Enhancing Knowledge and InterProfessional care for Heart Failure (EKWIP-HF) in long-term care: a pilot study.

Background: Heart failure (HF) affects 20% of long-term care (LTC) residents and is associated with significant morbidity, acute care visits, and mortality. Barriers to HF management are staff knowledge gaps and ineffective interprofessional (IP) communication. This pilot study assessed the acceptability, feasibility, and impact of an intervention to (1) improve HF knowledge; (2) improve IP communication; and (3) integrate improved knowledge and communication processes into work routines.

Managing Heart Failure in Long-Term Care: Recommendations from an Interprofessional Stakeholder Consultation.

Heart failure (HF) affects up to 20 per cent of residents in long-term care (LTC) and is associated with substantial morbidity, mortality, and health service utilization. Our study objective was to formulate recommendations on implementing HF care processes in LTC. A three-phase and iterative stakeholder consultation process, guided by expert panel input, was employed to develop recommendations on implementing care processes for HF in LTC.

Can We Help Care Providers Communicate More Effectively With Persons Having Dementia Living in Long-Term Care Homes?

Background: Effective communication between residents with dementia and care providers in long-term care homes (LTCHs) is essential to resident-centered care.

Purpose: To determine the effects of a communication intervention on residents' quality of life (QOL) and care, as well as care providers' perceived knowledge, mood, and burden.

Method: The intervention included (1) individualized communication plans, (2) a dementia care workshop, and (3) a care provider support system.

Examining the Hospital Elder Life Program in a rehabilitation setting: a pilot feasibility study.

Background: The Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) has been shown to effectively prevent delirium and functional decline in older patients in acute care, but has not been examined in a rehabilitation setting. This pilot study examined potential successes and implementation factors of the HELP in a post-acute rehabilitation hospital setting.

Methods: A mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) evaluation, incorporating a repeated measures design, was used.

Best-Practice Guideline on the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect of Older Adults.

A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify effective approaches to preventing and addressing abuse and neglect of older adults within health care settings in Canada. The review was conducted using databases searched from January 2000-April-May 2013. Additionally, expert panel members submitted article citations from personal archives.

Systematic Review: Bridging the Gap in RPN-to-RN Transitions.

Purpose: To review the evidence examining the influences of successful education and professional role transition for registered practical nurses (RPNs) pursuing a baccalaureate degree in nursing (BScN) and registered nurse (RN) licensure through RPN-to-RN bridging programs.

Design: Systematic review of papers published between 1995 and 2014 that evaluated students' education and professional role transitions from RPN to RN.

Methods: Thirty-nine papers were selected that observed or studied the change or transition in designation from RPN to RN, or its equivalent, through bridging programs and analyzed thematically according to Meleis, Sawyer, Im, Hilfinger Messias, and Schumacher's transition model.

Reality Check: Are We Truly Preparing Our Students for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice?

Many academic settings offer interprofessional education (IPE) experiences that are of short duration and situated in safe, controlled environments such as classrooms or simulation labs. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a 10-week IPE strategy that was incorporated into the final clinical practicum of a BScN program. A mixed methods design was chosen, in the belief that qualitative data would help explain quantitative data from pre-test/post-test design (n = 268).

A pragmatic investigation into the effects of massage therapy on the self efficacy of multiple sclerosis clients.

Objective: This research was conducted to examine changes in self self-efficacy, (the perception/belief that one can competently cope with a challenging situation) in multiple sclerosis clients following a series of massage therapy treatments.

Method: This small practical trial investigated the effects of a pragmatic treatment protocol using a prospective randomized pretest posttest waitlist control design. Self-Efficacy scores were obtained before the first treatment, mid-treatment series, after the last treatment in the series, four weeks after the final treatment and again eight weeks after the final treatment had been received.

Making tradeoffs between the reasons to leave and reasons to stay employed in long-term care homes: perspectives of licensed nursing staff.

