Cultivating quality awareness in corona times.

The Covid-19 pandemic is a tragedy for those who have been hard hit worldwide. At the same time, it is also a test of concepts and practices of what good care is and requires, and how quality of care can be accounted for. In this paper, we present our Care-Ethical Model of Quality Enquiry (CEMQUE) and apply it to the case of residential care for older people in the Netherlands during the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead of thinking about care in healthcare and social welfare as a set of separate care acts, we think about care as a complex practice of relational caring, crossed by other practices. Instead of thinking about professional caregivers as functionaries obeying external rules, we think about them as practically wise professionals. Instead of thinking about developing external quality criteria and systems, we think about cultivating (self-)reflective quality awareness. Instead of abstracting from societal forces that make care possible but also limit it, we acknowledge them and find ways to deal with them. Based on these critical insights, the CEMQUE model can be helpful to describe, interrogate, evaluate, and improve existing care practices. It has four entries: (i) the care receiver considered from their humanness, (ii) the caregiver considered from their solicitude, (iii) the care facility considered from its habitability and (iv) the societal, institutional and scholarly context considered from the perspective of the good life, justice and decency. The crux is enabling all these different entries with all their different aspects to be taken into account. In Corona times this turns out to be more crucial than ever.

How to do (or not to do) using the standardized patient method to measure clinical quality of care in LMIC health facilities.

Standardized patients (SPs), i.e. mystery shoppers for healthcare providers, are increasingly used as a tool to measure quality of clinical care, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where medical record abstraction is unlikely to be feasible. The SP method allows care to be observed without the provider's knowledge, removing concerns about the Hawthorne effect, and means that providers can be directly compared against each other. However, their undercover nature means that there are methodological and ethical challenges beyond those found in normal fieldwork. We draw on a systematic review and our own experience of implementing such studies to discuss six key steps in designing and executing SP studies in healthcare facilities, which are more complex than those in retail settings. Researchers must carefully choose the symptoms or conditions the SPs will present in order to minimize potential harm to fieldworkers, reduce the risk of detection and ensure that there is a meaningful measure of clinical care. They must carefully define the types of outcomes to be documented, develop the study scripts and questionnaires, and adopt an appropriate sampling strategy. Particular attention is required to ethical considerations and to assessing detection by providers. Such studies require thorough planning, piloting and training, and a dedicated and engaged field team. With sufficient effort, SP studies can provide uniquely rich data, giving insights into how care is provided which is of great value to both researchers and policymakers.

Toward an accelerated adoption of data-driven findings in medicine : Research, skepticism, and the need to speed up public visibility of data-driven findings.

To accelerate the adoption of a new method with a high potential to replace or extend an existing, presumably less accurate, medical scoring system, evaluation should begin days after the new concept is presented publicly, not years or even decades later. Metaphorically speaking, as chameleons capable of quickly changing colors to help their bodies adjust to changes in temperature or light, health-care decision makers should be capable of more quickly evaluating new data-driven insights and tools and should integrate the highest performing ones into national and international care systems. Doing so is essential, because it will truly save the lives of many individuals.

Evaluación de la calidad de la atención en salud y enfermería en un Hogar de Ancianos / Evaluation of the quality of health care and nursing in a Nursing home

RESUMEN Introducción: El envejecimiento poblacional es un fenómeno demográfico de trascendencia mundial. Objetivo: Evaluar la calidad de la atención en salud y de enfermería que se brinda a los adultos mayores. Métodos: Investigación descriptiva longitudinal en el Hogar de Ancianos de Pinar del Río, durante 2013. Universo de 80 ancianos y 17 enfermeras relacionadas con la atención a los ancianos. Se evaluó la estructura, proceso y resultados. Para obtener la información se aplicó un instrumento diseñado por los autores y validado por expertos. El procesamiento de los datos se efectuó con frecuencias absolutas y porcentajes. Resultados: Existe buena cobertura de recursos humanos, siendo las asistentes para la atención de servicios de enfermería el más bajo porcentaje. El equipamiento técnico representó el 93,10 por ciento ocasionado por roturas, están los recursos materiales suficientes para atender a los adultos mayores. Existen procesos aplicados según morbilidad que aunque evaluados de aceptable se encuentran por debajo del 100 por ciento. Conclusión: La estructura no presenta insuficiencias en lo relativo a recursos humanos y materiales, lo que unido a la no presencia de problemas organizativos y de calidad de las historias clínicas, y en la instrumentación y aplicación del PAE, influyen positivamente en la calidad del proceso de atención; existe satisfacción con la calidad de la atención al adulto mayor(AU)

