Methodological aspects in the assessment of safety culture in the hospital setting: a review of the literature.

A thematic literature review was undertaken to identify methodological aspects in the assessment of safety culture and critically examine how these have been addressed in hospital-based studies of safety culture, for the period 1999-2012. The literature search included an electronic database search (BNI, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO), access to websites of organizations dedicated to the enhancement of patient safety, and a manual search of reference lists of the papers included. The analysis of the 43 records included in the review revealed that discussion regarding the measurement of safety culture in the hospital setting revolves around three methodological areas, namely: research approaches; survey tools for data collection; and levels of data aggregation.

Diagnosis, prognosis and awareness of dying in nursing homes: towards the Gold Standard?

Background: In Western society and increasingly elsewhere, death has become medicalised and 'hospitalised' even when people are enduring deteriorating terminal conditions such as dementia and heart failure. In an attempt to rationalise and dignify the place and manner of death, evidence is emerging that the adoption of end-of-life care pathways and models can improve the experience of the end-of-life care across a range of care settings. Each of these demands skills and knowledge in the assessment and prediction of the dying trajectory.

Collaboration: a SWOT analysis of the process of conducting a review of nursing workforce policies in five European countries.

Aim: This paper critically reviews the literature on international collaboration and analyses the collaborative process involved in producing a nursing workforce policy analysis.

Background: Collaboration is increasingly promoted as a means of solving shared problems and achieving common goals; however, collaboration creates its own opportunities and challenges. Evidence about the collaboration process, its outcomes and critical success factors is lacking.

A review of nursing workforce policies in five European countries: Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Portugal and United Kingdom*/England.

Aim: Review nursing workforce policies in five European countries: Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Portugal and the United Kingdom*.

Background: Imbalances in registered nurse (RN) supply and demand is a global, significant and recurring issue that impacts on healthcare systems, organizations, staff and patients.

Method: Policy Review using resources located by a systematic search of relevant healthcare databases and policies in Danish, English, Finnish and Portuguese over the time period 2003-2007.

Evaluating healthcare education: Issues and methods.

This paper analyses the methodological issues inherent in evaluating healthcare education and considers approaches for addressing these. Recent policies have exhorted practitioners to base their practice on evidence; however in healthcare education the evidence base is not extensive. Whilst educational evaluation has advanced in the last decades, standardised designs and toolkits are not available.

Understanding eating behaviours in Spanish women enrolled in a weight-loss treatment.

Aim: To identify the beliefs and attitudes of a sample of obese and overweight Spanish women undertaking a weight-loss treatment.

Background: Obesity is a global epidemic. Weight-loss treatments focus on changing eating behaviours; however, many patients fail to adhere to the diet.

Patient safety in an English pre-registration nursing curriculum.

This study explored patient safety in an English pre-registration nursing curriculum. The need to improve patient safety has been recognised as a key priority, both nationally and internationally. Education has a crucial role in developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes that promote patient safety.

The expectations and experiences of blended learning approaches to patient safety education.

E-learning facilitates access to educational programmes via electronic asynchronous or real time communication without the constraints of time or place. However, not all skills can be acquired via e-learning, thus blended approaches have emerged, where traditional academic processes have been combined with e-learning systems. This paper presents qualitative findings from a study evaluating a blended approach to patient safety education.

Factors influencing nurses' decisions to raise concerns about care quality.

Aim: To explore factors that influence nurses' decisions to raise concerns about standards of practice.

Background: Health care practitioners have a key role in monitoring care quality. Nurses are required by their professional body to raise concerns about standards; however, under-reporting is the norm.

Evaluating healthcare education: issues and methods.

This paper analyses the methodological issues inherent in evaluating healthcare education and considers approaches for addressing these. Recent policies have exhorted practitioners to base their practice on evidence; however in healthcare education the evidence base is not extensive. Whilst educational evaluation has advanced in the last decades, standardised designs and toolkits are not available.

Nursing agency and governance: registered nurses' perceptions.

Aim: To explore registered nurses' perceptions of standards of nursing practice and factors that affect nursing practice standards.

Background: Nursing governance affects nurses' ability to manage nursing practice standards. Lack of nursing professional autonomy has been associated with occupational dissatisfaction, stress, turnover and low morale, which impact upon care quality.

Patient safety: do nursing and medical curricula address this theme?

In this literature review, we examine to what extent patient safety is addressed within medical and nursing curricula. Patient safety is the foundation of healthcare practice and education both in the UK and internationally. Recent research and policy initiatives have highlighted this issue.