UHC Patient Safety Net® Progress To Date : An “A+” Report Card for JDH Staff!

Safety in Numbers It’s been eight months since we implemented UHC Patient Safety Net® (“PSN”) at John Dempsey Hospital, and we are delighted with its success. As you know, PSN is a web-based reporting tool for reporting patient safety-related events. Frontline staff are doing a great job entering data on patient care events. Here’s how PSN works:

Patient Safety Net Update

It’s been three months since we’ve gone live with Patient Safety Net, and it has been a great success! Managers and front line staff have been trained on how to input, review, and submit event reports that formerly were detailed on the hard copy “RIR” forms. Utilization of the webbased PSN system has been better than expected. PSN has enabled us to greatly improve the way we document and react to patient safety related events.

Psychiatrists' and Psychiatric APRNs' Views of the Adolescent Mental Health Nurse's Role In the Inpatient Setting

Current perceptions about nurses’ roles and responsibilities are examined in this study, specifically relating to adolescent inpatient MHNs. Psychiatrists and psychiatric advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), who work with MHNs and have also published scholarly psychiatric articles, were contacted to request their participation in an anonymous survey hosted by SurveyMonkey.com. This research was conducted to examine the stereotypes that exist against nurses within the health care profession itself, as compared to the pre-existing stereotypes displayed by the media’s view of nurses. Due to investigator time constraints, only six subjects participated in the study. Analysis of survey responses revealed four overarching themes. First, MHNs are a critical component of the health care team, emerging as rigorous, independent leaders, although still classified as female and sociable. Second, MHNs complete a wide range of daily activities, many of which go unnoticed by observers, often resulting in mixed feelings regarding whether MHNs are given the respect and recognition deserved. Third, MHNs treat each patient as a person with unique thoughts, feelings, and physical make-up. Fourth, MHNs act as a coordinator of care between various health professionals to provide the patient with a holistic approach to healing.

Patient Safety Alert : A new way to share patient safety information among departments and units

Communication : If there is one topic that comes up over and over again as we discuss ways to make John Dempsey Hospital the safest hospital, it is “communication.” In fact, several of the 2006 and 2007 National Patient Safety Goals are centered around improving the effectiveness of communication among caregivers. There are many ways of doing this, and we have implemented several already. These include handoffs, medication reconciliation, “SBAR,” etc. On page two, we will talk in more detail about hand-offs and the use of “SBAR.”

A qualitative analysis of leadership styles and the selection of quality improvement in primary care practice

In the Practice Change Model, physicians act as key stakeholders, people who have both an investment in the practice and the capacity to influence how the practice performs. This leadership role is critical to the development and change of the practice. Leadership roles and effectiveness are an important factor in quality improvement in primary care practices.^ The study conducted involved a comparative case study analysis to identify leadership roles and the relationship between leadership roles and the number and type of quality improvement strategies adopted during a Practice Change Model-based intervention study. The research utilized secondary data from four primary care practices with various leadership styles. The practices are located in the San Antonio region and serve a large Hispanic population. The data was collected by two ABC Project Facilitators from each practice during a 12-month period including Key Informant Interviews (all staff members), MAP (Multi-method Assessment Process), and Practice Facilitation field notes. This data was used to evaluate leadership styles, management within the practice, and intervention tools that were implemented. The chief steps will be (1) to analyze if the leader-member relations contribute to the type of quality improvement strategy or strategies selected (2) to investigate if leader-position power contributes to the number of strategies selected and the type of strategy selected (3) and to explore whether the task structure varies across the four primary care practices.^ The research found that involving more members of the clinic staff in decision-making, building bridges between organizational staff and clinical staff, and task structure are all associated with the direct influence on the number and type of quality improvement strategies implemented in primary care practice.^ Although this research only investigated leadership styles of four different practices, it will offer future guidance on how to establish the priorities and implementation of quality improvement strategies that will have the greatest impact on patient care improvement. ^

Doctor-patient communication in the medical interaction: Context, implications, and practice

