Listen to me, I really am sick! Patient and family narratives of clinical deterioration before and during rapid response system intervention.

AIM: To explore patient and family narratives about their recognition and response to clinical deterioration and their interactions with clinicians prior to and during Medical Emergency Team (MET) activations in hospital. BACKGROUND: Research on clinical deterioration has mostly focused on clinicians' roles. Although patients and families can identify subtle cues of early deterioration, little research has focused on their experience of recognising, speaking up and communicating with clinicians during this period of instability. DESIGN: A narrative inquiry. METHODS: Using narrative interviewing techniques, 33 adult patients and 14 family members of patients, who had received a MET call, in one private and one public academic teaching hospital in Melbourne, Australia were interviewed. Narrative analysis was conducted on the data. RESULTS: The core story of help seeking for recognition and response by clinicians to patient deterioration yielded four subplots: (1) identifying deterioration, recognition that something was not right and different from earlier; (2) voicing concerns to their nurse or by family members on their behalf; (3) being heard, desiring a response acknowledging the legitimacy of their concerns; and (4) once concerns were expressed, there was an expectation of and trust in clinicians to act on the concerns and manage the situation. CONCLUSION: Clinical deterioration results in an additional burden for hospitalised patients and families to speak up, seek help and resolve their concerns. Educating patients and families on what to be concerned about and when to notify staff requires a close partnership with clinicians. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE: Clinicians must create an environment that enables patients and families to speak up. They must be alert to both subjective and objective information, to acknowledge and to act on the information accordingly. REPORTING METHOD: The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) guidelines were used for reporting. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: The consumer researcher was involved in design, data analysis and publication preparation.

The OxyTain Algorithm: An Approach to Airway Management in the Cannot Intubate and Cannot Oxygenate Scenario.

Although rare, cannot intubate and cannot oxygenate situations are challenging acute events. The development of management algorithms, standardized equipment provisions, and appropriate clinical training in the application of front-of-neck access techniques are necessary to optimize procedural success to ensure adequate oxygenation. The OxyTain algorithm is an institutionally developed protocol to manage cannot intubate and cannot oxygenate events. With proper implementation, this unique process aligning the cannula cricothyroidotomy and scalpel bougie as primary and secondary techniques, respectively, can potentially optimize procedural success. This algorithmic approach is trained routinely among our anesthesia providers, while the equipment is standardized throughout our anesthetizing locations.

Rapid response systems and collective (in)competence: An exploratory analysis of intraprofessional and interprofessional activation factors.

The rapid response system (RRS) is a patient safety initiative instituted to enable healthcare professionals to promptly access help when a patient's status deteriorates. Despite patients meeting the criteria, up to one-third of the RRS cases that should be activated are not called, constituting a "missed RRS call". Using a case study approach, 10 focus groups of senior and junior nurses and physicians across four hospitals in Australia were conducted to gain greater insight into the social, professional and cultural factors that mediate the usage of the RRS. Participants' experiences with the RRS were explored from an interprofessional and collective competence perspective. Health professionals' reasons for not activating the RRS included: distinct intraprofessional clinical decision-making pathways; a highly hierarchical pathway in nursing, and a more autonomous pathway in medicine; and interprofessional communication barriers between nursing and medicine when deciding to make and actually making a RRS call. Participants also characterized the RRS as a work-around tool that is utilized when health professionals encounter problematic interprofessional communication. The results can be conceptualized as a form of collective incompetence that have important implications for the design and implementation of interprofessional patient safety initiatives, such as the RRS.

Medical-setting deaths and the coroner: laws, penalties and guidelines.

We examine the law governing the reporting of medical-setting deaths to the Coroner throughout the Australian states and territories. We use a hypothetical case report to explore the different legal requirements for reporting a medical-setting death and the varying penalties that apply for failing to report a reportable death. It is important for health practitioners to understand the law that applies in the state or territory in which they practice. Knowing when to report a medical-setting death requires not only medical knowledge but also legal analysis. On this basis, we recommend the development of coroners' guidelines in all jurisdictions to assist health practitioners in complying with their coronial reporting obligations.

An evidence-based framework to measure quality of allied health care.

BACKGROUND: There is no standard way of describing the complexities of allied health (AH) care, or its quality. AH is an umbrella term which excludes medicine and nursing, and variably includes disciplines which provide therapy, diagnostic, or scientific services. This paper outlines a framework for a standard approach to evaluate the quality of AH therapy services. METHODS: A realist synthesis framework describing what AH does, how it does it, and what is achieved, was developed. This was populated by the findings of a systematic review of literature published since 1980 reporting concepts of quality relevant to AH. Articles were included on quality measurement concepts, theories, debates, and/or hypothetical frameworks. RESULTS: Of 139 included articles, 21 reported on descriptions of quality potentially relevant to AH. From these, 24 measures of quality were identified, with 15 potentially relating to what AH does, 17 to how AH delivers care, 8 relating to short term functional outcomes, and 9 relating to longer term functional and health system outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: A novel evidence-based quality framework was proposed to address the complexity of AH therapies. This should assist in better evaluation of AH processes and outcomes, costs, and evidence-based engagement of AH providers in healthcare teams.

