The Work of Mothering in the NICU: A Critical Analysis of Alberta Family Integrated Care Parent Journals.

BACKGROUND: Integrating parents into the care of their infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is vital for both parents and infants. Yet, parents are often not fully involved in important decision-making and care, even when practices are family- and patient-centered. Alberta Family Integrated Care (FICare) is a model of care designed to support integration of parents into their infant's care. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to describe and examine how mothers' work was coordinated by institutional processes when participating in Alberta FICare. METHODS: We used institutional ethnography to analyze written entries in Alberta FICare parent journals to show points of tension mothers experienced in the NICU. RESULTS: We illustrated the institutional activities that intersect with parental work of being present in the NICU. We argue that the journal text and the primary discourses that mothers are tuned to organize the way they knew and thought about their infant. Managing everyday NICU rules, navigating constant and unexpected changes, and the work of feeding their infant created tension. Mothers focused on milk supply, weight gain, and transition from gavage to nipple feeds. We show how mothers' activities were coordinated by practices that prioritize progression toward discharge rather than supporting them through the roller coaster of emotions and practical challenges of being present in the NICU. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This illustration of institutional systems and processes may assist practitioners to understand the barriers mothers face when caring for their infants in the NICU.

A qualitative evaluation of clinically coded data quality from health information manager perspectives.

BACKGROUND: It is essential that clinical documentation and clinical coding be of high quality for the production of healthcare data. OBJECTIVE: This study assessed qualitatively the strengths and barriers regarding clinical coding quality from the perspective of health information managers. METHOD: Ten health information managers and clinical coding quality coordinators who oversee clinical coders (CCs) were identified and recruited from nine provinces across Canada. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, which included questions on data quality, costs of clinical coding, education for health information management, suggestions for quality improvement and barriers to quality improvement. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using directed content analysis and informed by institutional ethnography. RESULTS: Common barriers to clinical coding quality included incomplete and unorganised chart documentation, and lack of communication with physicians for clarification. Further, clinical coding quality suffered as a result of limited resources (e.g. staffing and budget) being available to health information management departments. Managers unanimously reported that clinical coding quality improvements can be made by (i) offering interactive training programmes to CCs and (ii) streamlining sources of information from charts. CONCLUSION: Although clinical coding quality is generally regarded as high across Canada, clinical coding managers perceived quality to be limited by incomplete and inconsistent chart documentation, and increasing expectations for data collection without equal resources allocated to clinical coding professionals. IMPLICATIONS: This study presents novel evidence for clinical coding quality improvement across Canada.