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AnteayerInternacionales

Measuring patients' experiences of continuity of care in a primary care context—Development and evaluation of a patient‐reported experience measure

Abstract

Background

Continuity of care is viewed as a hallmark of high-quality care in the primary care context. Measures to evaluate the quality of provider performance are scarce, and it is unclear how the assessments correlate with patients' experiences of care as coherent and interconnected over time, consistent with their preferences and care needs.

Aim

To develop and evaluate a patient-reported experience measure of continuity of care in primary care for patients with complex care needs.

Method

The study was conducted in two stages: (1) development of the instrument based on theory and empirical studies and reviewed for content validity (16 patients with complex care needs and 8 experts) and (2) psychometric evaluation regarding factor structure, test–retest reliability, internal consistency reliability, and convergent validity. In all, 324 patients participated in the psychometric evaluation.

Results

The Patient Experienced Continuity of care Questionnaire (PECQ) contains 20 items clustered in four dimensions of continuity of care measuring Information (four items), Relation (six items), Management (five items), and Knowledge (five items). Overall, the hypothesized factor structure was indicated. The PECQ also showed satisfactory convergent validity, internal consistency, and stability.

Conclusion/Implications

The PECQ is a multidimensional patient experience instrument that can provide information on various dimensions useful for driving quality improvement strategies in the primary care context for patients with complex care needs.

Patient or Public Contribution

Patients have participated in the content validation of the items.

Researcher‐initiated role play, stimulated recall interview, storycrafting, painting and drawing as research methods to reach children's perspectives in health sciences

Abstract

Aim

To describe the application of selected creative and participatory research methods in nursing science.

Design

Research methodology paper.

Methods

Researcher-initiated role play, stimulated recall interviews, the Storycrafting method, painting and drawing. Altogether, 11 children (5–7 years old) and 12 parents participated in the research.

Results

Each small group (n = 3) acted differently during the data collection. Not every child wanted to play, draw or tell stories, but they all expressed their views through some method. Although the same themes emerged from children's narratives, they could not have been verified by just one method.

Conclusions

Using creative and participatory methods and the principles of studies of child perspectives are applicable ways of conducting research in nursing science. Children must be treated as individuals during the research process, and they must have opportunities to use several communication methods to express their views.

Implications for the profession and patient care

Understanding different ways to interact with children and hear children's views will help nurses to encounter children.

Impact

In this article, we present a valid way of conducting research with children. By following our protocol, nursing research from a child perspective can be implemented.

Reporting Method

Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ).

Patient Contribution

The child participants were involved in choosing physical places for data collection and the usage and order of the selected methods. Both the children and the adult participants took part in interpreting the research data.

Frontline nurse leaders' competences in evidence‐based healthcare: A scoping review

Abstract

Aim

To identify evidence on frontline nurse leaders' competences in evidence-based healthcare (EBHC) and the instruments measuring these competences.

Design

A scoping review.

Data Sources

The search was conducted in June 2021 and complemented in June 2022. The CINAHL, ProQuest, Medline (Ovid), Scopus, Web of Science databases and MedNar along with the Finnish database Medic were searched.

Review Method

The scoping review was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs institute methodology for scoping reviews. Titles, abstracts and full-text versions were screened independently by two reviewers according to the inclusion criteria. Deductive-inductive content analysis was used to synthesize data.

Results

A total of 3211 articles published between 1997 and 2022 were screened, which resulted in the inclusion of 16 articles. Although frontline nurse leaders had a positive attitude towards EBHC, they had a lack of implementing EBHC competence into practice. Part of the instruments were used in the studies, and only one focused especially on leaders. None of instruments systematically covered all segments of EBHC.

Conclusion

There is a limited understanding of frontline nurse leaders' competence in EBHC. It is important to understand the importance of EBHC in healthcare and invest in the development of its competence at all levels of leaders. Frontline nurse leaders' support is essential for direct care nurses to use EBHC to ensure the quality of care and benefits to patients. Leaders must enhance their own EBHC competence to become role models for direct care nurses. It is also essential to develop valid and reliable instruments to measure leaders' competence covering all EBHC segments. The results can be utilized in the assessment and development of frontline nurse leaders' EBHC competence by planning and producing education and other competence development methods.