Effective communication; whether from an interpersonal, mass media, or global perspective, is a critical component in public health. It is an essential conduit in increasing public awareness of available health resources, potential health hazards and related disease prevention strategies, and in delivering better health care. Within this context, available literature asserts doctor-patient communication as central to healthcare delivery. It has been shown to affect patient health outcomes, satisfaction with care, adherence to treatment recommendations, and even understanding of medical information. While research supports the essential imperative of interventions aimed at teaching doctors and patients the communication skills necessary for a successful and meaningful medical interaction, most interventions to date, focus on teaching these communication skills to doctors and seem to rely, largely, on mass media for providing patients with the information needed to increase communication efficacy. This study sought to fill a significant gap in the doctor-patient communication literature by reviewing the context of the doctor-patient exchange in the medical interaction, the implications of this exchange in resulting care of the patient, and the potential improvements to practice through interventions aimed at improving the communication exchange. Closing with an evaluation of a patient-centered communication intervention, the “How to Talk to Your Doctor” (HTTTYD) program that combines previously identified optimal strategies for improving communication between doctors and patients, this study examined the patients’ perspective of their potential as better communicators in the medical interaction. ^ Specific Aims, Hypotheses or Questions (Aim I) To examine the context of health communication within a public health framework and its relation to health care delivery. (Aim II) To review doctor-patient communication as a central focus within health care delivery and the resulting implications to patient care. (Aim III) To assess the utility of interventions to improve doctor-patient communication. Specifically, to evaluate the effectiveness of a patient-centered community education intervention, the “How to Talk to Your Doctor” (HTTTYD) program, aimed at improving patient communication efficacy.^

Cross-culture perspectives on fear of HIV disease and AIDS in health care workers

Health care workers have been known to carry into the workplace a variety of judgmental and negative attitudes towards their patients. In no other area of patient care has this issue been more pronounced as in the management of patients with AIDS. Health care workers have refused to treat or manage patients with AIDS and have often treated them more harshly than identically described leukemia patients. Some health care institutions have simply refused to admit patients with AIDS and even recent applicants to medical colleges and schools of nursing have indicated a preference for schools in areas with low prevalence of HIV disease. Since the attitudes of health care workers do have significant consequences on patient management, this study was carried out to determine the differences in clinical practice in Nigeria and the United States of America as it relates to knowledge of a patient's HIV status, determine HIV prevalence and culture in each of the study sites and how they impact on infection control practices, determine the relationship between infection control practices and fear of AIDS, and also determine the predictors of safe infection control practices in each of the study sites.^ The study utilized the 38-item fear of AIDS scale and the measure of infection control questionnaire for its data. Questionnaires were administered to health care workers at the university teaching hospital sites of Houston, Texas and Calabar in Nigeria. Data was analyzed using a chi-square test, and where appropriate, a student t-tests to establish the demographic variables for each country. Factor analysis was done using principal components analysis followed by varimax rotation to simple structure. The subscale scores for each study site were compared using t-tests (separate variance estimates) and utilizing Bonferroni adjustments for number of tests. Finally, correlations were carried out between infection control procedures and fear of AIDS in each study site using Pearson-product moment correlation coefficients.^ The study revealed that there were five dimensions of the fear of AIDS in health care workers, namely fear of loss of control, fear of sex, fear of HIV infection through blood and illness, fear of death and medical interventions and fear of contact with out-groups. Fear of loss of control was the primary area of concern in the Nigerian health care workers whereas fear of HIV infection through blood and illness was the most important area of AIDS related feats in United States health care workers. The study also revealed that infection control precautions and practices in Nigeria were based more on normative and social pressures whereas it was based on knowledge of disease transmission, supervision and employee discipline in the United States, and thus stresses the need for focused educational programs in health care settings that emphasize universal precautions at all times and that are sensitive to the cultural nuances of that particular environment. ^

