Experiencias del personal de enfermería acerca de los factores del entorno que intervienen durante el enlace de turno / Experiences of the nursing staff about the environmental factors that intervene during the shift change

Introduction: The shift change in the nursing care process, primarily located in hospital settings, is carried out through the transfer of verbal, written and gestural information from the interaction between nursing staff. The theoretical reference is from Elton Mayo's human relations. Objective: To understand and interpret the meaning of the nursing staff's experiences regarding the environmental factors involved during the shift change. Methodology: Qualitative study carried out with the phenomenological method. The information was obtained through non-participant observation and a semi-structured interview with operational nursing staff. Data saturation was reached with 32 interviews. Results: 7 categories were constructed: Verbal/language communication, Patient reception, Patient safety, Continuous care, Administrative documents, Shift change hours, and Work supplies. Conclusions: The findings show the various factors that interact and intervene between nursing staff during the shift change, which is an essential activity to provide continuity of care and guarantee safety in patient care.

Introducción: el enlace de turno en el proceso de atención de enfermería, primordialmente situado en escenarios hospitalarios, se lleva a cabo mediante la transferencia de información verbal, escrita y gestual a partir de la interacción entre personal de enfermería. El referente teórico es el de relaciones humanas de Elton Mayo. Objetivo: comprender e interpretar el significado de las experiencias del personal de enfermería acerca de los factores del entorno que intervienen durante el enlace de turno. Metodología: estudio cualitativo realizado con el método fenomenológico. La información se obtuvo mediante observación no participante y entrevista semiestructurada en personal de enfermería operativo. La saturación de datos se alcanzó con 32 entrevistas. Resultados: se construyeron 7 categorías: Comunicación verbal/lenguaje, Recepción del paciente, Seguridad del paciente, Cuidado continuo, Documentos administrativos, Horarios de enlace de turno e Insumos de trabajo. Conclusiones: los hallazgos permiten mostrar los diversos factores que interactúan e intervienen entre el personal de enfermería durante el enlace de turno, que es una actividad esencial para dar continuidad al cuidado y garantizar la seguridad en la atención de los pacientes.

Brechas en la atención de personas hipertensas en el Policlínico Julio Antonio Mella, Guanabacoa, 2016-2017 / Gaps in the care of hypertensive people in Julio Antonio Mella Polyclinic, Guanabacoa (2016-2017)

Introducción: Para lograr el control de la hipertensión arterial se requiere de la vigilancia de sus factores de riesgo, del manejo integral de la enfermedad y la eliminación de brechas que atentan contra la calidad del proceso de atención. Objetivo: Identificar las principales brechas que afectan el proceso de atención de las personas hipertensas en un área de salud del municipio Guanabacoa durante el periodo 2016-2017. Métodos: Se realizó una investigación descriptiva transversal, se aplicó un muestreo por conglomerado bietápico. En una primera etapa de los 41 consultorios se seleccionaron 10, y de estos se seleccionaron aleatoriamente las familias, quedando conformada la muestra por 1458 familias. Se entrevistaron 2297 personas mayores de 35 años. Resultados: El 42,5 por ciento de los entrevistados tenía antecedentes de hipertensión arterial, el 3,0 resultó presunto hipertenso, en el 54,5 por ciento no se encontraron evidencias. Existieron dificultades con la atención de estas personas, dado por problemas organizativos, de funcionamiento del sistema y de comportamiento individual. Las principales brechas fueron en el acceso (36,3 por ciento, seguimiento (28,5 por ciento) y control (17,5 por ciento). El 97,6 por ciento tenía indicado tratamiento farmacológico y el 28 por ciento de los no controlados en el momento de la medición de la presión arterial no estaban adheridos. Conclusiones: Las brechas relacionadas con el acceso a los servicios de salud, diagnóstico, seguimiento, tratamiento y control de los hipertensos, cuyo elemento común es la no búsqueda de atención, repercute en la calidad de la atención(AU)

Introduction: To achieve the control of high blood pressure requires the monitoring of its risk factors, the comprehensive management of the disease and the elimination of gaps that hamper the quality of the care process. Objective: Identify the main gaps that affect the care process of hypertensive people in a health area of Guanabacoa municipality during the period 2016-2017. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive research was conducted, and a two-stage conglomerate sampling was applied. In a first stage of the 41 family doctor´s offices, 10 were selected, and of these families were randomly selected, with the sample being made up of 1458 families. 2297 people over 35 years old were interviewed. Results: 42.5 percent of the interviewees had a history of high blood pressure, 3.0 percent were suspected hypertensives, in 54.5 percent no evidence was found. There were difficulties with the care of these people, given by organizational problems, system functioning and individual behavior. The main gaps were access (36.3 percent), follow-up (28.5 percent) and control (17.5 percent). 97.6 percent had an indicated drug treatment and 28 percent of those not controlled at the time of blood pressure measurement were not attached. Conclusions: Gaps related to access to health, diagnostic, follow-up, treatment and control services for hypertensive in which the common element is care´s non-seeking have an impact on the quality of care(AU)

Beware of Discharge: A Case Exploring the Ethics of Societal Expectations Placed on Families at Hospital Discharge.