Perceived barriers and facilitators to preventing hospital‐acquired pressure injury in paediatrics: A qualitative analysis

Abstract

Aim

This qualitative study aimed to identify nurses' and allied health professionals' perceptions and experiences of providing hospital-acquired pressure injury (HAPI) prevention in a paediatric tertiary hospital in Australia, as well as understand the perceived barriers and facilitators to preventing HAPI.

Design

A qualitative, exploratory study of hospital professionals was undertaken using semi-structured interviews between February 2022 and January 2023.

Methods

Two frameworks, the Capability, Opportunity and Motivation Model of Behaviour (COM-B) and the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), were used to give both theoretical and pragmatic guidance. Participants included 19 nursing and allied health professionals and data analysis was informed by the framework approach.

Results

Analysis revealed nine core themes regarding professionals' beliefs about the barriers and facilitators to HAPI prevention practices across seven TDF domains. Themes included HAPI prevention skills and education, family-centred care, automated feedback and prompts, allocation and access to equipment, everybody's responsibility, prioritizing patients and clinical demands, organizational expectations and support, integrating theory and reality in practice and emotional influence.

Conclusion

These findings provide valuable insights into the barriers and facilitators that impact paediatric HAPI prevention and can help identify and implement strategies to enhance evidence-based prevention care and prevent HAPI in paediatric settings.

Impact

Overcoming barriers through evidence-based interventions is essential to reduce HAPI cases, improve patient outcomes, and cut healthcare costs. The findings have practical implications, informing policy and practice for improved preventive measures, education, and staffing in paediatric care, ultimately benefiting patient well-being and reducing HAPIs.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution. The focus of the study is on healthcare professionals and their perspectives and experiences in preventing HAPIs in paediatric patients. Therefore, the involvement of patients or the public was not deemed necessary for achieving the specific research objectives.

Health and social care managers' perceptions of factors affecting the competence of managers in knowledge management: A qualitative study

Abstract

Aim

To describe health and social care managers' perceptions of the factors affecting the competence of managers in knowledge management.

Design

A qualitative descriptive study.

Methods

A semi-structured interview was conducted with 15 managers from three public health and social care organizations in Finland. Data were collected in the spring of 2022 and analysed using inductive content analysis.

Results

Health and social care managers perceived that the competence of managers working in knowledge management is affected by managers' behavioural and attitudinal characteristics, their interactive network competence in knowledge management, the dimensions of their competence in knowledge management, the knowledge management infrastructure with which they work and the organizational learning culture within which they work.

Conclusions

The competence of health and social managers in knowledge management is influenced by various factors, including their personal characteristics, management competence and the infrastructure and culture of the organization for which they work. However, their competence is constrained by an absence of clear processes, structures and resources in knowledge management as well as a lack of systematic support and training for managers working in knowledge management.

Impact

The study provides valuable information for improving the competence of managers working in knowledge management in health and social care organizations. The competence of managers working in knowledge management is instrumental for successful implementation and sustaining of knowledge management practices and thus, such competence has a positive impact on the overall performance of an organization.

Implications

Clarifying the roles and responsibilities of health and social care managers, as well as establishing organizational structures, is essential for effective knowledge management in organizations.

Reporting Method

Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist has been used in the reporting.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

Implementation leadership of the Resident Assessment Instrument in healthcare services for older people: An interview study of specialists

Abstract

Aim

The aim was to explore implementation leadership of the Resident Assessment Instrument in healthcare services for older people from the perspective of specialists.

Design

A qualitative descriptive design was used.

Methods

Thematic interviews with 21 specialists were conducted between April 2022 and June 2022 in eight health and social, one educational and one research organization in Finland. The data were analysed with deductive–inductive content analysis using the Resident Assessment Instrument implementation leadership framework developed for this study.

