Cross-sectional evaluation of pharmaceutical care competences in nurse education: how well do curricula prepare students of different educational levels?

BACKGROUND: Nurses play an important role in interprofessional pharmaceutical care. Curricula related to pharmaceutical care, however, vary a lot. Mapping the presence of pharmaceutical care related domains and competences in nurse educational programs can lead to a better understanding of the extent to which curricula fit expectations of the labour market. The aim of this study was to describe 1) the presence of pharmaceutical care oriented content in nursing curricula at different educational levels and 2) nursing students' perceived readiness to provide nurse pharmaceutical care in practice. METHODS: A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was used. Nursing schools in 14 European countries offering educational programs for levels 4-7 students were approached between January and April 2021. Through an online survey final year students had to indicate to what extent pharmaceutical care topics were present in their curriculum. RESULTS: A total of 1807 students participated, of whom 8% had level 4-5, 80% level 6, 12% level 7. Up to 84% of the students indicated that pharmaceutical care content was insufficiently addressed in their curriculum. On average 14% [range 0-30] felt sufficiently prepared to achieve the required pharmaceutical care competences in practice. In level 5 curricula more pharmaceutical care domains were absent compared with other levels. CONCLUSIONS: Although several pharmaceutical care related courses are present in current curricula of level 4-7 nurses, its embedding should be extended. Too many students perceive an insufficient preparation to achieve pharmaceutical care competences required in practice. Existing gaps in pharmaceutical care should be addressed to offer more thoroughly prepared nurses to the labour market.

Exploring the education in cultural competence and transcultural care in Spanish for nurses and future nurses: a scoping review and gap analysis.

BACKGROUND: Globalization and population migration have led to increasingly culturally diverse societies, which has made nursing education in cultural competence and transcultural care a priority. This includes the ability to provide person-centered and culturally congruent care, even within one's own culture. However, this sort of training has been developed and implemented in practice comparatively more by English-speaking societies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the existing educational initiatives for nurses and future ones in cultural competence and transcultural care in Spanish and explore their didactic characteristics in terms of teaching and learning formats, contents, skills, and evaluation methods at different academic levels. METHODS: A scoping review was carried out by following the specific PRISMA recommendations and those of the Joanna Briggs Institute guidance throughout PudMed, Web of Science, Embase, Google Scholar, and Cinahl databases and also gray literature in the form of official documentation that later was complemented with a gap analysis including training programs published by Spanish and Latin-American educational institutions and the approaches of key academic informants. RESULTS: The published evidence on nursing training in cultural competence or related topics in Spanish-speaking higher education for nurses is limited. Specific nursing programs in Spanish-speaking universities are primarily found in Spain, with fewer options available in Latin America. These contents are offered either as optional subjects or immersed in other courses and mainly taught in theoretical sessions. Practice in real contexts is supposed to be evaluated transversally under the cultural scope according to national educational recommendations though barely visible in students' evaluation reports. Even though postgraduate training dedicated to these issues exists, it is still limited, mixed with other contents, and generally depends on a few researchers investigating and publishing on the topic from very specific universities. CONCLUSIONS: It is essential to establish a common global strategy including Spanish-speaking countries in nurses' higher education and professional training on topics focused on cultural competence as well as the provision of nurses' social and cultural sensitivity towards their own culture and to define whether those that currently exist are effective. It is also crucial that this training was evaluated in practice in order to achieve enough impact on students, health organizations, and population health.

Development of a European Centre of Excellence (Coe) for Research in Continuing Professional Development (UPGRADE).

The European Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Research in Continuing Professional Development (UPGRADE) is a pan-European network of researchers, clinicians, regulators, educators, and professional bodies, established in 2020 through a consensus group of experts, who defined its mission, vision, values, aims and objectives. The Centre's aim is to advance the science of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for healthcare professionals through research and dissemination of best practices for CPD. Debate among UPGRADE partners and interchange of research data will yield best practices across countries to optimise quality CPD programmes. Collaboration, information exchange and communication among CPD experts will be facilitated through UPGRADE via an online Community of Inquiry (CoI). UPGRADE aims to evolve as a driving force network of academics and health professional leaders in research, education, professional regulation, and clinical practice whose collaborative work ensures quality and safe person-centred care. UPGRADE members are from 22 European countries, represented by strategic leaders in diverse sectors of health, policy, academia, and professional organisations. Three research-working groups constitute the pillars of UPGRADE, which addresses gaps in research, collect and create critical databases, and solidify the effectiveness of CPD.