ABSTRACT Introduction: Population aging is a demographic phenomenon of global significance. Objective: To evaluate the quality of health care and nursing the elderly is provided. Methods: A longitudinal descriptive research in the Nursing Home of Pinar del Rio, in 2013. Universe 80 elderly and 17 nurses related to elderly care. the structure, process and results were evaluated. For information an instrument designed by the authors and validated by experts applied. The data processing was carried out with absolute frequencies and percentages. Results: There is good coverage of human resources, with the care assistants nursing the lowest percentage. The technical equipment accounted for 93.10 percent caused by breakage, material resources are sufficient to meet the elderly. There are processes applied according morbidity but acceptable are evaluated below 100 percent. Conclusion: the structure has no shortcomings in terms of human and material resources, which together with the non-presence of organizational problems and quality of medical records, and in the implementation and application of SAP positively influence the quality of the process of attention; There is satisfaction with the quality of care for the elderly(AU)

Ethical dilemmas of recording and reviewing neonatal resuscitation.

Neonatal resuscitation is provided to approximately 3% of neonates. Adequate ventilation is often the key to successful resuscitation, but this can be difficult to provide. There is increasing evidence that inappropriate respiratory support can have severe consequences. Several neonatal intensive care units have recorded and reviewed neonatal resuscitation procedures for quality assessment, education and research; however, ethical dilemmas sometimes make it difficult to implement this review process. We reviewed the literature on the development of recording and reviewing neonatal resuscitation and have summarised the ethical concerns involved. Recording and reviewing vital physiological parameters and video imaging of neonatal resuscitation in the delivery room is a valuable tool for quality assurance, education and research. Furthermore, it can improve the quality of neonatal resuscitation provided. We observed that ethical dilemmas arise as the review process is operating in several domains of healthcare that all have their specific moral framework with requirements and conditions on issues such as consent, privacy and data storage. These moral requirements and conditions vary due to local circumstances. Further research on the ethical aspects of recording and reviewing is desirable before wider implementation of this technique can be recommended.

[Accessing the sensitive part of the Being before us]. / Accéder à la part sensible de l'Être qui nous fait face.

The acceleration of the standardisation of care and the dominance of the quality approach, since the 1990s, have brought significant changes to nursing practices, the different therapeutic approaches and the 'place' of caregivers with regard to the patient. In this context of modern psychiatry which must comply with all kinds of recommendations, what is the situation of the patient suffering from psychosis, who would previously have been supported over the long term in a psychopathological process? The encounter, envisaged as an opening, is placed at the heart of the therapeutic relationship.

From protection to entitlement: selecting research subjects for early phase clinical trials involving breakthrough therapies.

Our goals are to (1) set forth and defend a multiprinciple system for selecting individuals who meet trial eligibility criteria to participate in early phase clinical trials testing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR T-cell) for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when demand for participation exceeds spaces available in a trial; (2) show the relevance of these selection criteria to other breakthrough experimental therapies; (3) argue that distinct distributive justice criteria apply to breakthrough experimental therapies, standard research and healthcare and (4) argue that as evidence of benefit increases, the emphasis of justice in research shifts from protecting subjects from harm to ensuring fair access to benefits.