Results

In implementation leadership of Resident Assessment Instrument, the need for leaders' support and capabilities to ensure that the conditions and supporting structures for implementation are present was emphasized. Regular and continuous basic and advanced training for professionals and leaders' competencies were identified as crucial factors for a successful implementation process of Resident Assessment Instrument. Leading the active implementation of this instrument requires leaders' strong support and regular communication. The importance of frontline leaders and mentors was also stressed in practical implementation, while the responsibility of upper-level leaders, especially in the use of benchmarking, was underlined for the evaluation and further improvement of organizational operations. In sustaining the implementation, it was emphasized that using the Resident Assessment Instrument is a continuous process that does not end with the implementation itself.

Conclusion

Implementation leadership of Resident Assessment Instrument has the potential to increase the success of the implementation process. The Resident Assessment Instrument Implementation Leadership Framework can be a useful tool for describing processes, content and leaders' roles in implementation leadership of the instrument in healthcare services for older people.

Impact

This study provides a comprehensive view of implementation leadership of the Resident Assessment Instrument implementation process in healthcare services for older people. Overall, the results indicate the significance of leadership in successful implementation.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

What Does This Article Contribute to the Wider Global Clinical Community?

Successful implementation leadership of Resident Assessment Instrument requires continuous monitoring, supporting and evaluating the implementation process. Organizations that use the Resident Assessment Instrument should strengthen their leaders' knowledge and competencies in implementation leadership to enable the full realization of the instrument's benefits. Leaders and professionals in healthcare services for older people need regular, continuous and correctly targeted basic and advanced training on the Resident Assessment Instrument.

Nurses’ experiences of moral distress and how it affects daily work in surgical care—a qualitative study

Abstract

Aim

To describe nurses’ and specialist nurses’ experiences of moral distress and how it affects daily work in surgical care.

Design

A qualitative descriptive study design was used.

Methods

A qualitative study with 12 interviews with nurses and specialist nurses working in surgical care. All interviews were conducted during October and November 2022 in two hospitals in southeastern Sweden. Data were analysed using conventional qualitative content analysis.

Findings

Three categories and seven subcategories generated from the data analysis. The three categories generated from the analysis were Experiences that lead to moral distress, Perceived consequences of moral distress and Strategies in case of moral distress. The results show that a lack of personnel in combination with people with complex surgical needs is the main source of moral distress. Both high demands on nurses as individuals and the teamwork are factors that generate moral distress and can have severe consequences for the safety of patients, individual nurses and future care.

Conclusions

The results show that moral distress is a problem for today's nurses and specialist nurses in surgical care. Action is necessary to prevent nurses from leaving surgical care. Prioritizing tasks is perceived as challenging for the profession, and moral distress can pose a patient safety risk.

Impact

Surgical care departments should design support structures for nurses, give nurses an authentic voice to express ethical concerns and allow them to practice surgical nursing in a way that does not violate their core professional values. Healthcare organizations should take this seriously and work strategically to make the nursing profession more attractive.

Patient or Public Contribution

There was no patient or public contribution.

The management of digital competence sharing in health care: A qualitative study of managers' and professionals' views

Abstract

Aim

To describe managers' and professionals' views on the management of digital competence sharing in health care.

Design

A qualitative descriptive study.

Methods

Managers (n = 22) and professionals (n = 12) from two public primary, one public special and one private health care organization in Finland participated in semi-structured individual interviews between February and May 2022. Data were analysed using inductive content analysis.

Results

Managers' and professionals' views formed six main categories: providing resources and opportunities for digital competence sharing, creating methods and practices for digital competence sharing, managing digital competence, implementing intergenerational learning, creating a friendly and safe digital organizational atmosphere, and promoting digital competence sharing through leadership.

Conclusion

The support of management is significant in promoting the sharing of digital competence in health care organizations. The management of digital competence sharing requires a both resources and a commitment to continuous training and development. It also requires the creation of a collaborative culture to promote mutual learning between professionals and people of different generations.