Identifying the Enablers and Barriers to Advance Nurse Prescribing of Medication in Spain According to Experts' Views: A Delphi Study.

Nurses play an important role in pharmaceutical care worldwide in detecting clinical changes, communicating and discussing pharmacotherapy with patients, their families, and other healthcare professionals, proposing and implementing drug-related interventions, and ensuring the monitoring of patients and their medication regimens, among others. However, there is no global consensus across countries regarding the prescribing of medication by nurses. In Spain, for example, this topic is currently in transition since the approval of the Royal Decree 1302/2018 of October 22nd, which regulates the indication, use, and authorization for dispensing human-use medication by nurses. Our study aims to identify the enablers and barriers to advancing the nurse prescribing of medication in Spain through the views of experts in the field and according to the latest Royal Decree approved and the steps taken by the different Spanish autonomous communities. A modified qualitative Delphi study with three iterations was performed online through the perspectives of experts from the field of healthcare education, research, practice, management, and policy. Data extracted from the literature review were used to formulate the open-ended questions utilized in the three rounds. The experts involved (n = 15) belonged to different Spanish regions where the Royal Decree is being implemented with different speeds, and had distinct backgrounds and experiences. Our results highlight the importance of prospectively developing additional protocols based on chronic diseases as well as scaling up towards independent nursing prescription, the inclusion of a joint multidisciplinary pharmaceutical care model, the controversial role played by national nursing councils and boards, the variability in the speed of implementation among the autonomous communities, and the lack of nursing training in the field of medication prescription.

Nurse students' competences in interprofessional pharmaceutical care in Europe: Cross-sectional evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Safe pharmaceutical care requires competent nurses with specific knowledge, skills and attitudes. It is unclear whether nursing students are adequately prepared to perform pharmaceutical care in practice. Mapping their pharmaceutical care competences can lead to a better understanding of the extent to which curricula fit expectations of the labour market. OBJECTIVES: To assess pharmaceutical care competences of final-year nursing students of different educational levels. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey design. SETTINGS: In 14 European countries, nursing schools who offer curricula for level 4 to 7 students were approached. PARTICIPANTS: Through convenience sampling 1741 final-year student nurses of level 4 to 7 were included. Sampling strategies were country-specific. METHODS: A web-platform was developed with an assessment of the level in which students mastered pharmaceutical care competences. Knowledge questions, case studies (basic/advanced level), self-reported practical skills and attitudes were evaluated. RESULTS: Mean scores for knowledge questions differed significantly (p < 0.001) between level 5 (56/100), level 6 (68/100) and level 7 students (72/100). For basic cases level 5 students reached lower scores (64/100) compared with level 6 (71/100) and level 7 (72/100) students (p = 0.002 and p = 0.005). For more advanced cases no difference between levels was observed (overall mean 61/100). Most students (63-90 %) considered themselves skilled to perform pharmaceutical care and had positive attitudes towards their participation in pharmaceutical care (65-97 %). CONCLUSIONS: Relatively low knowledge scores were calculated for final-year student nurses. In some domains, lower levels of students might be insufficiently prepared to take up responsibilities in pharmaceutical care. Our assessment can be used as a tool for educators to evaluate how prepared nursing students are for pharmaceutical care. Its further implementation for students of different educational levels will allow benchmarking between the levels, both within and between countries.

Economic evaluation of CPD activities for healthcare professionals: A scoping review.

