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- Andersson, Ann-Christine
(författare)
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Quality Improvement in Healthcare : Experiences from a Swedish County Council Initiative
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Quality improvement (QI) has become an important issue in healthcare settings. A central question for many healthcare systems is how to manage improvement initiatives adequately. All county councils and regions managing healthcare in Sweden have started to work with QI at an organizational system level, to varied extents. The Kalmar county council improvement initiative constitutes the empirical basis of this thesis. The aim of the thesis is to provide knowledge about different aspects of a county-wide improvement initiative, and a broader understanding of factors and strategies that affect participation, management and outcomes. The overall study design is based on a case study.The first two studies illuminate the practice-based (micro level), bottom-up perspective. Inductively five different areas (categories) were identified. Factors influencing participation in improvement initiatives provided the basis for the next study. The result showed that different staff categories were attracted by different initiatives. The next two studies illuminate the top-down (macro/meso) management perspective. Managers’ views of how patients can participate were investigated and a content analysis of the written answers was made. Four main areas (categories) were identified. A survey study investigated all of the county council managers’ experiences of the whole improvement initiative. Overall the managers thought that the improvement work was worth the effort. To evaluate the Breakthrough Collaborative program, a survey was developed and tested. This survey was used to investigate process and outcome of the BC program. The majority of the respondents were satisfied with their work, but wanted more time for teams to meet and work. To find out if an improvement program can affect outcome and contribute to sustainable changes, interviews were made with project applicants (n=202). Almost half (48%) of the projects were funded, and of those 51% were sustained. Of the rejected (not funded) projects, 28% were accomplished and sustained anyway. The results in this thesis cannot show that the “golden mean” exists, or that a single best way to manage changes and improvements in a healthcare organization has been found, but the way QI initiatives are organized does affect participation and outcomes. The intention, from the management topdown system level, encouraging staff and units and letting practice-based ideas develop at all system levels, can stimulate and facilitate improvement work.
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| 2. |
- Bölenius, Karin, 1973-
(författare)
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Improving venous blood specimen collection practices : method development and evaluation of an educational intervention program
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: About 60%–80% of decisions regarding diagnosis and treatment are based on laboratory test results. Low adherence to venous blood specimen collection (VBSC) guidelines may lead to erroneous or delayed test results, causing patient harm and high healthcare costs. Educational intervention programs (EIPs) to update, improve and sustain VBSC practices are seldom evaluated. After testing a self-reported venous blood sampling questionnaire, the overall aim of this thesis was to evaluate the impact of a large-scale EIP on healthcare personnel’s VBSC practices.Methods: The study settings were primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in northern Sweden. Participants were VBSC personnel. Data consisted of a VBSC questionnaire of self-reported practices, records of low-level haemolysis index in serum samples (specimen quality indicator), and interviews reflecting VBSC practices. First, experts on questionnaires and VBSC were consulted, and test-retest statistics were used when testing the VBSC questionnaire for validity and reliability. Thereafter, we evaluated the impact of a short, large-scale EIP with a before-after approach comparing self-reported VBSC questionnaire of two county councils. The personnel of the county councils (n = 61 PHCs) were divided into an intervention group (n = 84) and a corresponding control group (n = 79). In order to test changes in blood specimen quality we monitored haemolysis in serum samples (2008, n = 6652 samples and 2010, n = 6121 samples) from 11 PHCs. Finally, 30 VBSC personnel from 10 PHCs reported their experiences. The interview questions were open-ended with reflective elements and the interviews were analysed by qualitative content analysis.Results: The VBSC questionnaire was found to be valid and could be used to identify risk of errors (near misses) and evaluate the impact of an EIP emphasising VBSC guideline adherence. The intervention group demonstrated several significant improvements in self-reported practices after the EIP, such as information search, patient rest, test request management, patient identification, release of venous stasis, and test tube labelling. The control group showed no significant improvements. In total, PHCs showed minor differences in blood specimen quality. Interviews summarized VBSC personnel experiences in the overall theme: education opened up opportunities for reflection about safety. Conclusion: This thesis is, to our knowledge, the first to evaluate the impacts of a large-scale EIP on VBSC practices. The VBSC questionnaire and monitoring for low-level haemolysis reflected VBSC practices. The frequently occurring near-miss markers made it possible to compare and benchmark VBSC practices down to the healthcare unit and hospital ward. The short, general EIP opened up opportunities for reflection about safety and improved VBSC practices in PHCs with larger deviations from guidelines. EIPs that provide time for reflection and discussion could improve VBSC further. Directed EIPs focused on specific VBSC flaws might be more effective for some near misses in VBSC practices, while some near misses must be changed at a different level in the system.Clinical relevance: Our results indicate that monitoring and counteracting the near misses in VBSC practices is a well-functioning preventive action. We propose that the VBSC monitoring instruments (VBSC questionnaire & haemolysis index) we used and the EIP strategy proposed should be tested in additional countries with different healthcare settings. It is suggested that a national program intended to identify near misses and prevent VBSC errors be developed in the healthcare system. General e-learning programs may be cheaper than, and as effective as, the EIP program and may be performed everywhere and any time. Systematic planning, useful for reflection and with focus on the specific elements in a skill, together with VBSC guidelines, could probably increase improvements. Our studies have led to deeper and extended knowledge of the impact of an EIP on VBSC practices. Our results can be used when considering future VBSC practice interventions. Using a model for practical skills in nursing to describe VBSC in a more holistic and less technical way might highlight VBSC as a practical nursing skill.