Impact

Due to rapid technological advancements and the resulting load, it is important to focus on the development and sharing of digital competence among health care professionals. The study indicated that managers should have the ability to identify the strengths of professionals' digital competence and be able to utilize them in promoting digital competence sharing. It also highlighted the specific competency requirements for managers in this context. The results can be applied to the training of health care managers and professionals, particularly around digital competence.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

Reporting Method

The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist was used in the reporting.

Strategies that nurses working irregular night shifts use to improve sleep quality: A qualitative study among good and poor sleepers

Abstract

Aims

To assess the sleep strategies that nurses working irregular night shifts use to improve their sleep quality, and to compare the strategies of good and poor sleepers to determine whether the differences between the two groups could provide insights into possible effective strategies.

Design

A qualitative descriptive study.

Methods

The study was conducted from September 2019 to January 2020. Thirty-four nurses working irregular night shifts participated; 17 were classified as good sleepers and 17 as poor sleepers based on the Sleep-Wake Experience List, a validated self-report instrument that measures one's sleep quality. Interviews were conducted using open questions to explore strategies around the night-shift set. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.

Findings

Both groups described similar and different strategies that help them work and sleep well during and after night shifts. However, good sleepers mentioned a greater number of strategies and seemed to have thought about them more than poor sleepers. The most common strategies were having a clear structure, being organized—especially regarding sleeping time—maintaining a daily routine and adjusting their sleep environment.

Conclusion

Healthcare institutions should consider offering education and training programs aimed at empowering nurses who work irregular night shifts. These programs should provide nurses with various sleep strategies to enhance their sleep quality and overall well-being.

Implications for the Profession

Nurses working irregular night shifts can possibly enhance their sleep quality by making personalized plans, for example, including a clear day structure, or an optimized sleep environment.

Impact

The study focused on how nurses working night shifts could possibly enhance their sleep quality. The findings highlight the importance of providing nurses with diverse sleep strategies to improve sleep quality, helping them to identify what works best for them and consistently apply these strategies.

Reporting Method

The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines were followed.

Patient or Public Contribution

Nurses working irregular night shifts at Maastricht University Medical Center in Maastricht, the Netherlands, who agreed to participate in the study, engaged in a discussion to assess the relevance of sleep quality to their work. They were also encouraged to share their perspectives during the interviews.

Relationship between chronic disease resource utilization and quality of life in coronary heart disease patients: A latent profile analysis

Abstract

Aims

This study aimed to identify different profiles of chronic disease resource utilization among patients with coronary heart disease in Tibet and explore the relationship between these profiles and quality of life.

Design

A cross-sectional study.

Methods

Patients with coronary heart disease who were treated in a tertiary hospital in Tibet and its cooperative points from January 2021 to July 2021 were selected as the study participants. All participants completed a general information questionnaire, the Chronic Disease Resource Utilization Questionnaire (CIRS) and the Health Status Survey Short Form (SF-36). Chronic disease resource utilization was profiled, and its relationship to quality of life was explored using hierarchical linear regression.

Results

A total of 382 patients were enrolled in this study. Regarding chronic disease resource utilization, the participants were divided into three latent profiles: ‘Poor utilization group’ (n = 151), ‘Effective utilization group’ (n = 155) and ‘Full utilization group’ (n = 76). Different profiles of chronic disease resource utilization of patients were significantly associated with quality of life (R 2 = .126, p < .001).

Conclusion

Healthcare providers should identify patients with different profiles, define their utilization features of chronic disease resources and adopt targeted interventions to guide them in acquiring enough disease support resources to improve their quality of life.

Implication

Understanding different resources using preferences of coronary heart disease patients can help healthcare providers and related sectors to provide other supports based on different profiles of patients, thus enhancing their quality of life.

Reporting Method

The study followed the STROBE guideline.

No Patient or Public Contribution

There was no patient or public involvement in the design of the study.

Experience of rehabilitation specialist nurses in providing bowel care for stroke patients: A qualitative study

Abstract

Aims

This study aims to explore the experiences of rehabilitation specialist nurses in providing bowel care to stroke patients and to identify the factors that either facilitate or hinder their practice.