CONTEXT: Continuing professional development (CPD) activities for healthcare professionals are central to the optimisation of patient safety and person-centred care. Although there is some evidence on the economics of healthcare professionals training, very little is known about the costs and benefits of CPD. METHODS: This study aimed to review the research evidence on economic evaluations of CPD activities for healthcare professionals. CINAHL, MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Econlit and Web of Science databases were used to identify articles published between 2010 and 2021. RESULTS: Of the 6791 titles identified, 119 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in this scoping review. The majority of articles were partial economic evaluations of CPD programmes (n = 70); half were from the USA. Studies that included multiple professions were most prevalent (n = 54), followed by nurses (n = 34) and doctors (n = 23). Patient outcomes were the most commonly reported outcome (n = 51), followed by change in clinical practice (n = 38) and healthcare professionals' knowledge gain (n = 19). CONCLUSIONS: There is an urgent call for more evidence regarding the economic evaluations of CPD. This is particularly important in view of the rising costs of healthcare globally. The majority of studies included in this review did not provide detailed information on the evaluations and many focused exclusively on the cost of CPD activities rather than outcomes.

Understanding pharmaceutical care and nurse prescribing in Spain: A grounded theory approach through healthcare professionals' views and expectations.

BACKGROUND: Pharmaceutical care has been implemented and regulated differently across Europe with no consensus among countries in relation with professional competencies and especially on nurse prescribing. Demophac Project funded by the European Commission aims to develop a Pan-European Pharmaceutical Care Model with collaboration of 14 partner teams across Europe including Spain where nurse prescribing is starting its implementation at regional level. The aim of the study was to increase understanding of the role of nurses in Pharmaceutical care in Spain after the Nurse Prescribing Regulation approved in 2018 throughout exploring the views and expectations of health professionals involved in the representative settings. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In depth interviews were conducted in a structure previously agreed by the European Demophac partnership around four topics associated with the Nursing ideal role in pharmaceutical care and the ideal interaction with other healthcare professionals. A grounded-theory approach based on Corbin & Strauss was conducted to interpret collected data from the Spanish most representative settings (primary care, specialized care and residential care for older population). Participants were health professionals involved in pharmaceutical care that accepted to participate (nurses (n = 7), physicians (n = 8) and pharmacists (n = 9)). A pharmaceutical care comprehensive model for the Spanish context considering the recently approved Nurse Prescribing role and the interprofessional collaboration and communication was developed towards facilitating the understanding in such context and the contribution to the unified European Demophac Framework. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses are primarily responsible for population's Pharmaceutical Care while other professionals pivot on them to provide quality healthcare on a multidisciplinary level. Nurse prescribing may contribute efficiently to the Spanish Health System though more consensus in terms of nurses' training nationwide and enhancement in communication among different professionals within healthcare organizations is required to achieve adequate integrated care into practice.

Designing Dementia Care Pathways to Transform Non Dementia-Friendly Hospitals: Scoping Review.

People with dementia (PwD) occupy around 25% of the hospital beds. Once PwD are admitted to hospitals, their cognitive impairment is not considered in most of the cases. Thus, it causes an impact on the development of the disease becoming a stressful situation as care plans are not adapted to PwD. The aim of this study was to explore the published core elements when designing a dementia care pathway for hospital settings. A scoping review was conducted to provide an overview of the available research evidence and identify the knowledge gaps regarding the topic. This review highlights person-centered care, compassionate care and end-of-life process as some of the key elements that should integrate the framework when designing a dementia care pathway. Architectonical outdoor and indoor hospital elements have also been found to be considered when adapting the healthcare context to PwD. Findings provide information about the key points to focus on to successfully design dementia interventions in hospital environments within available resources, mostly in those contexts in which national dementia plans are in its infancy. Hospitals should transform their patients' routes and processes considering the increasing demographic changes of people with cognitive impairment.

The NUPHAC-EU Framework for Nurses' Role in Interprofessional Pharmaceutical Care: Cross-Sectional Evaluation in Europe.

