A qualitative systematic review of the impact of hearing on quality of life.

Purpose: Hearing loss, deafness, and other hearing-related conditions can significantly impact quality of life; numerous qualitative studies have sought to describe these impacts. Synthesis of these findings may provide additional or more robust insights.

Methods: A qualitative systematic review of studies reporting qualitative data relating to the impact of hearing problems on adults' health-related quality of life.

Ethics and the co-production of knowledge.

There is an increasing focus on co-production in public health research. By their very nature, such research endeavours involve a different set of relationships, goals, and values than traditional research. To date, ethical issues that arise during the co-production process are dealt with on an ad hoc and case-by-case basis.

Criteria for developing, assessing and selecting candidate EQ-5D bolt-ons.

Purpose: 'Bolt-on' dimensions are additional items added to multi-attribute utility instruments (MAUIs) such as EQ-5D that measure constructs not included in the core descriptive system. The use of bolt-ons has been proposed to improve the content validity and responsiveness of the descriptive system in certain settings and health conditions. EQ-5D bolt-ons serve a particular purpose and thus satisfy a certain set of criteria.

Evaluation of the Victorian Healthy Homes Program: protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: The evaluation of the Victorian Healthy Homes Program (VHHP) will generate evidence about the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of home upgrades to improve thermal comfort, reduce energy use and produce health and economic benefits to vulnerable households in Victoria, Australia.

Methods And Analysis: The VHHP evaluation will use a staggered, parallel group clustered randomised controlled trial to test the home energy intervention in 1000 households. All households will receive the intervention either before (intervention group) or after (control group) winter (defined as 22 June to 21 September).

Meta-research: justifying career disruption in funding applications, a survey of Australian researchers.

Background: When researchers' careers are disrupted by life events - such as illness or childbirth - they often need to take extended time off. This creates a gap in their research output that can reduce their chances of winning funding. In Australia, applicants can disclose their career disruptions and peer reviewers are instructed to make appropriate adjustments.

Midwives and Liability: Results of the 2018 National Midwives and Liability Survey.

Introduction: This is the third national survey about the incidence of midwifery involvement in malpractice litigation, case outcome, methods of coping, and the influence of fear of liability or actual litigation on midwifery practice and professional liability insurance. Incidence of disciplinary action was also included.

Methods: A link to a web-based survey was sent to all American College of Nurse-Midwives members with an active email address in January 2018.

American College of Nurse-Midwives Clinical Bulletin Number 18: Induction of Labor.

Induction of labor is an increasingly common component of intrapartum care in the United States. This rise is fueled by a nationwide escalation in both medically indicated and elective inductions at or beyond term, supported by recent research showing some benefits of induction over expectant management. However, induction of labor medicalizes the birth experience and may lead to a complex cascade of interventions.

Review of Evidence-Based Methods for Successful Labor Induction.

Induction of labor is increasingly a common component of the intrapartum care. Knowledge of the current evidence on methods of labor induction is an essential component of shared decision-making to determine which induction method meets an individual's health needs and personal preferences. This article provides a review of the current research evidence on labor induction methods, including cervical ripening techniques, and contraction stimulation techniques.

A cross sectional study of organizational factors and their impact on job satisfaction and emotional burnout in a group of Australian nurses: infection control practitioners.

Background: Infection control practitioners (ICPs) are a group of specialized nurses fundamental to effective healthcare infection prevention and control initiatives. Relative to other groups of nurses much less is known about their working conditions. Organizational factors may impact ICPs' levels of job dissatisfaction and emotional job burnout and, subsequently, their quality of practice.

Improving Nurse Self-Efficacy and Increasing Continuous Labor Support With the Promoting Comfort in Labor Safety Bundle.

Objective: To increase nurse self-efficacy and the use of continuous labor support and to reduce the rate of primary cesareans among nulliparous women with low-risk pregnancies by implementing the Promoting Comfort in Labor safety bundle.

Design: A quality improvement project with a pre-post practice implementation design. This practice change was part of the Reducing Primary Cesarean Learning Collaborative from the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

Patient-Reported Experiences After Hysterectomy: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Views of Over 2300 Women.

Objective: To evaluate women's experiences after hysterectomy and predictors of their contentment and regret with the surgical approaches.

Methods: Cross-sectional, Patient-Reported Experience Measures survey in 2319 Australian women aged 21 to 90 years (median age of 52 years) who had received hysterectomy in the preceding 2 years.

Results: Overall, the vast majority of women (>96%) did not regret having had the hysterectomy.

Cost-effectiveness of an Environmental Cleaning Bundle for Reducing Healthcare-associated Infections.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) remain a significant patient safety issue, with point prevalence estimates being ~5% in high-income countries. In 2016-2017, the Researching Effective Approaches to Cleaning in Hospitals (REACH) study implemented an environmental cleaning bundle targeting communication, staff training, improved cleaning technique, product use, and audit of frequent touch-point cleaning. This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of the environmental cleaning bundle for reducing the incidence of HAIs.