Design

This was a descriptive qualitative design study.

Methods

Between May 2022 and October 2022, we conducted in-depth and semi-structured interviews with 12 rehabilitation specialist nurses from two tertiary hospitals in Changsha, China. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the interview transcripts.

Findings

Three key themes were revealed from our analysis: (1) acceptance of bowel care as a process, (2) high level of recognition improves the experience and (3) challenges stemming from limited knowledge and rights. Acceptance of bowel care as a dynamic process, coupled with a high level of recognition, enabled nurses to prioritize the health and safety of patients over personal feelings and achieve professional accomplishments. However, they encountered challenges in terms of professional development and restricted prescribing rights for bowel care.

Conclusion

The experiences of rehabilitation specialist nurses in providing bowel care are dynamic. These findings have important implications for healthcare improvement, including the need for collaboration with healthcare professionals and nurturing nurses' self-identity, comprehensive training plans, innovative programs and expanding the scope of rehabilitation specialist nurses' rights.

Impact

This study enhances our understanding of the challenges faced by rehabilitation specialist nurses caring for stroke patients with neurogenic bowel dysfunction. The findings provide insights into how to enhance bowel care experience and develop further in this field.

Reporting Method

This study adhered to the EQUATOR guideline and utilized the COREQ checklist.

Patient or Public Contributions

This study involved participants who were registered nurses, and there were no contributions from patients or public.

Flow of information contributing to medication incidents in home care—An analysis considering incident reporters' perspectives

Abstract

Aim

To describe the contributing factors and types of reported medication incidents in home care related to the flow of information in different phases of the medication process, as reported by multi-professional healthcare groups.

Design

This descriptive, qualitative study used retrospective data.

Methods

An incident-reporting database was used to collect 14,289 incident reports from 2017 to 2019 in a city in Finland. We used this data to select medication incidents (n = 1027) related to the flow of information in home care and between home care and hospitals. Data were divided into five groups based on the medication phase: (1) prescribing, (2) dispensing, (3) administration, (4) documentation and (5) self-administration. In addition, the types of medication-related incidents were described. The data were examined using abductive content analysis. The EQUATOR SRQR checklist was used in this report.

Results

Four main categories were identified from the data: (1) issues related to information management, (2) cooperation issues between different actors, (3) work environment and lack of resources and (4) factors related to healthcare workers. Cooperation issues contributed to medication-related incidents during each phase. Incomplete communication was a contributing factor to medication incidents. This occurred between home care, remote care, hospital, the client and the client's relatives. Specifically, a lack of information-sharing occurred in repatriation situations, where care transitioned between different healthcare professionals.

Conclusion

Healthcare professionals, organisations, clients and their relatives should focus on the efficient and safe acquisition of medications. Specifically, the use of electronic communication systems, together with oral reports and checklists for discharge situations, and timely cooperation with pharmacists should be developed to manage information flows.

Relevance to Clinical Practice

These findings demonstrate that healthcare professionals require uniform models and strategies to accurately and safely prescribe, dispense and administer medications in home care settings.

No patient or public contributions.

The role of psychosocial factors and biological sex on rural Thai adolescents' drinking intention and behaviours: A structural equation model

Abstract

Aims

To examine the contributions of psychosocial factors (attitude towards drinking, perceived drinking norms [PDNs], perceived behavioural control [PBC]), and biological sex on drinking intention and behaviours among rural Thai adolescents.

Design

A cross-sectional study design.

Methods

In 2022, stratified by sex and grade, we randomly selected 474 rural Thai adolescents (M age = 14.5 years; SD = 0.92; 50.6% male) from eight public district schools in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, to complete a self-administered questionnaire. Structural equation modelling with the weighted least square mean and variance adjusted was used for data analysis.

Results

All adolescents' psychosocial factors contributed significantly to the prediction of drinking intention, which subsequently influenced their drinking onset, current drinking and binge drinking pattern in the past 30 days. PDNs emerged as the strongest psychosocial predictor of drinking intention, followed by PBC. Rural adolescents' drinking intention significantly mediated the relationship between all psychosocial factors and drinking behaviours either fully or partially. The path coefficient between drinking attitude and drinking intention was significantly different between males and females.