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| 3. |
- Åkerman, Eva, 1961-
(författare)
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Assessment and tools for follow-up of patients' recovery after Intensive Care
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to describe and explore the use and content of ICU-diaries and to develop and psychometrically test a questionnaire to detect physical and psychosocial problems for ICU patients in their recovery process. Methods: This thesis is based on four studies. Study I had an explorative descriptive design with a quantitative and qualitative approach. Data were collected by telephone interviews with staff at Swedish ICUs (n = 65) which kept ICU-diaries. One question “what was the purpose of keeping ICU-diaries” was analysed with latent content analysis, and the other data were analysed with descriptive and comparative statistics. Study II had an explorative descriptive cohort design with a concurrent mixed method approach. The sample in study II was a part of the sample in study IV in which 421 former ICU patients responded to a new developed questionnaire 3-set 4P two months after discharge from ICU. Patients from this sample who have had an ICU-diary (n = 115) responded to a questionnaire six months after discharge from ICU. Fifteen patients were interviewed about the content and usefulness of the ICU-diary. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics, descriptively by content and interviews with manifest content analysis and then combined at the interpretive level to seek convergence, as enable by the mixed method approach. Study III had a methodological design. In this study, the questionnaire 3-set 4P was developed and psychometrically tested in a pilot setting. In study IV, the questionnaire was further developed and tested based on psychometric evaluation of the 3-set 4P. In study III the questionnaire was responded by 39 patients and in study IV by 421 patients. Data in study III and IV were analysed with descriptive statistics and psychometrical tests. Results: The main purpose for keeping ICU-diaries was to provide a tool in the recovery by helping the patient remember and give time back. Keeping ICU-diaries was common although there was a difference in practice and patient recruitment among different hospitals (study I). An ICU-diary with content and photos in a chronological order describing the whole picture of critical illness and ICU stay could be a tool for the patient to construct a coherent individual story. The ICU-diary could be one piece to give a deeper understanding and meaning in the personal story and to give a realistic expectation of the recovery process. Absence of guidelines for keeping ICU-diaries could affect the possibility for the ICU-diary to be a helpful tool during the recovery process (study II). In study III, the 3-set 4P was developed to be used for identifying and evaluating former ICU patients’ physical, psychosocial problems and outcome during follow-up. The psychometrical tests showed acceptable validity and internal consistency reliability. The stability reliability was acceptable in two of three sets. The psychometrical tests of the further modified version of 3-set 4P in study IV showed good construct validity and internal consistency but it needs some modification before it can be used in clinical practice (study IV). Conclusion: Recovery can be a difficult process where different tools can be useful. Today there is no evidence about tools to use during follow-up. To promote high quality of the follow-up there is a need for evidence-based guidelines. The ICU-diary is one tool but this thesis shows that guidelines for keeping ICU-diaries have to be developed to meet the patients’ wishes in order for the ICU-diary to become a useful tool during the process to recovery. The 3-set 4P can after some modification be used at the follow-up clinic to identify the individual patient’s problems and create an individual program for recovery.
