Continuity of care in hospital rehabilitation services: a qualitative insight from inpatients' experience.

BACKGROUND: Few empirical studies have been conducted on the continuity of rehabilitation services, despite the fact that it may affect clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, the perception of quality, and safety. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore experiences and perceptions of inpatients receiving physical rehabilitation in an acute care hospital and how these experiences may have led to perceived gaps in the continuity of rehabilitation care. METHOD: Using qualitative research methods, fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients who received physical rehabilitation during hospital stay in an acute care hospital in Murcia, Spain. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, analyzed, and grouped into predetermined and emergent codes. RESULTS: Patients described three main themes in continuity of care: informational, management, and relational continuity. Several factors were described as influencing the perceived gaps in these three types of continuity. Informational continuity was influenced by the transfer of information among care providers. Relational continuity was influenced by patient-therapist relations and consistency on the part of the provider. Management continuity was influenced by consistency of care between providers and the involvement of patients in their own care. CONCLUSION: The participants in this study identified several gaps in three types of continuity of care (informational, management, and relational). Inpatients often perceive their experiences of rehabilitation as being disconnected or incoherent over time.

Job strain and heart rate variability in resident physicians within a general hospital.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of heart rate variability with job strain in first year resident physicians. METHODS: We performed the study at the "Manuel Gea González" General Hospital in Mexico City. 54 resident doctors were studied over a period of 24 hr in their first year of specialization. Two questionnaires were administered: the first on general demographics, and the second, the Job Content Questionnaire. Heart rate variability was evaluated through the frequency domain (low-frequency power, high-frequency power, and low-frequency power/high-frequency power ratio) and time domain (SDNN). The doctors wore a Holter monitor over a 24-hr period, which included a workday plus their on-call time. They recorded their activities in a log. RESULTS: Compared to physicians in the "low strain" category, physicians working in the "passive" category had lower overall peak-to-peak cardiac variability (standard deviation of N-N intervals, SDNN), -9.08% (95% CI -17.97, 0.74), a -25% (95% CI -45.00, 0.22) lower high-frequency power, and -26.95% (95% CI -39.00, -12.53) lower low-frequency power. Physicians working in the "high strain" category had lower low-frequency power, -17.85% (95%CI -32.34, -0.25), and lower low-frequency/high-frequency ratio -24.29% (95% CI 38.08, 7.42) compared to those in the "low strain" category. CONCLUSIONS: High job strain and low job control among medical residents were associated with several indicators of lowered heart rate variability. Thus, analysis of heart rate variability may be an informative marker for evaluating the physiological impacts of workplace stressors.