Conclusion

Different from previous studies focus on adolescents' drinking attitude, rural Thai adolescents' PDNs play a significant role on their drinking intention and subsequently their drinking onset and patterns. This nuanced understanding supports a paradigm shift to target adolescents' perceived drinking norms as a means to delay their drinking onset and problematic drinking behaviours.

Impact

Higher levels of perceived drinking norms significantly led to the increase in drinking intention among adolescents. Minimizing adolescents' perceptions of favourable drinking norms and promoting their capacity to resist drinking, especially due to peer pressure, are recommended for nursing roles as essential components of health education campaigns and future efforts to prevent underage drinking.

Patient or Public Contribution

In this study, there was no public or patient involvement.

Changes in the diagnosis of depression among nursing professionals during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A longitudinal study

Abstract

Aims

To identify changes in mental health status among nursing professionals in a Brazilian municipality during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design

An observational and longitudinal study.

Methods

Using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the presence of depressive symptoms was evaluated among 690 nursing professionals in the city of Pelotas, Brazil, at two moments: June/July 2020 and June/July 2021.

Results

13.0% incidence of depressive symptoms was identified; as well as 12.2% remission; 24.1% persistence and 50.7% absence. Among the factors associated with the worst prognoses we can mention female gender, greater workload, feeling of overload, illness of family members or friends due to COVID-19 and use of psychotropic drugs

Conclusions

There was significant mobility in the diagnosis of depression among the professionals studied during the period analysed, with incidence of new cases of significant depression and greater than the number of remissions. In addition to sociodemographic aspects, traumatic experiences and exposure to continuous overload were associated with persistence and incidence of new cases.

Implications for the profession and/or patient care

With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, several studies have shown an increase in depressive symptoms among nursing professionals; however, understanding the long-term effects of this scenario is still a challenge.

Impact

What problem did the study address? This study investigates changes in the mental health status of nursing professionals working at different care levels, taking the prevalence of screening for depression as a proxy, during a period of a year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What were the main findings? Between both data collection moments, 2020 e 2021, there was a significant percentage of professionals with persistent depression, in addition to a significant proportion of incident cases that slightly exceeded the number of remissions and the factors associated with the worst prognoses were sociodemographic aspects such as gender and emotional stressors like illness of family members or close friends due to COVID-19, in addition to those related to the organisation and support provided by the services, such as workload and feeling of overload.

Where and on whom will the research have an impact? This study will impact the nursing professionals and in role of the health services in order to establishing actions that contribute to minimising the deleterious effects of the pandemic on the mental health of their Nursing teams.

Reporting method

The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines were adopted in this study.

Patient or public contribution

No Patient or Public Contribution.

Registered nurses' cultural orientation competence for culturally and linguistically diverse nurses in the hospital setting: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Aims

To explore registered nurses' cultural orientation competence profiles for providing culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) nurses with orientation in the hospital setting, and to identify which factors are associated with cultural orientation competence profiles.

Design

A descriptive, explorative cross-sectional study.

Methods

Data were collected from December 2020 to January 2021 using the Preceptors' Orientation Competence Instrument (POCI) and Preceptors' Cultural Orientation Competence Instrument (POCCI). A total of 844 registered nurses from one university hospital district in Finland participated, reflecting a response rate of 10%. A K-means cluster algorithm was employed to identify different cultural orientation competence profiles.

Results

The cluster analysis identified three cultural orientation competence profiles (A, B and C). Nurses in Profile A evaluated their cultural orientation competence the highest, with members of profiles B and C demonstrating the second highest and lowest, respectively, cultural orientation competence scores. Several factors were associated with cultural orientation competence profiles, namely, orientation education and student mentoring education, support from managers and colleagues, motivation, willingness to act as a preceptor, time to provide orientation, sufficient clinical and theoretical nursing skills and current work title.

