scholarly journals Calling and Comradeship

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myra van den Goor ◽  
Tanya Bondarouk

Patient safety heavily relies on doctors performing to the best of their abilities, delivering high quality of patientcare. However, changing market forces and increasing bureaucracy challenge physicians in their performance. Despite the dynamic conditions they experience, the majority performs on a high level. What exactly drives these doctors? Answering this question will shed light on how to best support doctors to be the engaged healthcare professionals that society wants and needs them to be. So patients are ensured safe and high quality of care. This chapter dips deeper into what primarily drives doctors, thus we turned to doctors themselves for answers. Being interested in their perceptions, feelings, behaviour, relations to, and interactions with, each other, this chapter relies heavily on qualitative research involving around 1000 hospital-based physicians. Conclusively, doctors can only truly blossom in an environment that stimulates their calling and that breathes a comradeship mindset, where sharing is about caring and peer-support is felt. It’s alarming that these essential humanistic and relational values are supressed by today’s more business-like climate in healthcare. Curtailing what primarily inspires doctors will eventually lead to doctors no longer having the time, energy and motivation to deliver the best possible patientcare. To restore the balance, we provide recommendations on the individual-, group-, and organizational level.

Curationis ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reece P. Swart ◽  
Ronel Pretorius ◽  
Hester Klopper

Background: International health systems research confirms the critical role that nurses play in ensuring the delivery of high quality patient care and subsequent patient safety. It is therefore important that the education of nurses should prepare them for the provision of safe care of a high quality. The South African healthcare system is made up of public and private hospitals that employ various categories of nurses. The perceptions of the various categories of nurses with reference to quality of care and patient safety are unknown in South Africa (SA).Objective: To determine the relationship between the educational background of nurses and their perceptions of quality of care and patient safety in private surgical units in SA.Methods: A descriptive correlational design was used. A questionnaire was used for data collection, after which hierarchical linear modelling was utilised to determine the relationships amongst the variables.Results: Both the registered- and enrolled nurses seemed satisfied with the quality of care and patient safety in the units were they work. Enrolled nurses (ENs) indicated that current efforts to prevent errors are adequate, whilst the registered nurses (RNs) obtained high scores in reporting incidents in surgical wards.Conclusion: From the results it was evident that perceptions of RNs and ENs related to the quality of care and patient safety differed. There seemed to be a statistically-significant difference between RNs and ENs perceptions of the prevention of errors in the unit, losing patient information between shifts and patient incidents related to medication errors, pressure ulcers and falls with injury.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Jervelund ◽  
I Miake-Lye ◽  
P Shekelle ◽  
C Goldzweig ◽  
A Froelich ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The European healthcare systems aim to leave no one behind. Responsibility for the patients may nevertheless be less clearly placed, even in a welfare context such as the Danish healthcare system (DHS). Contrastingly, the Veterans Affairs (VA) in the US is known for their high quality of care and strong care coordination. To understand how responsibility for patients is understood in VA and DHS, we investigated how health providers in the two healthcare systems view their responsibilities to the patients and which tools are used to support responsibility for patients. Methods Semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 23 managers and healthcare providers in VA and DHS were conducted in 2013 and 2014. The interviews were of 42-82 minutes of duration and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results The responsibility for the individual patient was clearly placed on the general practitioner in VA, and VA providers felt responsible for their enrolled patients and not just the patients who seek care. In DHS, the responsibility of the treatment was often divided between several providers and this often created dissonance on who is responsible for the care. VA providers made a systematic and active effort to reach out to the individual patients who do not turn up for an appointment as well as for clinical outliers who had pronounced medical needs. In DHS, the responsibility of seeking and attending healthcare laid upon the individual patient. DHS providers seldom played an active part in contacting no-show patients resulting that vulnerable patients may not get the care they need. Conclusions Learning from VA suggests that a clear placement of responsibility will help patients, especially vulnerable patients, to get timely and well-coordinated care. Patient outreach is an important tool to grasp vulnerable patients who are likely to fall between two stools or who need the care the most supporting high quality of care. Key messages Clear placement of responsibility for patients will help vulnerable patients to get timely and well-coordinated care. Patient outreach is an important tool to grasp vulnerable patients who are likely to fall between two stools.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (02) ◽  
pp. 199-207
Author(s):  
Liang Yan ◽  
Thomas Reese ◽  
Scott D. Nelson