As the population ages and medical therapies advance, more individuals are living in the community with complex health conditions. These individuals, as well as their clinicians, often assume their family members and friends will be capable of, and willing to, provide the caregiving work necessary to continue living at home. There is an ethical problem in this assumption that unpaid community care will be provided by family or friends. Using the Hunt and Ells Patient-Centered Care Ethics Analysis Model for Rehabilitation (2013), this article explores the ethical considerations involved in the hospital discharge planning of a fictional case involving a middle-aged, male stroke patient who is in a strained marriage. We discuss the ethical merits and concerns of the various discharge options. We conclude with recommendations to avoid assumptions that family or friends will provide unpaid care after a hospital discharge. We share advocacy suggestions for improving community supports for caregivers and those with long-term care needs.

Should Long-Term Follow-up Post-Mitochondrial Replacement be Left up to Physicians, Parents, or Offspring?

UK law permits parents to use mitochondrial replacement (MR) to have genetically-related children without serious mitochondrial disease. However, long-term follow-up is required for each case. Whether this follow-up should be left to physicians, parents, or offspring has not been established. Due to the experimental status of MR, physicians must inform parents of the risks and the importance of follow-up tailored to a specific mitochondrial disease. Given that the use of MR is a responsible exercise of reproductive freedom, parents should ensure that the follow-up is performed properly and in the best interests of their offspring. On becoming legally competent, the resulting children should be entitled to refuse follow-up provided that the prevention of mitochondrial disease with no adverse effects has been evident till then. This offspring-centred long-term follow-up approach might also be applied to the use of MR for infertility treatment, even though the primary endpoint is healthy live births.

Sociodemographic determinants of attrition in the HIV continuum of care in Brazil, in 2016.

The aim of this study was to identify sociodemographic factors associated with attrition in the 3 steps of the HIV continuum of care related to the 90-90-90 targets - access to diagnosis, treatment initiation, and virologic suppression, in Brazilian adults (15 years or older), in 2016.Programmatic data were obtained from 2 information systems from the Brazilian Ministry of Health, which register all antiretroviral therapy (ART) dispensations and all CD4 and viral load counts (VL) performed within the country's public health system. The 3 attrition indicators were late presentation to care, defined as a first CD4 count <350 cells/mm among ART-naive individuals who performed a first CD4 count in 2016; not being on ART, defined as having no recorded dispensation within the last 100 days of the year, among those who were linked to care in 2016; and not being virologically suppressed, defined as having the last recorded VL >200 copies/mL in 2016, among those with a recorded VL count who were on treatment for at least 6 months. Association of sociodemographic factors with these indicators was analyzed by unconditional logistic regression analysis.Lower educational level and black/brown/indigenous race/color were associated with worse outcomes in the 3 indicators. Environmental indicators, namely the region, size, and social vulnerability index of the municipality of residence, also played an important role in the models. Younger age was strongly associated with not being on ART and not showing virological suppression.Our findings help identify the barriers in the different stages of the HIV continuum of care, which need to be addressed in order to progress toward the achievement of the 90-90-90 targets.

Plastic Surgery Overseas: How Much Should a Physician Risk in the Pursuit of Higher-Quality Continuity of Care?

In this article I discuss medical tourism, whereby patients go overseas for plastic surgery treatment in order to save money. However, if malpractice occurs abroad, there are several barriers that make it difficult for patients to recover damages. I explain these legal barriers and then discuss the possible causes of action patients can have over their "domestic physician" (their personal physician who might have referred surgery abroad or who gives postoperative follow-up care) and how these causes of action can create avenues of legal recovery not otherwise available. The possible liability of the domestic physician in the context of surgical malpractice abroad creates an ethical tension in the pursuit of higher-quality continuity of care, as the more involved the physician becomes in the process, the more likely he or she will assume liability.

The ethics of caring for hospital-dependent patients.