Valor ético de la incorporación del estudiante de Medicina al sistema de garantía de la calidad hospitalaria / Ethical value of incorporating medical student system of hospital quality assurance

Se realizó una propuesta metodológica en el Hospital Militar Clínico Quirúrgico Docente Doctor Octavio de la Concepción y la Pedraja de Camagüey durante el año 2014 con el objetivo de argumentar el valor ético que tiene para el estudiante de Medicina ser insertado al sistema de garantía de la calidad hospitalaria. Se emplearon métodos de nivel teórico como análisis y síntesis, histórico-lógico, inducción-deducción. La vinculación del estudiante universitario al sistema de garantía de calidad en un centro asistencial docente permite elevar la utilización correcta del método clínico y provee al discente de conocimiento para que al egresar desempeñe un servicio de excelencia y alcance a reducir los errores e insatisfacciones de la población y con ello los costos innecesarios(AU)

In order to increase the ethical value integrating medical students into a hospital quality guarantee system has, a methodological proposal was put forward in the Doctor Octavio de la Concepcion y la Pedraja Teaching Clinical-Surgical Military Hospital of Camaguey during 2014. Theoretical methods such as analysis and synthesis, historical-logical methods and induction-deduction were used. Linking college students to the quality guarantee system allows increasing the proper use of the clinician and it provides the learner with the knowledge he needs to carry out an excellent service and to reduce errors making and people dissatisfactions, therefore cutting on unnecessary costs(AU)

Artefacto en «paraguas» por burbujas en el gel ecográfico / Artifact Caused by Air Bubbles in Ultrasound Gel

No disponible

Iranian nurses perspectives on assessment of safe care: an exploratory study.

AIM: To explore the perspectives and experiences of nurse instructors and clinical nurses regarding the assessment of safe nursing care and its components in clinical practice. BACKGROUND: Safe nursing care is a key aspect of risk management in the healthcare system. The assessment of safe nursing care and identification of its components are primary steps to establish patient safety and risk management and enhance the quality of care in clinical practice. METHODS: This was an interview study, with qualitative content analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 nurse instructors and clinical nurses including nurse managers chosen by purposive sampling based on theoretical saturation. Data collection and analysis were carried out simultaneously until data saturation was reached. RESULTS: Data analysis led to the extraction of four main themes: holistic assessment of safe nursing care; team working and assessment of safe nursing care; ethical issues; and challenges of safe nursing care assessment. CONCLUSION: Identifying these four components in the assessment of safe nursing care offers a contribution to the understanding of the elements of safe care assessment and the potential for improved patient safety. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Safe care management requires the accurate and reliable assessment of safe nursing care and the need for strategies for reporting actual or potential unsafe care and errors to ensure patient safety.

Surgical innovation-enhanced quality and the processes that assure patient/provider safety: A surgical conundrum.

Innovation is a crucial part of surgical history that has led to enhancements in the quality of surgical care. This comprises both changes which are incremental and those which are frankly disruptive in nature. There are situations where innovation is absolutely required in order to achieve quality improvement or process improvement. Alternatively, there are innovations that do not necessarily arise from some need, but simply are a new idea that might be better. All change must assure a significant commitment to patient safety and beneficence. Innovation would ideally enhance patient care quality and disease outcomes, as well stimulate and facilitate further innovation. The tensions between innovative advancement and patient safety, risk and reward, and demonstrated effectiveness versus speculative added value have created a contemporary "surgical conundrum" that must be resolved by a delicate balance assuring optimal patient/provider outcomes. This article will explore this delicate balance and the rules that govern it. Recommendations are made to facilitate surgical innovation through clinical research. In addition, we propose options that investigators and institutions may use to address competing priorities.

Enhancing quality and integrity in biomedical research in Africa: an international call for greater focus, investment and standardisation in capacity strengthening for frontline staff.

The integrity of biomedical research depends heavily on the quality of research data collected. In turn, data quality depends on processes of data collection, a task undertaken by frontline research staff in many research programmes in Africa and elsewhere. These frontline research staff often have additional responsibilities including translating and communicating research in local languages, seeking informed consent for study participation and maintaining supportive relationships between research institutions and study participants and wider communities. The level of skills that fieldworkers need to undertake these responsibilities clearly affects the quality of data collected, the ethics of research 'on the ground' and the short and long term acceptability of research.We organised an international workshop in Kenya in July 2014 to discuss the role of frontline staff in scientific research. A total of 25 field managers from 9 African countries and the UK met for 2.5 days to discuss the relationship between data quality and institutional performance management systems and how they affect career progression and supportive supervision policies of research frontline staff.From this workshop, and supporting an expanding literature on the role of fieldworkers in international health research, participants agreed that fieldworkers' roles present them with practical and ethical challenges that their routine training does not adequately prepare them for. We argue that the common and complex challenges facing fieldworkers should in part be addressed through increased investment and collaborative agreements across types of research institutions in Africa. We call for standardization of core elements of training for this critically important cadre of research staff who perform similar roles and encounter similar challenges in many African settings. Although many valuable training elements are offered in institutions, there is a need to develop broader, more grounded and innovative strategies to address complex realities for fieldworkers, and support the integrity and ethics of health research in these settings.