Abstract Objective Increasingly, pharmacists provide team-based care that impacts patient care; however, the extent of recent clinical decision support (CDS), targeted to support the evolving roles of pharmacists, is unknown. Our objective was to evaluate the literature to understand the impact of clinical pharmacists using CDS. Methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central for randomized controlled trials, nonrandomized trials, and quasi-experimental studies which evaluated CDS tools that were developed for inpatient pharmacists as a target user. The primary outcome of our analysis was the impact of CDS on patient safety, quality use of medication, and quality of care. Outcomes were scored as positive, negative, or neutral. The secondary outcome was the proportion of CDS developed for tasks other than medication order verification. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Results Of 4,365 potentially relevant articles, 15 were included. Five studies were randomized controlled trials. All included studies were rated as good quality. Of the studies evaluating inpatient pharmacists using a CDS tool, four showed significantly improved quality use of medications, four showed significantly improved patient safety, and three showed significantly improved quality of care. Six studies (40%) supported expanded roles of clinical pharmacists. Conclusion These results suggest that CDS can support clinical inpatient pharmacists in preventing medication errors and optimizing pharmacotherapy. Moreover, an increasing number of CDS tools have been developed for pharmacists' roles outside of order verification, whereby further supporting and establishing pharmacists as leaders in safe and effective pharmacotherapy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 152-152
Author(s):  
Afeez Hazzan

Abstract Family caregivers of older people living with dementia are relatives, friends, or neighbors who provide assistance related to this condition, but who are unpaid for the services they provide. Although caregiving could be personally rewarding, many caregivers report a high level of strain. Compared to caregivers of older adults who do not have dementia, family caregivers of older people living with dementia report lower quality-of-life (QoL). In a published systematic review examining the relationship between family caregiver QoL and the quality of care provided, only one study was found to be somewhat relevant. The study suggested that the primary reason for an absence of research into the link between family caregiver QoL and quality of care was the absence of a questionnaire for measuring quality of care in dementia. Therefore, any attempt to investigate the impact of caregiver QoL on the care provided to older people with dementia must first address the lack of an instrument to measure quality of care. To address this issue, we interviewed approximately 20 family caregivers in order to elicit feedback on measurements and interpretation of the quality of care provided by family caregivers of older people living with dementia. Content analysis of the interview transcripts revealed that the quality of relationships with family, caregiver availability to provide or supervise care, and availability of paid or volunteer help are important for the quality of care provided. These results have important implications, particularly for the development of an instrument to measure quality of care in dementia.


2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 239-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene R. Miller ◽  
Peter Pronovost ◽  
Michele Donithan ◽  
Scott Zeger ◽  
Chunliu Zhan ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mu'taman Jarrar ◽  
Hamzah Abdul Rahman ◽  
Mohammad Sobri Don

<p><strong>BACKGROUND &amp; OBJECTIVE:</strong> Demand for health care service has significantly increased, while the quality of healthcare has become both a national and an international priority. This paper aims to identify the gaps and the current initiatives for optimizing the quality of care and patient safety in Malaysia.</p><p><strong>DESIGN:</strong> A narrative review of the literature. Highly cited articles were used as the basis to retrieve and review the current initiatives for optimizing the quality of care and patient safety. The country health plan of Ministry of Health (MOH) and the MOH Annual Reports in Malaysia were reviewed.</p><p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>The MOH has set four strategies for optimizing quality and sustaining quality of life. The 10<sup>th</sup> Malaysia Health Plan promotes the theme “1 Care for 1 Malaysia” in order to sustain the quality of care. Despite of these efforts, the total number of complaints received by the medico-legal section of the MOH is increasing. The current global initiatives indicted that quality performance generally belong to three main categories: patient; staffing; and working environment related factors.</p><p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>There is no single intervention of optimizing quality of care to maintain patient safety. Multidimensional efforts and interventions are recommended in order to optimize the quality of care and patient safety in Malaysia.</p>


2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Telma de Almeida Busch Mendes ◽  
Paola Bruno de Araújo Andreoli ◽  
Leny Vieira Cavalheiro ◽  
Claudia Talerman ◽  
Claudia Laselva

