A Magnet-related program has been recently adopted in the Netherlands. Support for staff nurses from nurse middle managers (NMMs) is a key component of such a program. A Bourdieusian ethnographic organizational case study in 4 hospitals in the Netherlands and the United States (Magnet, Magnet-related, and non-Magnet) was conducted to explore NMMs' supporting role behavior. Bourdieus concepts of habitus, field, and capital guided the analysis. Eight dispositions constitute NMMs habitus. A caring, clinical, and scientific disposition enhances NMMs' capital in particular organizations-as-fields. Further research is necessary to link Magnet (-related) program characteristics to various configurations of dispositions of NMMs habitus.
Objectives To determine nurse-sensitive outcomes in district nursing care for community-living older people. Nurse-sensitive outcomes are defined as patient outcomes that are relevant based on nurses’ scope and domain of practice and that are influenced by nursing inputs and interventions. Design A Delphi study following the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method with two rounds of data collection. Setting District nursing care in the community care setting in the Netherlands. Participants Experts with current or recent clinical experience as district nurses as well as expertise in research, teaching, practice, or policy in the area of district nursing. Main outcome measures Experts assessed potential nurse-sensitive outcomes for their sensitivity to nursing care by scoring the relevance of each outcome and the ability of the outcome to be influenced by nursing care (influenceability). The relevance and influenceability of each outcome were scored on a nine-point Likert scale. A group median of 7 to 9 indicated that the outcome was assessed as relevant and/or influenceable. To measure agreement among experts, the disagreement index was used, with a score of <1 indicating agreement. Results In Delphi round two, 11 experts assessed 46 outcomes. In total, 26 outcomes (56.5%) were assessed as nurse-sensitive. The nurse-sensitive outcomes with the highest median scores for both relevance and influenceability were the patient’s autonomy, the patient’s ability to make decisions regarding the provision of care, the patient’s satisfaction with delivered district nursing care, the quality of dying and death, and the compliance of the patient with needed care. Conclusions This study determined 26 nurse-sensitive outcomes for district nursing care for community-living older people based on the collective opinion of experts in district nursing care. This insight could guide the development of quality indicators for district nursing care. Further research is needed to operationalise the outcomes and to determine which outcomes are relevant for specific subgroups.
Nurse managers play an important role in implementing patient safety practices in hospitals. However, the influence of their professional background on their clinical leadership behaviour remains unclear. Research has demonstrated that concepts of Bourdieu (dispositions of habitus, capital and field) help to describe this influence. It revealed various configurations of dispositions of the habitus in which a caring disposition plays a crucial role. Objectives: We explore how the caring disposition of nurse middle managers' habitus influences their clinical leadership behaviour in patient safety practices.
Mattresses for the healthcare sector are designed for robust use with a core foam layer and a polyurethane-coated polyester textile cover. Nurses and surgeons indicate that these mattresses are highly uncomfortable to patients because of poor microclimatic management (air, moisture, temperature, friction, pressure regulation, etc) across the mattress, which can cause pressure ulcers (in less than a day). The problem is severe (e.g., extra recovery time, medication, increased risk, and costs) for patients with wounds, infection, pressure-sensitive decubitus. There are around 180,000 waterproof mattresses in the healthcare sector in the Netherlands, of which yearly 40,000 mattresses are discarded. Owing to the rapidly aging population it is expected to increase the demand for these functional mattresses from 180,000 to 400,000 in the next 10 years in the healthcare sector. To achieve a circular economy, Dutch Government aims for a 50% reduction in the use of primary raw materials by 2030. As of January 1, 2022, mattress manufacturers and importers are obliged to pay a waste management contribution. Within the scope of this project, we will design, develop, and test a circular & functional mattress for the healthcare (cure & care) sector. The team of experts from knowledge institutes, SMEs, hospital(s), branch-organization joins hands to design and develop a functional (microclimate management, including ease of use for nurses and patients) mattress that deals with uncomfortable sleeping and addresses the issue of pressure ulcers thereby overall accelerating the healing process. Such development addresses the core issue of circularity. The systematic research with proper demand articulation leads to V-shape verification and validation research methodology. With design focus and applied R&D at TRL-level (4-6) is expected to deliver the validated prototype(s) offering SMEs an opportunity to innovate and expand their market. The knowledge will be used for dissemination and education at Saxion.
