Background: The number of people with multiple chronic conditions receiving primary care services is growing. To deal with their increasingly complex health care demands, professionals from different disciplines need to collaborate. Interprofessional team (IPT) meetings are becoming more popular. Several studies describe important factors related to conducting IPT meetings, mostly from a professional perspective. However, in the light of patient-centeredness, it is valuable to also explore the patients’ perspective. Objective: The aim was to explore the patients’ perspectives regarding IPT meetings in primary care. Methods: A qualitative study with a focus group design was conducted in the Netherlands. Two focus group meetings took place, for which the same patients were invited. The participants, chronically ill patients with experience on interprofessional collaboration, were recruited through the regional patient association. Participants discussed viewpoints, expectations, and concerns regarding IPT meetings in two rounds, using a focus group protocol and selected video-taped vignettes of team meetings. The first meeting focused on conceptualization and identification of themes related to IPT meetings that are important to patients. The second meeting aimed to gain more in-depth knowledge and understanding of the priorities. Discussions were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim, and analyzed by means of content analysis. Results: The focus group meetings included seven patients. Findings were divided into six key categories, capturing the factors that patients found important regarding IPT meetings: (1) putting the patient at the center, (2) opportunities for patients to participate, (3) appropriate team composition, (4) structured approach, (5) respectful communication, and (6) informing the patient about meeting outcomes. Conclusions: Patients identified different elements regarding IPT meetings that are important from their perspective. They emphasized the right of patients or their representatives to take part in IPT meetings. Results of this study can be used to develop tools and programs to improve interprofessional collaboration.
BackgroundTo use advanced medical technologies (AMTs) correctly and safely requires both specialist knowledge and skills, and an awareness of risks and how those can be minimized. Reporting safety concerns about AMTs in home care can contribute to an improved quality of care. The extent to which a health care organization has integrated the reporting, evaluation and learning from incidents is a key element of that organization's patient safety culture.ObjectivesTo explore nurses' experiences regarding the education followed in the use of AMTs in the home setting, and their organizations' systems of reporting.DesignDescriptive cross-sectional design.Methods209 home care nurses from across the Netherlands who worked with infusion therapy, parenteral nutrition and/or morphine pumps responded to the online questionnaire between July 2018 and February 2019. The analysis of the data was mainly descriptive.ResultsEducational interventions that are most often used to learn how to use AMTs were, as an average over the three AMTs, instruction by a nurse (71%), practical training in the required skills (71%) and acquiring information to increase theoretical knowledge (69%). Considerable attention is paid to patient safety (88%) and the home setting (89%). However, a substantial proportion of the nurses (up to 29%) use AMTs even though they had not been tested on their skills. 95% of the respondents were well acquainted with the incident reporting protocol of their organization, but only 49% received structural or regular feedback on any actions taken as a result of event reporting.ConclusionsThis study revealed aspects of nurses' education that imply risk factors for patient safety. Practical training is not always given, additional or retraining is often voluntary, and the required skills are not always tested. However, the results show that nurses do have a good awareness of patient safety. Incidents are mainly discussed within the team, but less at the organizational level.
Background: Engaging families in postsurgical care is potentially beneficial for improving cancer patient outcomes and quality of care. The authors developed a family involvement program (FIP) and in this study, the authors aim to evaluate the impact of the FIP on family caregiver burden and well-being. Moreover, the authors aim to assess the fidelity of the program. Materials and methods: This is a preplanned subgroup analysis of a patient-preferred prospective cohort study that included family caregivers of patients who underwent major oncological surgery for gastrointestinal tumors. Only patient-nominated family caregivers could participate in the FIP. Caregivers received structured training in fundamental caregiving tasks from healthcare professionals and then actively participated in these tasks. Caregiver burden and well-being were measured four times (at hospital admission, at hospital discharge, and at 1 and 3 months posthospital discharge) using the Caregiver Strain Index+ (CSI+) and the Care-related Quality of Life instrument (CarerQoL-7D). The fidelity of the FIP was assessed by recording completion of care activities. In addition, family caregivers were asked whether they would participate in the FIP again. Results: Most of the 152 family caregivers were female (77.6%), and their mean age was 61.3 years (SD=11.6). Median CSI+ scores ranged between -1 and 0 and remained below the cutoff point of experiencing burden. CarerQoL-7D results indicated no significant differences in family caregivers' well-being over time. Upon discharge, over 75% of the family caregivers stated that they would recommend the FIP to others. The highest compliance with all fundamental care activities was observed during postoperative days 2-4. Conclusion: The family caregivers of oncological surgical patients who participated in the FIP exhibited acceptable levels of caregiver burden and well-being. These findings suggest that the FIP is a valuable intervention to equip family caregivers with the skills to navigate the uncertain period following a patient's hospital discharge.
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