BACKGROUND: Hospital-dependent patients are individuals who are repeatedly readmitted to the hospital because their acute medical needs cannot be met elsewhere. Unlike the chronically critically ill, these patients do not have a continuous need for life-sustaining equipment and can experience periods of relative stability where they have a good quality of life. However, some end up spending months or even years in the hospital receiving resource-intensive care because they are unable to be safely discharged, despite an initial optimistic prognosis. It is hard to reliably identify these patients on admission and more research is needed to better understand the unique medical needs of this population. But the inability to safely discharge these patients to their home or to a skilled nursing facility without rapid readmissions also creates ethical implications for the physicians who care for them. The aim of this paper is to clarify some of the ethical considerations involved in caring for hospital-dependent patients. MAIN BODY: Among physicians, the care of hospital-dependent patients is likely to disproportionately affect hospitalists and intensivists, whose care is often evaluated in terms of reducing patient length of stay and readmissions. Because hospital-dependent patients' medical needs thwart the traditional goal of safe discharge, both clinical ethics and physicians' professional obligations are implicated by their care. The inability to reliably identify these patients early can complicate discussions about treatment goals and informed consent. Similarly, the tremendous dedication of limited resources to these patients without safe discharge back to the community may raise concerns about the just allocation of healthcare resources. CONCLUSION: Our current acute care hospitals are not designed to provide long-term care for hospital-dependent patients. Unfortunately, safe discharge options remain elusive for these patients. Further research and support of this population is needed to more reliably identify hospital-dependent patients on admission, better inform the discussions of short- and long-term treatment goals, and more wisely allocate resources both within our acute care hospitals and larger healthcare system.

Ethical practice in Telehealth and Telemedicine.

This article summarizes the report of the American Medical Association's (AMA) Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) on ethical practice in telehealth and telemedicine. Through its reports and recommendations, CEJA is responsible for maintaining and updating the AMA Code of Medical Ethics (Code). CEJA reports are developed through an iterative process of deliberation with input from multiple stakeholders; report recommendations, once adopted by the AMA House of Delegates, become ethics policy of the AMA and are issued as Opinions in the Code. To provide enduring guidance for the medical profession as a whole, CEJA strives to articulate expectations for conduct that are as independent of specific technologies or models of practice as possible. The present report, developed at the request of the House of Delegates, provides broad guidance for ethical conduct relating to key issues in telehealth/telemedicine. The report and recommendations were debated at meetings of the House in June and November 2015; recommendations were adopted in June 2016 and published as Opinion E-1.2.12, Ethical Practice in Telemedicine, in November 2016. A summary of the key points of the recommendations can be found in Appendix A (online), and the full text of the opinion can be found in Appendix B (online).

Should medical students track former patients in the electronic health record? An emerging ethical conflict.

Medical students are increasingly using electronic health records (EHRs) in clerkships, and medical educators should seek opportunities to use this new technology to improve training. One such opportunity is the ability to "track" former patients in the EHR, defined as following up on patients in the EHR for educational purposes for a defined period of time after they have left one's direct care. This activity offers great promise in clinical training by enabling students to audit their diagnostic impressions and follow the clinical history of illness in a manner not possible in the era of paper charting. However, tracking raises important questions about the ethical use of protected health information, including concerns about compromising patient autonomy, resulting in a conflict between medical education and patient privacy. The authors offer critical analysis of arguments on both sides and discuss strategies to balance the ethical conflict by optimizing outcomes and mitigating harms. They observe that tracking improves training, thus offering long-lasting benefits to society, and is supported by the principle of distributive justice. They conclude that students should be permitted to track for educational purposes, but only with defined limits to safeguard patient autonomy, including obtaining permission from patients, having legitimate educational intent, and self-restricting review of records to those essential for training. Lastly, the authors observe that this conflict will become increasingly important with completion of the planned Nationwide Health Information Network and emphasize the need for national guidelines on tracking patients in an ethically appropriate manner.

Finding the middle path in tracking former patients in the electronic health record for the purpose of learning.

As medical trainees gain clinical experience, they increasingly form diagnoses based on their association with predisposing conditions and clinical features rather than pathophysiological explanations. Knowledge of these associations is housed as scripts in long-term memory, and data from the expertise literature imply that expert performance is largely explained by experts possessing more accurate scripts. In rotation-based clerkships, students typically spend a short period of time involved in the care of patients and are frequently deprived of the opportunity to observe the evolution and resolution of illness and the correct association between predisposing conditions, clinical features, and final diagnosis that is required for accurate script formation. Thanks to the introduction of an electronic health record (EHR), students now have the opportunity to track former patients until the final diagnosis and response to treatment is known. Although former patients are unlikely to benefit from being tracked by medical students, this type of learning experience may help students form more accurate scripts and, thus, improve their diagnostic performance on subsequent patients. But, because the purpose of EHRs is to improve clinical care of patients, is it ethically acceptable to allow students no longer involved in the care of patients to use these data solely for the purposes of learning? In this Commentary, the authors highlight the potential for ethical conflict whenever clinical care and teaching mingle, and discuss how these competing interests can still be balanced in the face of advancing technology by applying universal ethical principles and following the advice of Hippocrates.

Ethical aspects of arranging local medical collaboration and care.

Yearly pediatric cardiac surgery missions to Ghana are of tremendous benefit to local children, but may create thorny ethical dilemmas for local clinicians who refer and screen children for the mission and who provide care to the children after the mission concludes for the year. This article presents the experiences and concerns of a pediatrician who is a local member of the Hearts and Minds of Ghana project.