Validating Professional Learning Communities Practice Model in a Malaysian Context

<p style="text-align: justify;">Despite the ubiquity of professional learning communities (PLCs) among researchers, studies on PLCs have widely differed in terms of dimensions used to conceptualise them. Thus, the study aimed to validate the conceptual model consisting of PLCs practices. The study employed a quantitative method using a survey. Firstly, a pilot test was conducted in which 103 school-teachers were involved in completing a questionnaire. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) had determined six dimensions and 20 elements of PLCs practices. Then, the field study was conducted using the new questionnaire. The survey involved 386 school-teachers from 25 High Performing Schools (HPS). The result revealed that: I) Based on the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), multidimensional PLCs practice model is evidence in the Malaysian context. They are operationalised in six dimensions including visions, missions and values, professional leadership, collective and collaborative culture, sharing of best practices, conducive school climate, and strategic alliances among stakeholders and, ii) The level of PLCs implementation in HPS is high for all the dimensions. The practical implications from the study and future research recommendations were also discussed.</p>

Low-frequency Electrical Stimulation Combined with Preventative Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises and Knowledge-attitude-practice Model in Women with Urinary Retention after a Pelvic Surgery

This study was to explore the efficacy of low-frequency electrical stimulation (LFES) combined with preventative pelvic floor muscle exercises (PPFME) and knowledge-attitude-practice model (KAP model) in women with urinary retention (UR) after a pelvic surgery and the effect on quality of life (QOL). The clinical data of 153 women hospitalized with UR after a pelvic surgery from January 2015 to June 2019 were retrospectively analyzed and divided into the Control Group (CG, n=45, LFES+PPFME) and the Study Group (SG, n=108, LFES+PPFME+KAP model) according to the different treatment methods. Following indicators were compared between the two groups: clinical efficacy, time to first urination, urine output, rate of extubation in 3D, rate of repeated intubation, urodynamic indicators before and after treatment, postvoid residual (PVR), bladder compliance (BC), maximal flow rate (Q-max), pressure of detrusor at Pdet-Q-max (Pdet-Q-max), changes in QOL, incidence of urinary tract infection, and length of stay (LOS). Compared to CG, SG showed higher overall response rate (ORR) and rate of extubation in 3D, shorter time to first urination, higher urine output, lower rate of repeated intubation and incidence of urinary tract infection, and shorter LOS (P<0.05); both groups achieved improvements in urodynamic indicators and QOL score after treatment (P<0.05); the urodynamic indicators and QOL score in SG were better than the CG’s (P<0.05). LFES combined with PPFME and KAP model is effective in treating women with UR after a pelvic surgery by efficaciously improving patients’ urination and QOL.

You can tell it works – Experiences from using the VIPS practice model in primary healthcare

Introduction Person-centred care is a philosophy rather than a method ready for implementation and utilization in daily clinical work. Internationally, few methods for person-centred care have been widely adopted in clinical dementia care practice. In Norway, the VIPS practice model is one that is commonly used for the implementation and use of person-centred care in primary healthcare. Method Nursing home physicians, managers and leaders in the municipalities, care institutions and domestic nursing care services were eligible for inclusion if their workplace had implemented and used the VIPS practice model for a minimum of 12 months. Individual interviews were conducted via Facetime, Skype or telephone and analysed with qualitative content analysis. Findings In all, 20 respondents were included: one manager of health and care services in the municipality, six managers and leaders working in domestic care or daytime activity centres and 10 managers/leaders and three physicians working in nursing homes. Two global categories emerged: category 1: Change in staff’s professional reasoning with two sub-categories: (a) an enhanced professional level in discussions and (b) a change in focus from task to person; and category 2: Changes in the clinical work, with three sub-categories: (a) effective interventions, (b) a person-centred work environment and (c) changes in cooperation between stakeholders. Conclusion Regular use of the VIPS practice model appeared to change the work culture for the benefit of both service users and frontline staff. Increased cooperation between frontline staff, nurses, physicians and next of kin was described. Staff were more focused on the needs of the service users, which resulted in care interventions tailored to the needs of the individual with dementia, loyalty to care plans and fewer complaints from next of kin.

Pharmacist-directed vancomycin therapeutic drug monitoring in pediatric patients: a collaborative-practice model

Background Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of Vancomycin (VCM) is required to prevent inappropriate dosage-associated bacterial resistance, therapeutic failure, and toxicities in pediatrics. Anecdotal experience and studies show that many healthcare institutions confront barriers while implementing TDM services, this study aimed to assess a pharmacist-directed VCM–TDM service for optimizing patient care in our institution. Materials and methods Patients aged 1 month–18 years who received intravenous VCM were included in this quasi-experimental study. The pre-implementation phase (March–June 2018) consisted of retrospective assessment of pediatric patients, the interventional phase (July 2018 to February 2020) included educational programs and the post-implementation phase (March–June 2020) evaluated the participants based on pharmacist-directed VCM–TDM services as a collaborative-practice model including clinical and inpatient pharmacists to provide 24/7 TDM services. Outcomes of the study included the mean difference in the number of optimal (i) prescribed initial VCM doses (primary) (ii) dosage adjustments and (iii) VCM-sampling time (secondary). After ethical approval, data were collected retrospectively. Results A hundred patients were there in each phase. The number of cases who were correctly prescribed initial VCM doses was significantly higher in the post-implementation phase, mean difference of 0.22, [95% CI (0.142–0.0.358), p < 0.0001]. Patients who had correct dosage adjustments in the post-implementation phase also had higher statistical significance, mean difference of 0.29, [95% CI (0.152–0.423), p < 0.05]. More correct practices of VCM-levels timing were observed in the post-implementation phase, mean difference of 0.15, [95% CI (− 0.053–0.264), p = 0.079]. Conclusion This study showed the significant role of pharmacist-directed TDM services to optimize the correct prescribing of initial VCM doses and dose adjustments.