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| 4. |
- Berg, Katarina, 1959-
(författare)
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Postoperative recovery in daysurgery : Evaluation of psychometric properties and clinical usefulness of a questionnaire in day surgery
- 2010
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Day surgery has increased during recent decades in many countries and represents approximately 50% of surgical procedures performed in Sweden. Day surgery implies that the patient is admitted and operated on during the same day and discharged without an overnight stay at the surgery unit. Undergoing a day surgical procedure thereby means that the major part of the postoperative recovery takes place in the patient’s home, leaving the patient and his/her supportive network responsible for the postoperative care. Day surgery also implies that health care professionals have to adapt to outpatient care and find valid measurements for monitoring a patient’s recovery progress after discharge.Aims: The aim of Study I was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a translated version of the Post-discharge Surgical Recovery (PSR) scale in a Swedish day surgery sample in terms of data quality, internal consistency, dimensionality and responsiveness. The aim of Study II was to describe postoperative recovery on postoperative days 1, 7 and 14 after different orthopaedic day surgical procedures, as well as to identify possible predictors associated with postoperative recovery two weeks after surgery.Methods: Six-hundred and seven patients who had undergone an orthopaedic surgical procedure (n=358), general surgery (n=182) or gynaecological surgery (n=67) were included. To assess postoperative recovery, the PSR scale and the emotional state, physical comfort and physical independency dimensions of the Quality of Recovery-23 (QoR-23) were used. In addition, patients’ background data and self ratings of their ability to work or handle usual business and general health were obtained. Data were collected preoperatively and on postoperative days 1, 7 and 14. In Study I data quality and internal consistency were evaluated using descriptive statistics, correlation analyses and Cronbach’s alpha. The dimensionality was determined using an exploratory factor analysis, and the responsiveness was evaluated through the standardized response mean (SRM) and the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC). In Study II, patients’ postoperative recovery and general health were compared over time using Friedmann’s ANOVA and between surgical groups of patients using the Kruskal-Wallis test. To determine predictors of recovery, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed with the PSR score on postoperative day 14 as the dependent variable.Results: In Study I, two items were deleted from the Swedish version of the PSR scale. This was based on several low inter-item (<0.30) and item-total correlations (<0.40) and substantial ceiling effects (65%). After the deletion of two items, the Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was 0.90 and the average interitem correlation was 0.44. According to the factor analysis, a single dimension was found explaining the common variance to 44%. The SRM (1.14) indicated a robust ability to detect changes in recovery. The AUC was 0.60 for the entire scale, but varied (0.58-0.81) when the PSR score on postoperative day 1 was categorized into three intervals. In Study II, the shoulder patients experienced significantly lower postoperative recovery and general health one and two weeks after surgery (p<0.001). Significant predictors of recovery on postoperative day 14 were age, perceived health and emotional status on postoperative day 1 and type of surgery, and explained the dependent variable to 33%.Conclusions: The Swedish version of the PSR scale seems to be a consistent and valid instrument for the assessment of postoperative recovery at home in Sweden. The recovery process for orthopaedic day surgery patients differs, with shoulder surgery patients in particular showing poor recovery, which could be considered when day surgery patient education programmes are developed.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Ann-Christine
(författare)
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Practice-based Improvements in Healthcare
- 2010
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A central problem for the healthcare sector today is how to manage change and improvements. In recent decades the county councils in Sweden have started various improvement initiatives and programs in order to improve their healthcare services. The improvement program of the Kalmar county council, which constitutes the empirical context for this thesis, is one of those initiatives.The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to a broader understanding of large-scale improvement program in a healthcare setting. This is done by analyzing practitioner’s improvement ideas, describing participants in the improvement projects, revising and testing a survey to measure the development of improvement ideas and describing the improvement program from a theoretical perspective. The theoretical change model used looks at change from two opposing directions in six dimensions; Goals, Leadership, Focus, Process, Reward system and Use of consultants.The aims of the county council improvement program are to become a learning organization, disseminate improvement methodologies and implement continuous quality improvements in the organization. All healthcare administrations and departments in the county council were invited to apply for funds to accomplish improvement projects. Another initiative invited staff teams to work with improvement ideas in a program with support from facilitators, using the breakthrough methodology. Now almost all ongoing developments, improvements, patient safety projects, manager and leader development initiatives are put together under the county council improvement program umbrella.In the appended papers both qualitative and quantitative research approach were used. The first study (paper I) analyzed which types of improvement projects practitioners are engaged in using qualitative content analysis. Five main categories were identified: Organizational Process; Evidence and Quality; Competence Development; Process Technology; and Proactive Patient Work. Most common was a focus on organizational changes and process, while least frequent was proactive patient work. Besides these areas of focus, almost all aimed to increase patient safety and increase effectiveness and availability.Paper II described the participants in two of the initiatives, the categorized improvement projects in paper I and the team members in the methodology guided improvement programs. Strong professions like physicians and nurses were well represented, but other staff groups were not as active. Managers were responsible for a majority of the projects. The gender perspective reflected the overall mix of employees in the county council.Paper III described a revision and test of a Minnesota Innovation Survey (MIS) that will be used to follow and measure how quality improvement ideas develop and improve over time. Descriptive statistics were presented. The respondents were satisfied with their work and what they had accomplished. The most common comment was about time, not having enough time to work with the improvement idea and the difficulty of finding time because of regular tasks. This was the first test of the revised survey and the high use of the answer alternative “Do not know” showed that the survey did not fit the context very well in its present version.Trying to connect the county council improvement program and the initiatives studied in papers I and II with the change model gave rise to some considerations. The county council improvement program has an effort to combine organizational changes and a culture that encourages continuous improvements. Top-down and bottom-up management approaches are used, through setting out strategies from above and at the same time encouraging practitioners to improve their day-to-day work. Whether this will be a successful way to implement and achieve a continuous improvement culture in the whole organization is one of the main issues remaining to find out in further studies.
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