Clear role descriptions promote the quality of interprofessional collaboration. Currently, it is unclear to what extent healthcare professionals consider pharmaceutical care (PC) activities to be nurses' responsibility in order to obtain best care quality. This study aimed to create and evaluate a framework describing potential nursing tasks in PC and to investigate nurses' level of responsibility. A framework of PC tasks and contextual factors was developed based on literature review and previous DeMoPhaC project results. Tasks and context were cross-sectionally evaluated using an online survey in 14 European countries. A total of 923 nurses, 240 physicians and 199 pharmacists responded. The majority would consider nurses responsible for tasks within: medication self-management (86-97%), patient education (85-96%), medication safety (83-95%), monitoring adherence (82-97%), care coordination (82-95%), and drug monitoring (78-96%). The most prevalent level of responsibility was 'with shared responsibility'. Prescription management tasks were considered to be nurses' responsibility by 48-81% of the professionals. All contextual factors were indicated as being relevant for nurses' role in PC by at least 74% of the participants. No task nor contextual factor was removed from the framework after evaluation. This framework can be used to enable healthcare professionals to openly discuss allocation of specific (shared) responsibilities and tasks.

Developing a competence framework for nurses in pharmaceutical care: A Delphi study.

BACKGROUND: Nurses play an important role in pharmaceutical care. They are involved in: detecting clinical change; communicating/discussing pharmacotherapy with patients, their advocates, and other healthcare professionals; proposing and implementing medication-related interventions; and ensuring follow-up of patients and medication regimens. To date, a framework of nurses' competences on knowledge, skills, and attitudes as to interprofessional pharmaceutical care tasks is missing. OBJECTIVES: To reach agreement with experts about nurses' competences for tasks in interprofessional pharmaceutical care. METHODS: A two-phase study starting with a scoping review followed by five Delphi rounds was performed. Competences extracted from the literature were assessed by an expert panel on relevance by using the RAND/UCLA method. The experts (n = 22) involved were healthcare professionals, nurse researchers, and educators from 14 European countries with a specific interest in nurses' roles in interprofessional pharmaceutical care. Descriptive statistics supported the data analysis. RESULTS: The expert panel reached consensus on the relevance of 60 competences for 22 nursing tasks. Forty-one competences were related to 15 generic nursing tasks and 33 competences were related to seven specific nursing tasks. CONCLUSIONS: This study resulted in a competence framework for competency-based nurse education. Future research should focus on imbedding these competences in nurse education. A structured instrument should be developed to assess students' readiness to achieve competence in interprofessional pharmaceutical care in clinical practice.

Developing a dementia inclusive hospital environment using an Integrated Care Pathway design: research protocol.

People with dementia occupy 25% of the hospital beds. When they are admitted to hospitals their cognitive impairment is not considered in most of the cases. Some European and North American countries already have experience of implementing national plans about Alzheimer's disease and dementia. However South European countries such as Spain are in the early stages. The aim of this study is to design an Integrated Care Pathway to adapt the hospital environment and processes to the needs of people with dementia and their caregivers, generating a sense of confidence, increasing their satisfaction and protecting them from potential harmful situations. This study uses King's Fund Dementia Tool to assess the hospital environment and develop a continous improvement process. People with dementia, families, caregivers and healthcare staff will evaluate the different settings in order to provide guidance based on patient needs. Person-centred care, prudent healthcare and compassionate care are the conceptual framework of this care pathway. The implementation and evaluation of this research protocol will provide information about how to successfully design dementia interventions in a hospital environment within available resources in those contexts where dementia plans are in its infancy, as only around 15% of all states worldwide have currently designed a concise dementia national plan.

Perspectives of nurses' role in interprofessional pharmaceutical care across 14 European countries: A qualitative study in pharmacists, physicians and nurses.

