Journal of evaluation in clinical practice
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Care pathway policies for cancer aim to reduce variation and improve the quality of patient care, and there is increasing evidence that adherence to such pathways is associated with improved survival and lower health care costs. Australia is implementing Optimal Care Pathways (OCPs) for several cancers, including colorectal cancer, but studies evaluating how well care conforms to OCP recommendations are rare. This study examined concordance between OCP recommendations and colorectal cancer care prior to policy rollout and disparities for vulnerable populations. ⋯ Prior to implementation, a significant proportion of colorectal cancer patients received care that did not meet OCP recommendations. Low concordance and inequities for rural and disadvantaged populations highlight components of the pathway to target during policy implementation.
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External review is important when developing clinical practice guidelines. Involving pharmaceutical companies may influence guideline recommendations in their favour and is therefore controversial. Our study aimed to measure stakeholder participation in the external review of the 2016 European acne guideline and assess the extent to which comments submitted by pharmaceutical companies suggested changes favouring their own products. ⋯ Participation of professional societies, patients, and the general public in the external review of the 2016 European acne guideline was unacceptably low. This is in concordance with reports of low participation of these groups in other European dermatology guidelines. While involving the pharmaceutical industry in the review substantially increased the number of comments received, many of these sought changes that would have put companies' own products in a more favourable light. Our findings underscore the need to manage reviewer comments in a robust and transparent fashion. Solutions to encourage participation of all relevant stakeholders are needed.
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Effective human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention requires a coordinated continuum of services to foster early diagnosis and treatment. Early linkage to care (LTC) is critical, yet programmes differ in strategies to monitor LTC. ⋯ While tracking clients from HIV testing to care is possible, programmes with insufficient tracking procedures are likely to underreport LTC. Adoption of additional patient identifiers in testing registers and standardized protocols may improve LTC programme monitoring and reduce underreporting.
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While it has long been supported that faculty development programmes serve as a means to improving practical knowledge, professional skills, and identity formation for faculty, significantly less research is focused on how learning that occurs in faculty development programmes is actually employed in the workplace and ingrained in day-to-day activities. The present study qualitatively explored the long-term impact of the Mentoring and Professionalism in Training (MAP-IT) programme, a longitudinal, interprofessional faculty development curriculum designed to enhance clinicians' humanistic mentoring skills, specifically nurses and physicians. ⋯ The personal and professional development instilled through the MAP-IT programme was found to remain important over time, years after participation in the programme had concluded, supporting its "durability." Implications are also discussed.
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The competence of nurses in anaesthesia care is important for the quality of anaesthesia nursing care and patient safety. However, there is a lack of psychometrically tested instruments to measure the competence. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and test the psychometric properties of an anaesthesia nursing competence scale (AnestComp) assessing nurses' competence in anaesthesia care. ⋯ The initial results supported the reliability and construct validity of the AnestComp. The scale is considered a promising instrument for measuring anaesthesia nursing competence among anaesthesia nurses. Further research with larger and more diverse samples is suggested to refine the current psychometric evaluation.