Background: Turnover of licensed nursing staff in long-term care (LTC) settings (e.g., nursing homes) is a mounting concern and is associated with poor quality of care and low staff morale.

A proof of concept for assessing emergency room use with primary care data and natural language processing.

Objective: The objective of this study was to undertake a proof of concept that demonstrated the use of primary care data and natural language processing and term extraction to assess emergency room use. The study extracted biopsychosocial concepts from primary care free text and related them to inappropriate emergency room use through the use of odds ratios.

Methods: De-identified free text notes were extracted from a primary care clinic in Guelph, Ontario and analyzed with a software toolkit that incorporated General Architecture for Text Engineering (GATE) and MetaMap components for natural language processing and term extraction.

Using psychological theory to inform methods to optimize the implementation of a hand hygiene intervention.

Background: Careful hand hygiene (HH) is the single most important factor in preventing the transmission of infections to patients, but compliance is difficult to achieve and maintain. A lack of understanding of the processes involved in changing staff behaviour may contribute to the failure to achieve success. The purpose of this study was to identify nurses' and administrators' perceived barriers and facilitators to current HH practices and the implementation of a new electronic monitoring technology for HH.

A qualitative investigation into the usefulness and impact of the performance intervention zone system used in the diagnostic assessment of internationally educated massage therapists.

Purpose: Previous work (Finch, 2008) reported on the development and implementation of a safety oriented system of performance intervention zones (PIZ), which was used in the assessment of internationally educated massage therapists. The study reported in this paper explores the usefulness and impact of the system as experienced by the evaluators involved in the diagnostic assessment.

Method: This exploratory research was of a qualitative design in which data were collected during a series of individual semi-structured interviews with evaluators who used the performance intervention zone system during the diagnostic assessment of internationally educated massage therapists in Ontario.

Unsupervised grammar induction and similarity retrieval in medical language processing using the Deterministic Dynamic Associative Memory (DDAM) model.

This paper is an overview of unsupervised grammar induction and similarity retrieval, two fundamental information processing functions of importance to medical language processing applications and to the construction of intelligent medical information systems. Existing literature with a focus on text segmentation tasks is reviewed. The review includes a comparison of existing approaches and reveals the longstanding interest in these traditionally distinct topics despite the significant computational challenges that characterizes them.

The meaning of being in transition to end-of-life care for female partners of spouses with cancer.

Objective: Female partners of cancer patients are at high risk for psychological distress. However, the majority of studies have focused on measurement of female partners' psychological distress during diagnosis and early treatment. There is a gap in the literature with regard to qualitative studies that examine the experiences of female partners of spouses with cancer during the transition to end-of-life care.

A narrative study of the experiences of student nurses who have participated in the Hearing Voices that are Distressing simulation.

The aim of this study was to provide nursing students with an experiential learning opportunity which simulated living with the challenge of voice hearing. The purpose was to access understanding and insights of nursing students who completed "Hearing Voices that are Distressing: A Training Experience and Simulation for Students" (Deegan, 1996). Using a narrative research design and a convenience sample of 27 nursing students, participants were asked to respond in written format to three open ended prompts immediately following their participation in the simulation.

A Qualitative Investigation into Why the Motivation of Massage Therapy Students Changes over the Course of Their Professional Education.

Purpose: In previous research, the motivation of massage therapy students was observed to change between commencement of their professional studies and entry into practice. The change involved a decrease in intrinsic motivation (associated with altruism) and an increase in extrinsic motivation (associated with the prospect of external rewards). This paper reports on the influences underlying those changes.

A systematic approach to using case studies in health informatics education.

The complexity of health informatics (HI) projects necessitates a solid base of skills and knowledge in a variety of different fields. Case studies are an excellent way to introduce this complexity without overwhelming students. This paper makes a contribution to HI education by presenting a systematic approach to introducing HI concepts to future health informatics professionals (HIPs) and to health care professionals and administrators who need a solid grounding to participate in HI projects.