Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)
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The objective of this study was to evaluate whether Ontario's End-of-Life Care Strategy, which aimed to shift care from acute settings to the home, improved performance on quality indicators for end-of-life home care patients in use of more home care services and fewer acute care services. The study cohort included patients at the end of life admitted into home care between April 1, 2005, and September 30, 2006, and who died before April 1, 2007. Based on their admission date, patients were divided into three six-month periods corresponding to the six months prior to the strategy's implementation compared with the 12 months after. ⋯ In conclusion, one year after the strategy's implementation, individual patients' use of end-of-life home care and acute care services remained unchanged. The strategy may require more time for its impact to be fully achieved. Measuring these quality indicators across regions may help to monitor and evaluate interventions.
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This study implemented and evaluated the adapted Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) tool for use on two inter-professional rehabilitation teams for the specific priority issue of falls prevention and management. SBAR has been widely studied in the literature, but rarely in the context of rehabilitation and beyond nurse-physician communication. In phase one, the adapted SBAR tool was implemented on two teams with a high falls incidence over a six-month period. ⋯ While SBAR was used in the context of falls prevention and management, it was also utilized it in a variety of other clinical and non-clinical situations such as transitions in care, as a debriefing tool and for conflict resolution. Staff found the tool useful in helping to communicate relevant and succinct information, and to "close the loop" by providing recommendations and accountabilities for action. Suggestions are provided to other organizations considering adopting the SBAR tool within their clinical settings, including the use of an implementation tool kit and video simulation for enhanced uptake.
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Incident reporting offers insight into a variety of intricate processes in healthcare. However, it has been found that medication incidents are under reported in the community pharmacy setting. The Community Pharmacy Incident Reporting (CPhIR) program was created by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada specifically for incident reporting in the community pharmacy setting in Canada. ⋯ To ensure the success of the CPhIR program, a patient safety culture must be established. By gaining a deeper understanding of possible causes of medication incidents, community pharmacies can implement system-based strategies for quality improvement and to prevent potential errors from occurring again in the future. This article highlights key features of the CPhIR program that will assist community pharmacies to improve their drug distribution system and, ultimately, enhance patient safety.
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Literature suggests little standardization in the practice of medical clearance of patients who present to emergency rooms in psychiatric crisis. The present quality improvement study examined current practice in a large psychiatric teaching hospital setting. ⋯ Results indicated a wide variation in documentation across the four groups and some body systems that were consistently never assessed. To improve standardization, a physical examination form is proposed that is user friendly and based on a review of current literature.
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Handover is defined as the communication of information between individuals and teams of healthcare providers to support the transfer of patient care and maintain professional responsibility and accountability. Poor handovers are increasingly recognized as potentially dangerous for patient safety and are associated with adverse events. One suggested method to improve the timely and efficient exchange of clinical information at handover and to reduce discontinuities in care is through the use of a minimum data set (MDS). ⋯ Further, many of the existing MDHO tools in use have a similar content structure and already contain a majority of the components of a comprehensive MDS. Current local consistency in practice will allow for improved acceptance and adoption of an MDHO tool that continues to meet the clinical and administrative needs of physicians but also addresses needs for data accuracy and security. These additional specifications can be met through the use of information communication technologies.