OBJECTIVES: To understand healthcare professionals' experiences and perceptions of nurses' potential or ideal roles in pharmaceutical care (PC). DESIGN: Qualitative study conducted through semi-structured in-depth interviews. SETTING: Between December 2018 and October 2019, interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals of 14 European countries in four healthcare settings: hospitals, community care, mental health and long-term residential care. PARTICIPANTS: In each country, pharmacists, physicians and nurses in each of the four settings were interviewed. Participants were selected on the basis that they were key informants with broad knowledge and experience of PC. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: All interviews were conducted face to face. Each country conducted an initial thematic analysis. Consensus was reached through a face-to-face discussion of all 14 national leads. RESULTS: 340 interviews were completed. Several tasks were described within four potential nursing responsibilities, that came up as the analysis themes, being: 1) monitoring therapeutic/adverse effects of medicines, 2) monitoring medicines adherence, 3) decision making on medicines, including prescribing 4) providing patient education/information. Nurses' autonomy varied across Europe, from none to limited to a few tasks and emergencies to a broad range of tasks and responsibilities. Intended level of autonomy depended on medicine types and level of education. Some changes are needed before nursing roles can be optimised and implemented in practice. Lack of time, shortage of nurses, absence of legal frameworks and limited education and knowledge are main threats to European nurses actualising their ideal role in PC. CONCLUSIONS: European nurses have an active role in PC. Respondents reported positive impacts on care quality and patient outcomes when nurses assumed PC responsibilities. Healthcare professionals expect nurses to report observations and assessments. This key patient information should be shared and addressed by the interprofessional team. The study evidences the need of a unique and consensus-based PC framework across Europe.

Evaluación cualitativa de una intervención educativa en mejoras en salud en estudiantes de enfermería / Qualitative evaluation of an educational intervention about healthcare improvement for nursing students / Avaliação qualitativa de uma intervenção educativa em melhorias em saúde em estudantes de enfermagem

Objetivo: explorar o significado da experiência e dos conhecimentos adquiridos por estudantes de enfermagem formados em melhoria de cuidados de saúde. Materiais e métodos: foi realizada uma aproximação fenomenológica baseada no método Giorgi, mediante uma discussão em grupo com 21 estudantes europeus de quatro países, em julho de 2019. Os dados foram triangulados com os depoimentos de informantes-chave e com o uso de uma ferramenta de avaliação específica para o tema. A análise também foi triangulada com três pesquisadores experientes que reduziram os dados por consenso a oito unidades de significado. Resultados: o empoderamento da enfermagem e das organizações sanitárias horizontais foram duas das unidades de significado mais recorrentes junto com os valores profissionais, como o trabalho em equipe e a humanização dos cuidados. Conclusões: os conhecimentos, as atitudes e os valores adquiridos evidenciam as carências na formação dos futuros profissionais de enfermagem na Europa. A abordagem teórico-prática das sessões, bem como a fusão de culturas supuseram fortalezas para os estudantes. É necessário seguir mais casos que evidenciem o retorno do investimento em formação em melhorias substanciais em contextos reais e seu impacto sobre a qualidade assistencial.

Objetivo: Explorar el significado de la experiencia y los conocimientos adquiridos por estudiantes de enfermería formados en mejora de cuidados de salud. Material y métodos: se realizó una aproximación fenomenológica basada en el método Giorgi mediante una discusión grupal de 21 estudiantes europeos de cuatro países en julio 2019. Los datos fueron triangulados con los testimonios de informantes clave y con el uso de una herramienta de evaluación específica para este tema. El análisis también se trianguló con tres investigadores experimentados que redujeron los datos por consenso a ocho unidades de significado. Resultados: El empoderamiento de enfermería y las organizaciones sanitarias horizontales fueron dos de las unidades de significado más recurrentes junto a los valores profesionales como el trabajo en equipo y la humanización en los cuidados. Conclusiones: los conocimientos, las actitudes y los valores adquiridos evidencian las carencias de la formación de los futuros profesionales de enfermería en Europa. El enfoque teórico-práctico de las sesiones, así como la mezcla de culturas supusieron fortalezas para el alumnado. Es necesario el seguimiento de más casos que evidencien el retorno de la inversión formativa en mejoras sustanciales en contextos reales y su impacto sobre la calidad asistencial.

