International journal of evidence-based healthcare
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Int J Evid Based Healthc · Mar 2013
Review Meta AnalysisRecognition of the health assistant as a delegated clinical role and their inclusion in models of care: a systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence.
Assistants have been utilised worldwide in healthcare as a means to ensure the provision of adequate and efficient healthcare in the midst of increased pressures on health services for many years. This review aimed to synthesise available qualitative evidence regarding the appropriateness of strategies used to establish the health assistant role as a recognised delegated clinical role and to promote their inclusion in models of care. This review focused on how to make strategies appropriate for health assistants and professionals. Health assistants were defined as those who provide assistance and support to health professionals by whom they are directly or indirectly supervised in all healthcare and health education sectors. ⋯ Qualitative meta-synthesis was performed providing a unique perspective on the role of health assistants and strategies used to include them in models of care. These synthesised findings can be used to guide practice in healthcare organisations considering strategies for implementing the assistant role, or where assistants are currently utilised.
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Int J Evid Based Healthc · Mar 2013
ReviewWorking with interpreters: practical advice for use of an interpreter in healthcare.
The aim of this descriptive commentary is to improve communication in healthcare when an interpreter is used by providing practical advice to healthcare staff when they consider using interpreters. This descriptive commentary considered the issues of preparation and implementation of interpretation sessions to reveal the complexities and dilemmas of an effective healthcare encounter with interpreters. Using the design of a discursive paper, this article seeks to explore and position of what is published in the literature on the topic studied and on the basis of previous studies to provide practical advice on the use of interpreters. ⋯ Healthcare staff should choose an appropriate room and be aware of their own behaviour, appearance and attitude during the healthcare encounter. Good planning is needed, with carefully considered choices concerning the right kind of interpreter, mode of interpretation and individual preferences for the interpretation in order to deliver high-quality and cost-effective healthcare. Depending on the nature of the healthcare encounter, healthcare staff need to plan interpreting carefully and in accordance with the individuals' desires and choose the type of interpreter and mode of interpreting that best suits the need in the actual healthcare situation in order to deliver high-quality healthcare.
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Int J Evid Based Healthc · Jun 2012
ReviewSystematic review on the relationship between the nursing shortage and job satisfaction, stress and burnout levels among nurses in oncology/haematology settings.
To establish the best available evidence regarding the relationship between the nursing shortage and nurses' job satisfaction, stress and burnout levels in oncology/haematology settings. ⋯ Future research needs to examine the relationship between the nursing shortage and oncology nurses' job satisfaction, stress and burnout in bone marrow transplant units, paediatric oncology settings and Asian oncology settings. The characteristics of oncology nurses or workplaces that are more likely to experience negative nursing outcomes due the nursing shortage should also be identified.
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Int J Evid Based Healthc · Jun 2012
ReviewInterventions for improving coordination of reach to grasp following stroke: a systematic review.
Stroke is associated with disruption to efficient and accurate reach to grasp function. Information about treatments for upper limb coordination deficits and their effectiveness may contribute to improved recovery of upper limb function after stroke. ⋯ Randomised controlled trials of sufficient power with standardised outcome measures are needed to enable meta-analysis comparison in the future. Such studies should include both functional performance and detailed kinematic measures of hand and arm coordination.
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Int J Evid Based Healthc · Mar 2012
ReviewReliability, validity and feasibility of quality of life instruments for adult patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy: result from a systematic review.
The aim of this review was to analyse the literature critically and present the best available evidence related to quality of life (QoL) instruments that consists of all four subscales of physical, psychological, social and spiritual, which can be used in the clinical setting to assess adult patients with cancer on chemotherapy. ⋯ In this review, there was one article on development of new QoL instrument, the New India QoL tool, which has comprehensive validity examinations - the least number of items that may be useful in the clinical setting but need further psychometric testing in different settings or languages. The QLI-CV instrument has had comprehensive intra- and inter-method validation on different languages, different cultural settings and various types of cancer. However, the instrument may not be feasible because the method to calculate the QoL score is not straightforward.