Qual Saf Health Care
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Qual Saf Health Care · Apr 2008
Preferences of acutely ill patients for participation in medical decision-making.
To determine patient preferences for information and for participation in decision-making, and the determinants of these preferences in patients recently admitted to an acute hospital. ⋯ Acute medical inpatients want to receive a lot of information about their illness, but most prefer a relatively passive role in decision-making. The only way to determine individual patient preferences is to ask them; preferences cannot be predicted from clinical or sociodemographic data.
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Qual Saf Health Care · Apr 2008
How willing are patients to question healthcare staff on issues related to the quality and safety of their healthcare? An exploratory study.
One in 10 patients admitted to hospital will suffer an adverse event as a result of their medical treatment. A reduction in adverse events could happen if patients could be engaged successfully in monitoring their care. ⋯ Surgical patients, particularly those who are men, less educated or unemployed are less willing to challenge healthcare staff regarding their care than to ask healthcare staff factual questions. Patient involvement strategies which take into account patient characteristics need to be developed for patients and staff in order to encourage patient involvement in this much neglected area.
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Qual Saf Health Care · Feb 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyPatient-actor perception of care: a comparison of obstetric emergency training using manikins and patient-actors.
To explore the effect of training on patient-actor perception of care during simulated obstetric emergencies. ⋯ All multiprofessional training improved patient-actor perception of care. Training using a patient-actor may be better at improving perception of safety and communication than training with a computerised manikin simulator.
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Qual Saf Health Care · Feb 2008
Effective interventions and implementation strategies to reduce adverse drug events in the Veterans Affairs (VA) system.
Adverse drug events (ADEs) account for considerable patient morbidity and mortality as well as legal, operational and patient care costs. In Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals in the USA, all serious adverse events and "potential" adverse events are reviewed using root cause analysis (RCA). This study characterised RCA reports associated with ADEs to determine what actions VA RCA teams took to reduce the number or severity of ADEs, and to evaluate which actions were effective in doing so. ⋯ Changes at the bedside and improvement in equipment and computers are effective at reducing ADEs. Well-organised tracking and support from leadership and staff were characteristics of facilities successful at improving outcomes. Training without action was associated with worse outcomes.