Applying an Implementation Framework to the Use of Evidence from Economic Evaluations in Making Healthcare Decisions.

Background And Objective: There is a need for the application of theory in understanding the use of evidence from economic evaluations in healthcare decision making. The purpose of this study is to review the published literature on the use of evidence from economic evaluations for healthcare decision making and to map the findings to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).

Methods: A systematic search strategy was used to identify studies investigating the factors that determine the use of evidence from economic evaluation in healthcare decision making.

An environmental cleaning bundle and health-care-associated infections in hospitals (REACH): a multicentre, randomised trial.

Background: The hospital environment is a reservoir for the transmission of microorganisms. The effect of improved cleaning on patient-centred outcomes remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an environmental cleaning bundle to reduce health care-associated infections in hospitals.

Clinician perspectives of policy implementation: A qualitative study of the implementation of a national infection prevention policy in Australian hospitals.

Background: Clinicians play an essential role in the implementation of infection prevention policy. Despite this, little is known about how infection control policy is implemented at an organizational level or what factors influence this process. In this study, we explore these factors and the policy implementation process in the context of the introduction of a national large-scale, government-directed infection prevention policy in Australia.

Antibiotic prescribing in primary healthcare: Dominant factors and trade-offs in decision-making.

Background: This study aims to establish dominant factors influencing general practitioner (GP) decision-making on antibiotic prescribing in the Australian primary healthcare sector. Two research questions were posed: What influences antibiotic prescribing from the perspective of GPs? How do GPs trade-off on factors influencing antibiotic prescribing?

Methods: An exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used, comprising semi-structured interviews followed by a discrete choice experiment (DCE). Ten GPs practising in Brisbane and Greater Brisbane, Queensland were interviewed in September/October 2015.

Surgical approach to hysterectomy and barriers to using minimally invasive methods.

Minimally invasive approaches to hysterectomy have been shown to be safe, effective and have recovery advantages over open hysterectomy, yet in Australia 36% of hysterectomies are still conducted by open surgery. In 2006, a survey of Australian gynaecological specialists found the main impediment to increasing laparoscopic hysterectomy to be a lack of surgical skills training opportunities. We resurveyed specialists to explore contemporary factors influencing surgeons' approaches to hysterectomy; 258 (estimated ~19%) provided analysable responses.

Changes in knowledge and attitudes of hospital environmental services staff: The Researching Effective Approaches to Cleaning in Hospitals (REACH) study.

Background: The Researching Effective Approaches to Cleaning in Hospitals (REACH) study tested a multimodal cleaning intervention in Australian hospitals. This article reports findings from a pre/post questionnaire, embedded into the REACH study, that was administered prior to the implementation of the intervention and at the conclusion of the study.

Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire, nested within a stepped-wedge trial, was administered.

Australian consumer perspectives, attitudes and behaviours on antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance: a qualitative study with implications for public health policy and practice.

Background: Consumers receive over 27 million antibiotic prescriptions annually in Australian primary healthcare. Hence, consumers are a key group to engage in the fight against antibiotic resistance. There is a paucity of research pertaining to consumers in the Australian healthcare environment.

Factors influencing women's decision making in hysterectomy.

Objective: To explore factors influencing how well-informed women felt about hysterectomy, influences on their decision making, and on them receiving a less-invasive alternative to open surgery.

Methods: Online questionnaire, conducted in 2015-2016, of women who had received a hysterectomy in Australia, in the preceding two years.

Results: Questionnaires were completed by 2319/6000 women (39% response).

Examination of the Pharmacology of Oxytocin and Clinical Guidelines for Use in Labor.

The use of exogenous oxytocin to induce or augment labor has increased in recent years. This literature-informed review examines the action of this medication and the potential associated complications, with an evaluation of current professional practice guidelines. A brief history of the use of exogenous oxytocin for labor induction or augmentation is presented.

What is a hospital bed day worth? A contingent valuation study of hospital Chief Executive Officers.

Background: Decreasing hospital length of stay, and so freeing up hospital beds, represents an important cost saving which is often used in economic evaluations. The savings need to be accurately quantified in order to make optimal health care resource allocation decisions. Traditionally the accounting cost of a bed is used.

The high costs of getting ethical and site-specific approvals for multi-centre research.

Background: Multi-centre studies generally cost more than single-centre studies because of larger sample sizes and the need for multiple ethical approvals. Multi-centre studies include clinical trials, clinical quality registries, observational studies and implementation studies. We examined the costs of two large Australian multi-centre studies in obtaining ethical and site-specific approvals.