Journal of evaluation in clinical practice
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Use of unplanned health care has long been increasing, and not enough is known about which interventions may reduce use. We aimed to review the effectiveness of interventions to reduce the use of unplanned health care by rural populations. ⋯ Relatively few studies report on unscheduled medical care by specifically rural populations, and interventions were associated with modest reductions in unplanned care use. Future research should evaluate interventions more robustly and more clearly report the results.
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The implementation of automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) in healthcare facilities appears to be increasing, in particular within Australian hospital emergency departments (EDs). While the investment in ADCs is on the increase, no studies have specifically investigated the impacts of ADCs on medication selection and preparation error rates in EDs. Our aim was to assess the impact of ADCs on medication selection and preparation error rates in an ED of a tertiary teaching hospital. ⋯ The implementation of ADCs could reduce medication selection and preparation errors and improve medication safety in an ED setting.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effectiveness of educational nursing home visits on quality of life, functional status and care dependency in older adults with mobility impairments: a randomized controlled trial.
Facilitating and maintaining functional status (FS) and quality of life (QoL) and avoiding care dependency (CD) are and will increasingly become major tasks of nursing. Educational nursing home visits may have positive effects on FS and QoL in older adults. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of educational home visits on FS, QoL and CD in older adults with mobility impairments. ⋯ The intervention did not show the benefits that we assumed. Further studies on the effects of educational nursing interventions should be performed using different concepts and rigorous research methods.
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Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are a high-risk setting. The Safety Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ) is a widely used tool to measure safety culture. The aims of the study are to verify the psychometric properties of the Italian version of SAQ, to evaluate safety culture in the NICUs and to identify improvement interventions. ⋯ The Italian version of the SAQ proved to be an effective tool to evaluate and compare the safety culture in the NICUs. The obtained scores significantly varied both within and among the NICUs. The organizational and structural characteristics of the involved hospitals probably affect the safety culture perception by the staff.
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Double checking is a standard practice in many areas of health care, notwithstanding the lack of evidence supporting its efficacy. We ask in this study: 'How do front line practitioners conceptualize double checking? What are the weaknesses of double checking? What alternate views of double checking could render it a more robust process?' ⋯ Double checking deserves more questioning, as there are limitations to the process. Practitioners could view double checking through alternate lenses, and thus help strengthen this ubiquitous practice that is rarely challenged.