Polycotton textiles are fabrics made from cotton and polyester. It is used in many textile applications such as sporting cloths, nursery uniforms and bed sheets. As cotton and polyester are quite different in their polymer nature, polycotton textiles are hard to recycle and therefore mostly incinerated. Incineration of discarded polycotton, and substitution by virgin polycotton, create a significant environmental impact. However, textile manufacturers and brand owners will become obliged to apply recycled content in clothing from 2023 onwards. Therefore, the development of more sustainable recycling alternatives for the separation and purification of polycotton into its monomers and cellulose is vital. In a recently approved GoChem project, it has been shown that cotton can be separated from polyester successfully, using a chemical recycling process. The generated solution is a mixture of suspended and partially decolorized cotton (cellulose) and a liquid fraction produced from the depolymerization of the polyester (monomers). A necessary further step of this work is the investigation of possible separation methods to recover the cotton and purify the obtained polyester monomers into polymer-grade pure products suitable for repolymerization. Repolymerize is a new consortium, composed of the first project members, plus a separation and purification process group, to investigate efficient and high yield purification steps to recover these products. The project will focus on possible steps to separate the suspended fraction (cotton) and further recover of high purity ethylene glycol from the rest fraction (polyester depolymerization solution). The main objective is to create essential knowledge so the private partners can evaluate whether such process is technologically and economically feasible.
We leven in een vergrijzende samenleving, waarbij ook een toename in ziekenhuis opnames wordt gezien. Een ziekenhuisopname heeft risico’s voor ouderen: bij 30-60% van hen ontstaat na een ziekenhuisopname blijvend functieverlies dat komt door het ontwikkelen van zorg gerelateerde complicaties die wellicht voorkomen hadden kunnen worden of ten minste vroegtijdig herkend en behandeld. Om veilige zorg voor ouderen te garanderen en het verlies van zelfstandigheid te voorkomen zijn de ziekenhuizen met ingang van januari 2012 in het kader van het veiligheidsmanagementsysteem (VMS) alle patiënten van 70 jaar en ouder bij opname gaan screenen op delirium, valrisico, voeding en mobiliteit. Deze screening zou moeten resulteren in gerichte verpleegkundige interventies waardoor functieverlies zou moeten afnemen. Of dit beleid slaagt, hangt sterk af van de kennis, inzet en houding van verpleegkundigen. Met de KOP-Q, het meetinstrument dat ontwikkeld en gevalideerd is in de Nurses and Older Patients Reducing Stress Study (NO PRESS), meet kennis van studenten en verpleegkundigen in het ziekenhuis over oudere patiënten. Verschillende geriatrische thema’s worden gemeten zoals o.a.: normale veroudering, geriatrische aandoeningen zoals delirium, depressie, dementie, decubitus, voeding, vallen, incontinentie etc, screening, passende interventies en het belang van familiezorg. Naast kennis kan met de gevalideerde Older Patients in Acute Care Survey (OPACS, ook gevalideerd in de NO PRESS) de ervaring en mening over oudere patiënten worden vastgesteld. Tezamen meten de instrumenten kennis, ervaring en mening van verpleegkundigen en studenten over oudere patiënten. Uit metingen die we hebben gedaan in verschillende ziekenhuizen en twee opleidingen blijkt dat kennis onvoldoende aanwezig is. Verpleegkundigen gaven daarbij aan dat zij graag een persoonlijke terugkoppeling zouden willen zien: ‘hoe heb ik de "test" gemaakt?’ Uit vele gesprekken met verpleegkundigen, verpleegkundig specialisten geriatrie en opleiders blijkt dat veel verpleegkundigen denken dat ze over voldoende kennis over ouderen beschikken, terwijl de KOP-Q een ander beeld laat zien. De terugkoppeling naar het individu is tot op heden niet mogelijk geweest, technisch niet omdat gegevens geaggregeerd worden verwerkt en daarnaast omdat anonimiteit borgt dat verpleegkundigen zo eerlijk mogelijk de vragen invullen. Het zou goed zijn wanneer ook op individueel niveau een terugkoppeling plaatsvindt die inzicht geeft in het kennis niveau (tekorten), de ervaring en de eigen mening over de oudere patiënten. Inzicht in eigen score en vooral in wat men goed weet en wat nog onvoldoende is, is een belangrijke eerste stap om te kunnen leren en de kennis te verbeteren. De individuele score leidt tot een scholingsadvies op maat, bijvoorbeeld door het linken (doorverwijzen) naar schriftelijke informatie, het tonen van beeldmateriaal en een opdracht om binnen de eigen instelling op zoek te gaan naar antwoorden. Om een individuele terugkoppeling te geven die privacy waarborgt en in een vervolg voorziet is een webapplicatie nodig. In deze applicatie kunnen de KOP-Q en OPACS vragen beantwoord worden door de individuele verpleegkundige die op basis van haar uitslag direct op individueel niveau een terugkoppeling met aanwijzingen voor het verbeteren van de zwakke punten ontvangt. Dit zou een aanwinst zijn voor zowel de beroepspraktijk als voor het beroeps onderwijs.