Risk of venous thromboembolism associated with peripherally inserted central catheters: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) are associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism. However, the size of this risk relative to that associated with other central venous catheters (CVCs) is unknown. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the risk of venous thromboembolism associated with PICCs versus that associated with other CVCs. METHODS: We searched several databases, including Medline, Embase, Biosis, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Conference Papers Index, and Scopus. Additional studies were identified through hand searches of bibliographies and internet searches, and we contacted study authors to obtain unpublished data. All human studies published in full text, abstract, or poster form were eligible for inclusion. All studies were of adult patients aged at least 18 years who underwent insertion of a PICC. Studies were assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa risk of bias scale. In studies without a comparison group, the pooled frequency of venous thromboembolism was calculated for patients receiving PICCs. In studies comparing PICCs with other CVCs, summary odds ratios (ORs) were calculated with a random effects meta-analysis. FINDINGS: Of the 533 citations identified, 64 studies (12 with a comparison group and 52 without) including 29 503 patients met the eligibility criteria. In the non-comparison studies, the weighted frequency of PICC-related deep vein thrombosis was highest in patients who were critically ill (13·91%, 95% CI 7·68-20·14) and those with cancer (6·67%, 4·69-8·64). Our meta-analysis of 11 studies comparing the risk of deep vein thrombosis related to PICCs with that related to CVCs showed that PICCs were associated with an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis (OR 2·55, 1·54-4·23, p<0·0001) but not pulmonary embolism (no events). With the baseline PICC-related deep vein thrombosis rate of 2·7% and pooled OR of 2·55, the number needed to harm relative to CVCs was 26 (95% CI 13-71). INTERPRETATION: PICCs are associated with a higher risk of deep vein thrombosis than are CVCs, especially in patients who are critically ill or those with a malignancy. The decision to insert PICCs should be guided by weighing of the risk of thrombosis against the benefit provided by these devices. FUNDING: None.

Is statin use associated with reduced mortality after pneumonia? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of statins on mortality following pneumonia. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS, Cochrane CENTRAL Register of Controlled Trials, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, BIOSIS, and Scopus. Studies were included if they involved: participants ≥18 years of age; patients with community-acquired pneumonia; current statin users; and reported overall or adjusted mortality after pneumonia. RESULTS: Of 491 citations identified, 13 studies involving 254,950 patients met eligibility criteria. Pooled unadjusted data showed that statin use was associated with lower mortality after pneumonia (odds ratio [OR] 0.62, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54-0.71). Pooling of adjusted data also showed reduced mortality after pneumonia (OR 0.66, 95% CI, 0.55-0.79). However, this effect was attenuated in subgroup analysis by confounders and in prospective studies. CONCLUSIONS: Although statin use is associated with decreased mortality after pneumonia, this effect weakens in important subgroups. Only a randomized controlled study can fully explore the link between statins and pneumonia mortality.

What stops hospital clinical staff from following protocols? An analysis of the incidence and factors behind the failure of bedside clinical staff to activate the rapid response system in a multi-campus Australian metropolitan healthcare service.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the causes of failure to activate the rapid response system (RRS). The organisation has a recognised incidence of staff failing to act when confronted with a deteriorating patient and leading to adverse outcomes. DESIGN: A multi-method study using the following: a point prevalence survey to determine the incidence of abnormal simple bedside observations and activation of the rapid response team by clinical staff; a prospective audit of all patients experiencing a cardiac arrest, unplanned intensive care unit admission or death over an 8-week period; structured interviews of staff to explore cognitive and sociocultural barriers to activating the RRS. SETTING: Southern Health is a comprehensive healthcare network with 570 adult in-patient beds across four metropolitan teaching hospitals in the south-eastern sector of Melbourne. MEASUREMENTS: Frequency of physiological instability and outcomes within the in-patient hospital population. Qualitative data from staff interviews were thematically coded. RESULTS: The incidence of physiological instability in the acute adult population was 4.04%. Nearly half of these patients (42%) did not receive an appropriate clinical response from the staff, despite most (69.2%) recognising their patient met physiological criteria for activating the RRS, and being 'quite', or 'very' concerned about their patient (75.8%). Structured interviews with 91 staff members identified predominantly sociocultural reasons for failure to activate the RRS. CONCLUSIONS: Despite an organisational commitment to the RRS, clinical staff act on local cultural rules within the clinical environment that are usually not explicit. Better understanding of these informal rules may lead to more appropriate activation of the RRS.