economical and health care environments. The experience from those interventions confirms that regardless of the health care system and its coverage, a major change for the better can be achieved by local efforts, systematic planning and networking to implement the best asthma practice. [source]


Clinical teaching: maintaining an educational role for doctors in the new health care environment

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 10 2000
D Prideaux
Context and objectives Good clinical teaching is central to medical education but there is concern about maintaining this in contemporary, pressured health care environments. This paper aims to demonstrate that good clinical practice is at the heart of good clinical teaching. Methods Seven roles are used as a framework for analysing good clinical teaching. The roles are medical expert, communicator, collaborator, manager, advocate, scholar and professional. Results The analysis of clinical teaching and clinical practice demonstrates that they are closely linked. As experts, clinical teachers are involved in research, information retrieval and sharing of knowledge or teaching. Good communication with trainees, patients and colleagues defines teaching excellence. Clinicians can ,teach' collaboration by acting as role models and by encouraging learners to understand the responsibilities of other health professionals. As managers, clinicians can apply their skills to the effective management of learning resources. Similarly skills as advocates at the individual, community and population level can be passed on in educational encounters. The clinicians' responsibilities as scholars are most readily applied to teaching activities. Clinicians have clear roles in taking scholarly approaches to their practice and demonstrating them to others. Conclusion Good clinical teaching is concerned with providing role models for good practice, making good practice visible and explaining it to trainees. This is the very basis of clinicians as professionals, the seventh role, and should be the foundation for the further development of clinicians as excellent clinical teachers. [source]


Detecting acute confusion in older adults: Comparing clinical reasoning of nurses working in acute, long-term, and community health care environments

RESEARCH IN NURSING & HEALTH, Issue 3 2003
Marianne C. McCarthy
Abstract In an article on a previous study involving hospitalized older adults (McCarthy, 2003), it was argued that the theory of situated clinical reasoning explains why nurses often fail to recognize acute confusion. Further, the theory illuminates how nurses' perspectives toward health in aging affect the ways they regard and ultimately deal with older people in this particular clinical situation. The purpose of the current study was to challenge and refine the theory by exploring the influence of different care environments on clinical reasoning related to acute confusion. Following a period of participant observation, a purposive sample of 30 nurses, 10 each from a teaching hospital, a long-term facility, and a home care agency, participated in semistructured interviews. Dimensional analysis provided the methodological framework for data collection and interpretation. The results reinforce prior findings that the ability of nurses to recognize acute confusion and to distinguish it from dementia can be attributed to their personal philosophies about aging. Care environment was identified as a factor that influenced clinical reasoning in limited ways under certain conditions and within certain contexts. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health 26: 203,212, 2003 [source]


Quality Indicators for Geriatric Emergency Care

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 5 2009
Kevin M. Terrell DO
Abstract Objectives:, Emergency departments (EDs), similar to other health care environments, are concerned with improving the quality of patient care. Older patients comprise a large, growing, and particularly vulnerable subset of ED users. The project objective was to develop ED-specific quality indicators for older patients to help practitioners identify quality gaps and focus quality improvement efforts. Methods:, The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Geriatric Task Force, including members representing the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), selected three conditions where there are quality gaps in the care of older patients: cognitive assessment, pain management, and transitional care in both directions between nursing homes and EDs. For each condition, a content expert created potential quality indicators based on a systematic review of the literature, supplemented with expert opinion when necessary. The original candidate quality indicators were modified in response to evaluation by four groups: the Task Force, the SAEM Geriatric Interest Group, and audiences at the 2007 SAEM Annual Meeting and the 2008 American Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting. Results:, The authors offer 6 quality indicators for cognitive assessment, 6 for pain management, and 11 for transitions between nursing homes and EDs. Conclusions:, These quality indicators will help researchers and clinicians target quality improvement efforts. The next steps will be to test the feasibility of capturing the quality indicators in existing medical records and to measure the extent to which each quality indicator is successfully met in current emergency practice. [source]


Selection bias in Teratology Information Service pregnancy outcome studies

BIRTH DEFECTS RESEARCH, Issue 2 2001
K. A. Johnson
Background Pregnancy outcome studies conducted through Teratology Information Services (TIS) rely on volunteer subjects. If these subjects tend to have different risk profiles than the population from which they are drawn, the results of TIS studies may have limited generalizability. Methods We selected all subjects who enrolled in the California Teratogen Information Service (CTIS) pregnancy outcome study for prenatal exposure to carbamazepine or valproic acid between 1990 and 1997 and who received prenatal care through Kaiser Permanente of Southern California (n = 13). We compared these subjects to Kaiser patients identified through the Maternal Serum Alpha Fetoprotein Program with exposure to carbamazepine or valproic acid but who had not enrolled in the CTIS project. The controls were matched by Kaiser location and pregnancy year using a 2:1 ratio (n = 26). Medical records were reviewed and the prevalence of 14 pregnancy risk factors was compared between the two groups. Results There were no significant differences between the groups on any one risk factor; however, a notably higher proportion of women who did not enroll in the CTIS study used tobacco or had a positive family history of congenital anomalies. Conclusions Although the sample was small, and results may not apply to other exposures in different health care environments, these data provide some evidence that women who enroll in TIS pregnancy outcome studies do not have a substantially different pregnancy risk profile than women who do not. Efforts to address possible selection bias should be incorporated in future TIS study design. Teratology 64:79,82, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]