Working together to make Indigenous health care curricula everybody's business: a graduate attribute teaching innovation report.

Previously there has been commitment to the idea that Indigenous curricula should be taught by Indigenous academic staff, whereas now there is increasing recognition of the need for all academic staff to have confidence in enabling Indigenous cultural competency for nursing and other health professional students. In this way, Indigenous content can be threaded throughout a curriculum and raised in many teaching and learning situations, rather than being siloed into particular subjects and with particular staff. There are many sensitivities around this change, with potential implications for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students and staff, and for the quality of teaching and learning experiences. This paper reports on a collaborative process that was used to reconceptualise how Indigenous health care curricula would be positioned throughout a programme and who would or could work with students in this area. Effective leadership, establishing a truly collaborative environment, acknowledging fears and perceived inadequacies, and creating safe spaces for sharing and learning were crucial in effecting this change.

Developing a social enterprise through right to request.

The 'right to request' the authority to run healthcare services was introduced by the previous government so that staff can respond to the needs of local communities by setting up social enterprises. This article explains how the right to request works in practice by describing how a social enterprise was set up in Bromley, Kent.

Impact of an educational intervention on eye gaze behaviour in retinal image interpretation by consultant and trainee ophthalmologists.

This study uses eye-tracking technology to assess the differences in gaze behaviours between ophthalmologists of different experience levels while interpreting retinal images of diabetic retinopathy. The differences in gaze behaviours before and after a teaching intervention which introduced a suggested search strategy is also investigated. A total of 9 trainees and 10 consultant ophthalmologists interpreted six retinal images. They were then shown a 5-min tutorial that demonstrated a search strategy. This was followed by six further retinal image interpretations. Participants completed questionnaires indicating clinical signs seen, appropriate retinopathy grade, and confidence. Eye movements were tracked during each interpretation.Overall, trainees compared to consultants demonstrated more uncertain and unstructured gaze behaviours. Trainee eye gaze metrics included: longer interpretation time, 36.5 s (SD = 6.2 vs. 31.4 s) (SD = 4.2) (p = 0.024), higher visit count, 17.38 visits (SD = 5.13) versus 12.18 visits(SD = 2.64) (p = 0.01), higher proportion of fixation, 57.0 per cent (SD = 5) versus 50.5 per cent (SD = 5) (p = 0.05) and shorter time to first fixation, 0.232 s (SD = 0.10) versus 0.821 s (SD = 0.77) (p = 0.001), respectively. The teaching intervention resulted in more focused gaze patterns in both groups. Pre-intervention and post-intervention mean proportion fixation on areas of interest were 38.6 per cent (SD = 6.8) and 51.8 per cent (SD = 13.9) for the trainee group, respectively, and 39.9 per cent (SD = 4.1) and 50.9 per cent (SD = 9.3) for the consultant group (p = 0.01).Consultants used more systematic and efficient approaches than trainees during interpretation. After the introduction of a suggested search strategy, trainees showed trends towards consultant eye gaze behaviours. Eye tracking gives an interesting insight into the thought processes of physicians carrying out complex tasks. The implication is that eye tracking may have future use in teaching and assessment. Its use in objectively assessing different teaching strategies could be a valuable tool for medical education.

Voxelotor Treatment Interferes With Quantitative and Qualitative Hemoglobin Variant Analysis in Multiple Sickle Cell Disease Genotypes.

OBJECTIVES: Voxelotor was recently approved for use in the United States as a treatment for sickle cell disease (SCD) and has been shown to interfere with the quantitation of hemoglobin (Hb) S percentage. This study aimed to determine the effect of voxelotor on the quantitation of hemoglobin variant levels in patients with multiple SCD genotypes. METHODS: In vitro experiments were performed to assess the impact of voxelotor treatment on hemoglobin variant testing. Whole blood samples were incubated with voxelotor and then analyzed by routinely used quantitative and qualitative clinical laboratory methods (high-performance liquid chromatography [HPLC], capillary zone electrophoresis [CZE], and acid and alkaline electrophoresis). RESULTS: Voxelotor modified the α-globin chain of multiple hemoglobins, including HbA, HbS, HbC, HbD-Punjab, HbE, HbA2, and HbF. These voxelotor-hemoglobin complexes prevented accurate quantitation of multiple hemoglobin species, including HbS, by HPLC and CZE. CONCLUSIONS: Technical limitations in quantifying HbS percentage may preclude the use of HPLC or CZE for monitoring patients treated with voxelotor. Furthermore, it is unclear whether HbS-voxelotor complexes are clinically equivalent to HbS. Consensus guidelines for reporting hemoglobin variant percentages for patients taking voxelotor are needed, as these values are necessary for determining the number of RBC units to exchange in acute situations.

