Articles: patients.
-
BMJ quality & safety · Dec 2012
Multicenter StudyThe key actor: a qualitative study of patient participation in the handover process in Europe.
Patient safety experts have postulated that increasing patient participation in communications during patient handovers will improve the quality of patient transitions, and that this may reduce hospital readmissions. Choosing strategies that enhance patient safety through improved handovers requires better understanding of patient experiences and preferences for participation. ⋯ Patients' participation is related to the healthcare system, the activity of healthcare professionals' and patients' capacity for participation. Patients prefer a handover process where the responsibility is clear and unambiguous. Healthcare organisations need a clear and well-considered system of responsibility for handover processes, that takes into account the individual patient's need of clarity, and support in relation to his/hers own recourses.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Intensive care diaries and relatives' symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder after critical illness: a pilot study.
Relatives of patients recovering from critical illness are at risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder. ⋯ Provision of a diary may help psychological recovery in patients' families after critical illness.
-
Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2012
Multicenter StudyPhysical inactivity in COPD and increased patient perception of dyspnea.
To study patients' levels of exercise activity and the clinical characteristics that relate to physical activity and inactivity among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). ⋯ When a patient with COPD suffers from dyspnea and does not have regular exercise routines, the patient will most likely benefit from an exercise program tailored to his or her physical capabilities.
-
This study explores patient preferences for involvement in lung cancer treatment decisions and the extent of concordance between the views of patients and physicians on decisional roles. The impact of demographic and psychosocial characteristics on the decisional role of patients is also examined. ⋯ The limited concordance between patient preference and perception and between patient and physician perceptions regarding how the treatment decision was made suggests that physicians should more accurately identify patient preferences by directly asking patients at the beginning of each clinical encounter.
-
Physician assistants (PAs), nurse practitioners (NPs), and medical residents constitute an increasingly significant part of the American health care workforce, yet patient assent to be seen by nonphysicians is only presumed and seldom sought. In order to assess the willingness of patients to receive medical care provided by nonphysicians, we administered provider preference surveys to a random sample of patients attending three emergency departments (EDs). Concurrently, a survey was sent to a random selection of ED residents and PAs. ⋯ Despite presumptions to the contrary, ED patients are generally unwilling to be seen by PAs, NPs, and residents. While seldom asked in practice, 79.5% of patients fully expect to see a physician regardless of acuity or potential for cost savings by seeing another provider. Patients are more willing to see residents than nonphysicians.