Objective: To explore the meaning of the experience and knowledge acquired by nursing students trained in healthcare improvement. Material and methods: A phenomenological approach based on the Giorgi method was made through a group discussion of 21 European students from four countries in July 2019. The data was triangulated with the testimonies of key informants and with the use of an evaluation tool specific to this topic. The analysis was also triangulated with three experienced researchers who reduced the data by consensus to eight units of meaning. Results: Nursing empowerment and horizontal health organizations were two of the most recurrent units of meaning along with professional values such as teamwork and humanization of care. Conclusions: The knowledge, attitudes and values acquired are evidence of the shortcomings in the training of future nursing professionals in Europe. The theoretical and practical approach of the sessions, as well as the mixture of cultures, were strengths for the students. It is necessary to follow up on more cases that show the return on the training investment in substantial improvements in real contexts and its impact on the quality of care.

Transforming the Future Healthcare Workforce across Europe through Improvement Science Training: A Qualitative Approach.

Healthcare improvement science (HIS) is the generation of knowledge to cultivate change towards improving health systems performance. Our purpose was to evaluate the experience of European nursing students after an intensive one-week summer program conducted in 2019 at the University of Alicante in Spain. The educational intervention combined theoretical and practical HIS contents, with students from different countries, educational programs, and health systems. The intervention was evaluated under a qualitative approach through the open discussion group technique based on the method of participatory action research (PAR), with a total of 25 students who reflected about their experiences and perceptions during the intervention. The responses were used to improve the program's contents, its didactics, and organization. Nursing empowerment, professional recognition, and healthcare research were some of the seven main categories identified through the systematic content analysis method triangulated by three experienced researchers. According to the students' replies, values like compassion, respect, or empathy were identified as key elements of care. Promoting international students' networking emerged as the key to creating a positive provision for change and the generation of improvement initiatives. Building a HIS culture may potentially provide future healthcare professionals with critical thinking skills and the resources needed to improve their future work settings.

Experience of People in Mild and Moderate Stages of Alzheimer's Disease in Spain / Experiencia de personas con Alzheimer en fases leves y moderadas en España / A experiência de pessoas com Alzheimer na Espanha nas fases leve e moderada

Objetivo: analizar el significado que adquiere la enfermedad para las personas afectadas por Demencia, proporcionándoles voz. Material y métodos: aproximación a la fenomenología descriptiva a través de entrevistas a personas de ambos sexos y mayores de 50 años residentes en Tarragona (España) con un diagnóstico de Demencia leve o moderada, principalmente enfermedad tipo Alzheimer. Resultados: surgieron tres grandes temáticas: 1) normalización de la pérdida de memoria en fases incipientes en relación al proceso natural de envejecimiento; 2) autopercepción de que existe un problema de memoria instaurándose que se disimula frente a su entorno y 3) procesos de adaptación y aprendizaje de estrategias para convivir con su condición tras el diagnóstico. Conclusiones: la falta de infraestructuras especializadas dentro del sistema sanitario en materia de cuidados, programas de prevención y detección precoz son los aspectos más evidentes remarcados.

Objective: To analyze the meaning of dementia by those affected by it, and to give them a voice. Material and methods: Descriptive phenomenology through interviews with people of both genders who are over 50 years old and living in Tarragona (Spain), with a diagnosis of mild or moderate dementia, mainly related to Alzheimer's disease. Results: Three main themes emerged: 1) normalization of memory loss in early stages as part of the natural aging process; 2) self-awareness of progressive memory decline, which is concealed from others, and 3) adaptation processes and strategies to coexist with their condition after diagnosis. Conclusions: The most evident features were the lack of specialized infrastructures within the health system in terms of care, prevention programs, and early detection.

Objetivo: Analisar o significado que a doença adquire para as pessoas afetadas pela demência, dando voz a elas. Material e Métodos: Abordagem da fenomenologia descritiva por meio de entrevistas com pessoas residentes em Tarragona (Espanha) com diagnóstico de demência leve ou moderada, principalmente doença do tipo Alzheimer de ambos os sexos e com mais de 50 anos. Resultados: Surgiram três grandes temas: 1) Normalização da perda de memória em fases incipientes relacionadas ao processo natural de envelhecimento; 2) Autopercepção de que existe um problema de memória que se esconde do ambiente; 3) Processo de adaptação e estratégias de aprendizado para conviver com sua condição após o diagnóstico. Conclusões: A falta de infra-estruturas especializadas no sistema de saúde, programas de prevenção e detecção precoce são os aspectos mais evidentes.

