Mastitis pathogens and antibiotic resistance in beef cows in Switzerland.

Mastitis in beef cows has not been studied as extensively as mastitis in dairy cows, and data from Switzerland are lacking. Various studies have shown a similar pathogen spectrum as in dairy cows, which could not be confirmed in this study. To gather initial data from Switzerland, milk samples from 297 lactating beef cows from 31 herds from the Engadin Valley in the Canton of Grisons were examined bacteriologically.

Microarray based genetic profiling of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from abattoir byproducts of pork origin.

Many parts of pork meat processing are currently not used for human consumption in Switzerland, although they are of great nutritional value. Therefore, data on the occurrence of pathogenic organisms on byproducts is extremely scarce and the prevalence and population structure of Staphylococcus aureus on meat processing sidestreams is unknown. Hence, abattoir byproducts of pork origin including ear, forefoot, heart, intestine, liver, rib bone, sternum, bladder, stomach, hind foot and tongue originating from six abattoirs were screened for S.

Effect of a commercial steam-vacuuming treatment implemented after slaughtering for the decontamination of cattle carcasses.

To assess the antimicrobial effect of a commercial steam-vacuuming system newly implemented after slaughtering, 105 cattle carcasses were examined for total viable counts (TVC) at four different areas. Before steam vacuuming, mean TVC of the excision samples were comparable at the perineal area and brisket (3.0-3.

["Second victim" - error, crises and how to get out of it].

Medical errors do not only harm patients ("first victims"). Almost all health care professionals become a so-called "second victim" once in their career by being involved in a medical error. Studies show that error involvement can have a tremendous impact on health care workers leading to burnout, depression and professional crisis.

[CIRRNET® - learning from errors, a success story].

CIRRNET® is the network of local error-reporting systems of the Swiss Patient Safety Foundation. The network has been running since 2006 together with the Swiss Society for Anaesthesiology and Resuscitation (SGAR), and network participants currently include 39 healthcare institutions from all four different language regions of Switzerland. Further institutions can join at any time.

'New perspectives on well-known issues': patients' experiences and perceptions of safety in Swiss hospitals.

Patients' reports of safety-related events and perceptions of safety can be a valuable source for hospitals. Patients of eight acute care hospitals in Switzerland were surveyed for safety-related events and concerns for safety. In workshops with hospitals areas for improvement were analyzed and priorities for change identified.

Oncology nurses' perceptions about involving patients in the prevention of chemotherapy administration errors.

Purpose/objectives: To explore oncology nurses' perceptions and experiences with patient involvement in chemotherapy error prevention.

Design: Qualitative descriptive study.

Setting: In- and outpatient oncology units of a community hospital in Switzerland.

Women's experiences with low-risk singleton in-hospital delivery in Switzerland.

Objective: To assess maternal and neonatal clinical short-term outcomes and women's experiences with singleton low-risk in-hospital deliveries in a routine care setting.

Methods: In 13 community hospitals in the Cantons of Zurich (10), St. Gallen (2) and Schwyz (1), participating in the "Canton of Zurich Outcomes Project", trained hospital staff recorded clinical outcome data.

'Emerge': Benchmarking of clinical performance and patients' experiences with emergency care in Switzerland.

Objective: To assess the effects of uniform indicator measurement and group benchmarking followed by hospital-specific activities on clinical performance measures and patients' experiences with emergency care in Switzerland.

Design: Data were collected in a pre-post design in two measurement cycles, before and after implementation of improvement activities. Trained hospital staff recorded patient characteristics and clinical performance data.

[The LORAS project and quality assurance. In four years from input- to outcome-oriented financing in public health. 2: LORAS project outcome parts 1 & 98].

This series of three articles is a summary of the operations, findings and results of the hospital reform projects in the Canton of Zurich, termed LORAS. With the aid of the LORAS project within four years Zurich hospitals have been transformed. Whereas they used to adhere to input-oriented covering of deficits they now operate with outcome-oriented prospective financing of output.

[The LORAS Project and quality assurance. In four years from input- to outcome-oriented financing in public health. 1: The LORAS Project].

This series of three articles is a summary of the operations, findings and results of the hospital reform projects in the Canton of Zurich, termed LORAS. With the aid of the LORAS project within four years Zurich hospitals have been transformed. Whereas they used to adhere to input-oriented covering of deficits they now operate with outcome-oriented prospective financing of output.