A IMPORTÂNCIA DA FAMÍLIA NA RECUPERAÇÃO DE PACIENTES INTERNADOS NA UNIDADE DE TERAPIA INTENSIVA

A Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (UTI) é um setor do hospital destinado ao atendimento de pacientes em estado crítico, que requer cuidados complexos e controles rígidos e, por isso sempre gera um ambiente estressante, não só para a equipe que atende ao paciente mas também aos familiares e portanto induz muitas vezes ao processo de depressão. Estes fatores leva-nos a abordar a necessidade de humanização, no atendimento ao paciente, bem como de seus familiares. A preocupação com a humanização deve estar presente nas equipes de enfermagem como filosofia-diretriz e deve ser um indicador de qualidades desses serviços. Humanizar a UTI significa cuidar do paciente como um todo, englobando o contexto bio-psico-social, incorporando os valores sociais e da família, as esperanças, os culturais e as preocupações pessoais. A humanização deve fazer parte da filosofia da enfermagem. O ambiente físico, os recursos materiais e tecnológicos são importantes, porém não mais significativos do que a natureza humana. O pensamento em ações da equipe de enfermagem, alimentam a reflexão crítica e a construção de uma realidade mais humana e menos agressiva e hostil para as pessoas que diariamente convivem no hospital. A hospitalização altera a rotina não só do paciente mas também dos familiares. De certa forma, a própria hospitalização pode ser vivida como abandono ou morte, à medida que implica um afastamento das pessoas queridas, da casa, como também uma invasão de privacidade. Este trabalho procurou Identificar as necessidades dos familiares ou visitantes, frente à equipe de saúde durante o período de internação na UTI e avaliar o grau de satisfação em relação à qualidade das informações e ao suporte dados à família ou visitante. Os resultados indicam que no Hospital Heliópolis, onde o trabalho foi conduzido, os entrevistados estavam satisfeitos com a equipe multiprofissional pois os pacientes eram bem cuidados, havendo preocupação com os pacientes, e que os médicos, além de compreensivos e competentes, forneceram as informações de modo que eles pudessem compreender,. Porém deve-se ressaltar que 48% dos entrevistados apontam a necessidade de apoio psicológico.(AU)

A IMPORTÂNCIA DA FAMÍLIA NA RECUPERAÇÃO DE PACIENTES INTERNADOS NA UNIDADE DE TERAPIA INTENSIVA

A Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (UTI) é um setor do hospital destinado ao atendimento de pacientes em estado crítico, que requer cuidados complexos e controles rígidos e, por isso sempre gera um ambiente estressante, não só para a equipe que atende ao paciente mas também aos familiares e portanto induz muitas vezes ao processo de depressão. Estes fatores leva-nos a abordar a necessidade de humanização, no atendimento ao paciente, bem como de seus familiares. A preocupação com a humanização deve estar presente nas equipes de enfermagem como filosofia-diretriz e deve ser um indicador de qualidades desses serviços. Humanizar a UTI significa cuidar do paciente como um todo, englobando o contexto bio-psico-social, incorporando os valores sociais e da família, as esperanças, os culturais e as preocupações pessoais. A humanização deve fazer parte da filosofia da enfermagem. O ambiente físico, os recursos materiais e tecnológicos são importantes, porém não mais significativos do que a natureza humana. O pensamento em ações da equipe de enfermagem, alimentam a reflexão crítica e a construção de uma realidade mais humana e menos agressiva e hostil para as pessoas que diariamente convivem no hospital. A hospitalização altera a rotina não só do paciente mas também dos familiares. De certa forma, a própria hospitalização pode ser vivida como abandono ou morte, à medida que implica um afastamento das pessoas queridas, da casa, como também uma invasão de privacidade. Este trabalho procurou Identificar as necessidades dos familiares ou visitantes, frente à equipe de saúde durante o período de internação na UTI e avaliar o grau de satisfação em relação à qualidade das informações e ao suporte dados à família ou visitante. Os resultados indicam que no Hospital Heliópolis, onde o trabalho foi conduzido, os entrevistados estavam satisfeitos com a equipe multiprofissional pois os pacientes eram bem cuidados, havendo preocupação com os pacientes, e que os médicos, além de compreensivos e competentes, forneceram as informações de modo que eles pudessem compreender,. Porém deve-se ressaltar que 48% dos entrevistados apontam a necessidade de apoio psicológico.(AU)

The Patient Informatics Consult Service (PICS): an approach for a patient-centered service

The Patient Informatics Consult Service (PICS) at the Eskind Biomedical Library at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) provides patients with consumer-friendly information by using an information prescription mechanism. Clinicians refer patients to the PICS by completing the prescription and noting the patient's condition and any relevant factors. In response, PICS librarians critically appraise and summarize consumer-friendly materials into a targeted information report. Copies of the report are given to both patient and clinician, thus facilitating doctor-patient communication and closing the clinician-librarian feedback loop. Moreover, the prescription form also circumvents many of the usual barriers for patients in locating information, namely, patients' unfamiliarity with medical terminology and lack of knowledge of authoritative sources. PICS librarians capture the time and expertise put into these reports by creating Web-based pathfinders on prescription topics. Pathfinders contain librarian-created disease overviews and links to authoritative resources and seek to minimize the consumer's exposure to unreliable information. Pathfinders also adhere to strict guidelines that act as a model for locating, appraising, and summarizing information for consumers. These mechanisms—the information prescription, research reports, and pathfinders—serve as steps toward the long-term goal of full integration of consumer health information into patient care at VUMC.