EUPRON: nurses' practice in interprofessional pharmaceutical care in Europe. A cross-sectional survey in 17 countries.

OBJECTIVES: Safe pharmaceutical care (PC) requires an interprofessional team approach, involving physicians, nurses and pharmacists. Nurses' roles however, are not always explicit and clear, complicating interprofessional collaboration. The aim of this study is to describe nurses' practice and interprofessional collaboration in PC, from the viewpoint of nurses, physicians and pharmacists. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey. SETTING: The study was conducted in 17 European countries, each with their own health systems. PARTICIPANTS: Pharmacists, physicians and nurses with an active role in PC were surveyed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Nurses' involvement in PC, experiences of interprofessional collaboration and communication and views on nurses' competences. RESULTS: A total of 4888 nurses, 974 physicians and 857 pharmacists from 17 European countries responded. Providing patient education and information (PEI), monitoring medicines adherence (MMA), monitoring adverse/therapeutic effects (ME) and prescribing medicines were considered integral to nursing practice by 78%, 73%, 69% and 15% of nurses, respectively. Most respondents were convinced that quality of PC would be improved by increasing nurses' involvement in ME (95%), MMA (95%), PEI (91%) and prescribing (53%). Mean scores for the reported quality of collaboration between nurses and physicians, collaboration between nurses and pharmacists and interprofessional communication were respectively <7/10, ≤4/10, <6/10 for all four aspects of PC. CONCLUSIONS: ME, MMA, PEI and prescribing are part of nurses' activities, and most healthcare professionals felt their involvement should be extended. Collaboration between nurses and physicians on PC is limited and between nurses and pharmacists even more.

Pandemic lockdown, healthcare policies and human rights: integrating opposed views on COVID-19 public health mitigation measures.

The issue of the COVID-19 pandemic occupies the agenda of the whole world. The pivot of this pandemic is a crucial element that has become almost as important as the virus itself, namely the lockdown. Although, the rationale for lockdown is well-sustained by strong epidemiological arguments, exploring the 'other' unwanted consequences of the contemporary COVID-19 pandemic is mandatory for coagulating a robust agreed position against the numerous problems generated by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Starting from the rationale of the lockdown, in this paper we explored and exposed the other consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic measures such as the use or abuse of human rights and freedom restrictions, economic issues, marginalized groups and eclipse of all other diseases. Our scientific attempt is to coagulate a stable position and integrate current opposing views by advancing the idea that rather than applying the uniform lockdown policy, one could recommend instead an improved model targeting more strict and more prolonged lockdowns to vulnerable risk/age groups while enabling less stringent measures for the lower-risk groups, minimizing both economic losses and deaths. Rigorous (and also governed by freedom) debating may be able to synchronize the opposed perspectives between those advocating an extreme lockdown (e.g., most of the epidemiologists and health experts), and those criticizing all restrictive measures (e.g., economists and human rights experts). Confronting the multiple facets of the public health mitigation measures is the only way to avoid contributing to history with yet another failure, as seen in other past epidemics.

Mapping the Status of Healthcare Improvement Science through a Narrative Review in Six European Countries.

With the aim to explore how improvement science is understood, taught, practiced, and its impact on quality healthcare across Europe, the Improvement Science Training for European Healthcare Workers (ISTEW) project "Improvement Science Training for European Healthcare Workers" was funded by the European Commission and integrated by 7 teams from different European countries. As part of the project, a narrative literature review was conducted between 2008 and 2019, including documents in all partners' languages from 26 databases. Data collection and analysis involved a common database. Validation took place through partners' discussions. Referring to healthcare improvement science (HIS), a variety of terms, tools, and techniques were reported with no baseline definition or specific framework. All partner teams were informed about the non-existence of a specific term equivalent to HIS in their mother languages, except for the English-speaking countries. A lack of consensus, regarding the understanding and implementation of HIS into the healthcare and educational contexts was found. Our findings have brought to light the gap existing in HIS within Europe, far from other nations, such as the US, where there is a clearer HIS picture. As a consequence, the authors suggest further developing the standardization of HIS understanding and education in Europe.