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess patient's level of oxygenation by means of pulse oximetry, avoiding hypoxia (that causes rapid and severe damage), hyperoxia, and waste. Methods: Calculations were made with a 7% margin of error and a 95% confidence interval. Physical therapists were instructed to check pulse oximetry of all patients with prescriptions for physical therapy, observing the scheduled number of procedures. Results: A total of 129 patients were evaluated. Hyperoxia predominated in the sectors in which the patient was constantly monitored and hypoxia in the sectors in which monitoring was not continuous. Conclusions: Professionals involved in patient care must be made aware of the importance of adjusting oxygen use and the risk that non-adjustment represents in terms of quality of care and patient safety.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 607
Author(s):  
Lorraine Westacott ◽  
Judy Graves ◽  
Mohsina Khatun ◽  
John Burke

Objectives Any new model of care should always be accompanied by rigorous monitoring to ensure that there are no negative consequences, especially any that impact upon patient safety. In 2013, ‘THERMoSTAT’ (Two- Hour Evaluation and Referral Model for Shorter Turnaround Times), an emergency department model of care developed by Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital staff was launched to gain efficiencies and improve hospital National Emergency Access Target (NEAT) compliance. The aim of this study was to trial the use of medical emergency call data as a novel marker of the quality of care delivered by our emergency department. Methods Incidence of medical emergency calls for hospital emergency admission patients for the 2 years pre- and 1 year post-THERMoSTAT were compared after standardising for overall hospital activity. Results During the study period, hospital activity increased 10%, and the emergency department experienced a total of 222 645 presentations, 68 000 (30.5%) of which converted into an admission. THERMoSTAT improved NEAT compliance by 17% (from 57.7% to 74.9%) with no change in any patient-safety indicators. A total of 8432 medical emergency calls were made on 5930 patients, 2831 of whom were emergency admissions. After adjusting for hospital activity, there was no change in the average number of patients per week who triggered a medical emergency call after the introduction of THERMoSTAT. These results were reproduced when data was analysed for: total number of inpatients triggering calls; emergency admission patients; and emergency admission patients within the first 24 h or first 4 h of admission. Conclusions This is the first report to investigate the correlation between inpatient medical emergency call incidence and emergency department model of care. Medical emergency call data showed significant promise as a measure of morbidity and as a more direct, objective, simple, quantitative and meaningful measure of patient safety. What is known about the topic? It is well established that extended emergency department lengths of stay are associated with poorer patient outcomes. The corollary of this is not always true however; shorter emergency department length of stay does not automatically translate into better care. Although the underlying philosophy of NEAT is to enhance patient care, there is a risk of negative consequences if NEAT is seen as an end in itself. Many of the commonly used emergency department key performance indicators focus on the timeliness of care and there is a scarcity of easily quantifiable markers that reliably reflect the quality of that care. What does this paper add? This study builds on the concept of medical emergency call incidence as a marker of safety and quality. It explores the utility of using the number of medical emergency calls made in the first few hours of an emergency admission as an indicator of the quality of care delivered by the emergency department. This is significant because it introduces a measure that has a focus that embraces more than the timeliness of care only. What are the implications for practitioners? If medical emergency call incidence in early emergency admissions can be proven to accurately reflect emergency department quality of care then it would provide an easily monitored, objective, quantitative and prompt measure that evaluates dimensions other than timeliness.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-47
Author(s):  
Kim Peck ◽  
John Pelley

Background: The emphasis on “quality” in the design of a management system for an organization was originally introduced through the work of W. Edwards Deming [1] who initially developed his QI principles to help the Toyota Motor Company increase their sales by improving the quality of their product. However, he also saw that these ideas could be applied to management of other types of organizations, such as health care organizations. Review: When applied to a clinical practice, QI is implemented by evaluation of structured clinical and administrative data [2], producing a “mindfulness” about QI that gives attention to several key principles: (i) focusing on data, (ii) care of patients, (iii) team problem solving, and ( iv) healthcare delivery processes that are similar for both the organization and for individual physician-patient relationship. In all instances, the effectiveness of an entire QI program is compromised if any of these principles is missing or inadequate. Such a deficiency is avoided best through a functional knowledge of personality type that increases communication at all levels. This creates a critically important organizational mindfulness for more effective QI team function and also for a more effective physician-patient encounter. The result is increased quality of outcomes at the individual patient level as well as the organizational level. Conclusion: The trend toward inclusion of mindfulness in healthcare develops an improved awareness of how well procedures, medications, and advice are provided.


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