Conclusion

Cultural diversity and acceptance of it can be enhanced by building accepting culture towards new incomers and offering continuing education to improve the cultural competence of staff, which can further benefit patient care of CALD patients. Orientation practices can be improved by rewarding staff and building collaborative teamwork culture.

Implications for Profession and/or Patient Care

Organizations can strengthen nurses' cultural orientation competence; for example, by providing adequate orientation education and allocating more time to the orientation process.

Reporting Method

The STROBE criteria were used to report the results of the observations critically.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

Impact of home‐visit nursing service use on costs in the last 3 months of life among older adults: A retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Introduction

Considering Japan's aging society, the number of older individuals who die at home is expected to increase. In Japan, there are challenges in utilizing and promoting home-visit nursing services at the end of life for community-dwelling older adults. We examined the use of home-visit nursing services at the end of patients' lives and the recommended use patterns of this service (utilization, timing of initiation, and continuity) that contribute to reducing the medical care and long-term care costs (total costs) in the last 3 months of life.

Design

This was a retrospective cohort study.

Methods

We examined 33 municipalities in Japan, including depopulated areas. The analysis included 22,927 people aged 75 or older who died between September 2016 and September 2018. We used monthly medical care and long-term care insurance claims data. Participants were classified into five groups based on their history of home-visit nursing service use: (1) early initiation/continuous use, (2) early initiation/discontinued or fragment use, (3) not-early initiation/continuous use, (4) not-early initiation/fragment use, and (5) no use. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to examine the association between total costs in the last 3 months of life and patterns of home-visit nursing service use.

Results

Overall, the median age was 85, and 12,217 participants were men (53.3%). In the last half year before death, 5424 (23.7%) older adults used home-visit nursing services. Multivariable linear regression analysis of the log10-transformed value of total costs revealed that compared with the no use group, the early initiation/continuous use group was estimated to have 0.88 times (95% confidence interval: 0.84, 0.93) the total costs in the last 3 months of life (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Early initiation use of home-visit nursing services may contribute to reducing total costs in the last 3 months of life for Japanese people aged 75 years or older living at home as they approach the end of life.

Clinical relevance

When approaching the end of life, many older adults require daily life care and palliative care. Policymakers are strengthening end-of-life care for community-dwelling older adults in Japan. Although the current results do not demonstrate the effectiveness of home-visit nursing services, they provide a perspective from which to assess the use of home-visit nursing services and its impact on older adults. The findings can be helpful in considering how to provide nursing care in home-care settings for older adults who prefer to spend their final days at home.

The impact of organizational compassion in health care on clinicians: A scoping review

Abstract

Background

The unprecedented exodus of workers from the healthcare system is a patient safety crisis. Organizational compassion in health care is the proactive, systematic, and continuous identification, alleviation, and prevention of all sources of suffering.

Aims

This scoping review aimed to describe the evidence regarding the impact of organizational compassion on clinicians, identify gaps, and provide recommendations for future research.

Methods

A comprehensive librarian-assisted database search was conducted. Databases searched were PubMed, SCOPUS, EMBASE, Web of Science, PsychInfo, and Business Source Complete. Combinations of search terms regarding health care, compassion, organizational compassion, and workplace suffering were used. The search strategy was limited to English language articles and those published between 2000 and 2021.

Results

Database search yielded 781 articles. After removing duplicates, 468 were screened by title and abstract, and 313 were excluded. One-hundred and fifty-five underwent full-text screening, and 137 were removed, leaving 18 eligible articles, two of which were set in the United States. Ten articles evaluated barriers or facilitators to organizational compassion, four evaluated elements of compassionate leadership, and four evaluated the Schwartz Center Rounds intervention. Several described the need to create systems that are compassionate to clinicians. Lack of time, support staff, and resources impeded the delivery of such interventions.

Linking evidence to action

Little research has been done to understand and evaluate the impact of compassion on US clinicians. Given the workforce crisis in American health care and the potential positive impact of increasing compassion for clinicians, there is an urgent need for researchers and healthcare administrators to fill this gap.

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