Experiencing the care of a family member with Crohn's disease: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the experiences of caregivers living with relatives affected by Crohn's disease (CD) in a context in which the family provides social support. DESIGN: A qualitative study based on a phenomenological approach was conducted through in-depth interviews. SETTING: Participants living in Alicante (Spain) were recruited PARTICIPANTS: Eleven family caregivers of people with CD were interviewed. METHODS: The in-depth interviews took place in the participants' homes and were audio recorded and then transcribed for a qualitative thematic analysis. RESULTS: Five themes and accompanying subthemes were identified: (1) adaptation to the caring experience, (2) dichotomy 'with or without me', (3) unending burden, (4) need for knowledge and control of the disease, and (5) getting used to CD and normalising life. CONCLUSION: The findings contribute to an increase in the knowledge and comprehension of the experience of being the caregiver of a relative with CD, which could be useful for professionals towards improving the quality of the CD caring process. Due to the temporal dimension of CD with frequent bouts of exacerbation and remission, family caregivers must adapt and acquire skills during chronic illness evolution. Moreover, the lack of family caregivers' inclusion and follow-up within the Spanish health system makes them feel invisible and useless, which may contribute to caregivers' burdens.

Implementation of health care quality indicators for out-of-hospital emergencies: a systematic review. / Utilización e implementación de indicadores de calidad para evaluar la atención en las emergencias extrahospitalarias: revisión sistemática.

ABSTRACT: Although many health care quality indicators have been defined for establishing a common, homogeneous, and reliable system for assessing emergency department care, less information is available on the use of indicators of quality in attending emergencies outside the hospital. We aimed to identify and analyze quality indicators that have appeared in the literature on out-of-hospital emergencies. This systematic review of the literature followed the ations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). We developed protocols for searching 5 databases to locate studies using quality indicators to evaluate care in out-of-hospital emergencies. Studies were published between July 2017 and July 2018 in either English or Spanish. We identified 22 studies naming 333 quality indicators in out-of-hospital emergencies. The indicators were classified as clinical or nonclinical; within each of these 2 sets, we also identified domains, or subcategories. As nonclinical quality identifiers were more numerous in the literature, it seems that they are the ones most often used to assess out-of-hospital emergency care at this time. This finding leaves the door open to designing and implementing new indicators able to measure quality of care in this clinical setting.

RESUMEN: Aunque son muchos los indicadores de calidad (IC) definidos para establecer un sistema común, homogéneo y fiable de evaluación sobre la actividad en los servicios de urgencias, es escasa la información acerca de los IC relacionados con las emergencias atendidas en el ámbito extrahospitalario. El objetivo de este trabajo es identificar y analizar, a través de la literatura científica publicada, los IC específicos de dicha atención ante emergencias fuera del contexto hospitalario. Se realizó una revisión sistemática de la literatura según las recomendaciones PRISMA. Se exploraron 5 bases de datos y se elaboraron protocolos de búsqueda para localizar estudios que aportasen información sobre IC para evaluar la atención en emergencias extrahospitalarias, entre noviembre de 2017 y julio de 2018, tanto en inglés como en español. Se analizaron un total de 22 estudios y se identificaron un total de 333 IC en emergencias extrahospitalarias que fueron clasificados en clínicos y no clínicos, con sus subdominios correspondientes para cada grupo. El número de IC no clínicos identificados en la búsqueda fue superior, pudiendo concluir que son los más utilizados para evaluar la atención en las emergencias extrahospitalarias en la actualidad y dejando la puerta abierta para el diseño e implementación de nuevos IC capaces de evaluar la actividad fuera del contexto hospitalario.