Unrecognized Hemoglobin Variants in the Donor Blood Supply Are Detectable in the Transfused Population.

OBJECTIVES: The US Food and Drug Administration requires donated blood to be tested for various infectious diseases to ensure safety and purity. However, testing for hemoglobin variants is not required, despite reported occurrences of hemoglobin variant transfusion and concerns about the safety of such transfusions. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of hemoglobin variants within the blood supply. METHODS: We performed a 2-part study. First, we tested all RBC units in our blood bank by high-performance liquid chromatography for the presence of hemoglobin variants. Second, we performed a retrospective analysis of hemoglobin variant testing completed for routine management of sickle cell disease patients at our institution over a 5-month period to identify cases of hemoglobin variant transfusion. RESULTS: We found that 2 of 476 (0.4%) RBC units in our blood bank contained a hemoglobin variant, and 5 of 563 (0.9%) sickle cell patients seen at our institution in a 5-month period were transfused with RBCs containing a hemoglobin variant. CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed that hemoglobin variants are present within the blood supply, and the frequency of hemoglobin variant transfusion is elevated for patients with sickle cell disease given the increased prevalence of hemoglobin variants in the population of matched donors.

Plastic with personality: Increasing student engagement with manikins.

BACKGROUND: Simulation allows students to practice key psychomotor skills and gain technical proficiency, fostering the development of clinical reasoning and student confidence in a low risk environment. Manikins are a valuable learning tool; yet there is a distinct lack of empirical research investigating how to enhance engagement between nursing students and manikins. OBJECTIVE: To describe student perspectives of a layered, technology enhanced approach to improve the simulation learning experience. EDUCATIONAL FRAMEWORK: Tanner's Model of Clinical Judgment underpins the entire curriculum. This study additionally drew on the principles of narrative pedagogy. INTERVENTION: Across ten teaching weeks, five separate case studies were introduced to students through short vignettes. Students viewed the vignettes prior to their laboratory class. In the labs, manikins were dressed in the props used in the vignettes. SETTING: The innovation was trialed in a second year core subject of a Bachelor of Nursing program in a large urban university in the autumn semester of 2014. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Following ethics approval, students were emailed a participant information sheet. A focus group of nine students was held. The discussion was digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim prior to being subject to thematic analysis. Students' comments (143) about the vignettes in their standard subject specific student feedback surveys were also considered as data. RESULTS: Four themes were identified: Getting past the plastic; knowing what to say; connecting and caring; and, embracing diversity. The feedback indicated that these measures increased students ability to suspend disbelief, feel connected to, and approach the manikins in a more understanding and empathetic fashion. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to achieving increased engagement with manikins, other advantages such as students reflecting on their own values and pre-conceived notions of people from diverse backgrounds were realized.

REM: A Collaborative Framework for Building Indigenous Cultural Competence.

The well-documented health disparities between the Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous population mandates a comprehensive response from health professionals. This article outlines the approach taken by one faculty of health in a large urban Australian university to enhance cultural competence in students from a variety of fields. Here we outline a collaborative and deeply respectful process of Indigenous and non-Indigenous university staff collectively developing a model that has framed the embedding of a common faculty Indigenous graduate attribute across the curriculum. Through collaborative committee processes, the development of the principles of "Respect; Engagement and sharing; Moving forward" (REM) has provided both a framework and way of "being and doing" our work. By drawing together the recurring principles and qualities that characterize Indigenous cultural competence the result will be students and staff learning and bringing into their lives and practice, important Indigenous cultural understanding.