Development and oversight of ethical health promotion quality assurance and evaluation activities involving human participants.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: This paper considers the role of ethics and ethics review processes in the development of health promotion quality assurance and evaluation activities involving human participants. CONTENT: The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research and associated documents provide the framework for the ethical conduct and independent review of research (including quality assurance and evaluation) involving humans in Australia. Identifying the level of risk to which participants may be exposed by participation in quality assurance and evaluation activities is essential for health promotion workers undertaking such activities. Organisations can establish processes other than review by a Human Research Ethics Committee for negligible and low risk research activities. Health promotion quality assurance and evaluation activities often involve negligible and low risk to participants. Seven triggers that indicate the need for ethics review of quality assurance and evaluation activities and a procedural checklist for developing ethical quality assurance and evaluation activities are provided. CONCLUSION: Health promotion workers should be familiar with the NHMRC's National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. When ethical considerations underpin the planning and conduct of all quality assurance and evaluation from the very beginning, the activity is the better for it, independent 'ethics approval' can mostly be secured without much trouble and workers' frustration levels are reduced. So what? Health promotion quality assurance and evaluation activities must be ethically justified. Health promotion workers should be familiar with the NHMRC's National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research and should use it when developing health promotion quality assurance and evaluation activities.

Ethical oversight in quality improvement and quality improvement research: new approaches to promote a learning health care system.

BACKGROUND: Institutional review boards (IRBs) distinguish health care quality improvement (QI) and health care quality improvement research (QIR) based primarily on the rigor of the methods used and the purported generalizability of the knowledge gained. Neither of these criteria holds up upon scrutiny. Rather, this apparently false dichotomy may foster under-protection of participants in QI projects and over-protection of participants within QIR. DISCUSSION: Minimal risk projects should entail minimal oversight including waivers for informed consent for both QI and QIR projects. Minimizing the burdens of conducting QIR, while ensuring minimal safeguards for QI projects, is needed to restore this imbalance in oversight. Potentially, such ethical oversight could be provided by the integration of Institutional Review Boards and Clinical Ethical Committees, using a more integrated and streamlined approach such as a two-step process involving a screening review, followed by a review by committee trained in QIR. Standards for such ethical review and training in these standards, coupled with rapid review cycles, could facilitate an appropriate level of oversight within the context of creating and sustaining learning health care systems. We argue that QI and QIR are not reliably distinguishable. We advocate for approaches that improve protections for QI participants while minimizing over-protection for participants in QIR through reasonable ethical oversight that aligns risk to participants in both QI and QIR with the needs of a learning health care system.

Inernational research in health care management: its need in the 21st century, methodological challenges, ethical issues, pitfalls, and practicalities.

PURPOSE: This commentary argues in favor of international research in the 21st century. Advances in technology, science, communication, transport, and infrastructure have transformed the world into a global village. Industries have increasingly adopted globalization strategies. Likewise, the health sector is more internationalized whereby comparisons between diverse health systems, international best practices, international benchmarking, cross-border health care, and cross-cultural issues have become important subjects in the health care literature. The focus has now turned to international, collaborative, cross-national, and cross-cultural research, which is by far more demanding than domestic studies. In this commentary, we explore the methodological challenges, ethical issues, pitfalls, and practicalities within international research and offer possible solutions to address them. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The commentary synthesizes contributions from four scholars in the field of health care management, who came together during the annual meeting of the Academy of Management to discuss with members of the Health Care Management Division the challenges of international research. FINDINGS: International research is worth pursuing; however, it calls for scholarly attention to key methodological and ethical issues for its success. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This commentary addresses salient issues pertaining to international research in one comprehensive account.