OAR@UM Collection:

Patient satisfaction with inpatient clinical nutrition services

2023-07-17T07:16:22Z

Title: Patient satisfaction with inpatient clinical nutrition services Abstract: Patients who are unable to swallow or eat adequately for prolonged periods of time, and those who are unable to digest or absorb sufficient nutrients to meet requirements, become malnourished or growth retarded, suffer from a variety of physical and psychosocial problems, and ultimately die. With recent developments in nutritional support it is possible to improve survival and the quality of life of such patients by feeding them either enterally (using nasogastric, gastrostomy or jejunostomy tubes) or parenterally (using intravenous catheters). The increasing sophistication of enteral and total parenteral nutritional support techniques within the Clinical Nutrition Service has resulted in improvements in the clinical practice of such support in recent years. A study of patient's satisfaction with inpatient clinical nutrition service was undertaken. This survey was designed to explore patient satisfaction with current clinical practice in the management of nutritionally-compromised hospital patients in St. Luke's and Karen Grech Hospitals as the two main acute hospitals. To achieve this, the researcher used a self-designed questionnaire for the purpose of data collection regarding patient satisfaction with inpatients clinical nutrition service. A cross sectional study was carried out over a period of eight weeks where a sample of 75 patients was drawn from a total of 152 patients according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Primarily this study was intended to be carried out at Mater Dei Hospital but due to the fact that the migration date was postponed, and time constrictions to start the study were present, the study had to be initiated according to the targeted date. The collected data was analysed by means of SPSS Version 12.0. Overall findings from the questionnaire indicated that the clients were satisfied with the service. This was indicated by mean scores of> 2.0. Dimensions of patient satisfaction with clinical nutrition service also included staff interpersonal skills, nutrition supplements, perceived health benefits of nutrition care and staff personal skills. However there were patients who indicated dissatisfaction with accessibility and availability of certain equipment and nutritional feeds respectively. This was indicated by mean scores of < 2.0. Health services managers require good planning for better utilization of resources, monitoring and possible further studies in specific areas to enhance the quality of the Clinical Nutrition Service and to better meet the needs and expectations of the patients. Description: P.Q.DIP.HEALTH SERVICES MANGT.

Introduction of nurse practitioners in A&E : knowledge and attitudes of doctors and nurses

2023-07-10T07:39:17Z

Title: Introduction of nurse practitioners in A&E : knowledge and attitudes of doctors and nurses Abstract: This research study explored the knowledge and attitudes of A&E doctors and nurses on the Emergency Nurse Practitioner (ENP) in Mater Dei Hospital. An explorative cross-sectional survey design utilizing triangulation (questionnaires and semi-structured interviews), was adopted. The questionnaire sample included 15 doctors (SHOs and Registrars) and 39 practicing nurses, all working at A&E. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 6 purposeful selected participants: 3 'senior' nurses and 3 'senior' doctors. Questionnaires consisted of professional and demographic questions, a slightly modified version of the Northern Emergency Nurse Practitioner Staff Survey (Considine and Martin, 2005) and a section on attitudes, benefits and difficulties towards the introduction of the ENP role. Semi-structured interviews consisted of professional and demographic questions, questions on knowledge and attitudes on the ENP role, and a section on attitudes, benefits and difficulties towards the introduction of the role. Analysis of the data was done for each section of the questionnaire and interview, mainly by calculating median values for the Likert Scale items, and using content analysis for the open-ended questions and qualitative data. Overall, nurses reported further knowledge than doctors regarding the ENP role, however such difference was not noted amongst the interviewees. Most doctors and nurses expressed positive attitudes towards the ENP role (nurses having more positive attitudes, especially on extended roles). In fact, doctors perceived that the ENP would require feedback from doctors in certain aspects. Nevertheless, almost all participants agreed to the introduction of the ENP role, in order to improve services for the benefit of patients. Most doctors and nurses agreed that this role will 'decrease waiting times', 'reduce doctors' workload' resulting in 'a more efficient A&E service', yet most nurses (unlike doctors) identified 'resistance from doctors' in introducing the ENP role. Other most perceived difficulties were: 'managerial difficulties', 'clients' traditional view', and 'difficulties regarding recruitment and training'. The main recommendations are to: educate A&E staff on the ENP role; raise awareness amongst the public on advanced nursing practices; establish ENP's clear role boundaries; identify any resistant forces prior to the implementation process; carefully plan the change process, so as not to result in bottlenecks and failure in implementation of the ENP role. Description: P.Q.DIP.HEALTH SERVICES MANGT.

A normative needs assessment for occupational therapy services in primary health care

2021-07-15T10:33:45Z

Title: A normative needs assessment for occupational therapy services in primary health care Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate if there is a normative need to introduce Occupational Therapy services at Primary Care level. This normative needs assessment was carried out in three consecutive stages. The initial stage comprised of a postal questionnaire to the GP (n=70) employed with the Department of Primary Care. The questionnaires were posted in the 8 health centres on the island of Malta. Thirty questionnaires were received having a response rate of 42.8%. The second stage of the needs assessment was individual interview with health care professionals at corporate level (=3). The third stage of the needs assessment included three focus groups with three different categorical groups of participants. These were adults with diverse disabilities (n = 6), Health care professionals established in the community (n = 6) and Occupational Therapists running services within the National Health Service (n = 4) and in Non-Governmental Organisations (n = 2). A total of 51 respondents participated in this study. Description: M.SC.HEALTH SERVICES MANGT.

Evaluation blood donor behaviour and their perceptions towards blood donation.

2020-11-13T11:03:14Z

Title: Evaluation blood donor behaviour and their perceptions towards blood donation. Abstract: Blood donor behaviour; retaining blood donors; Altruism in blood donation, perception towards blood donation, recruiting blood donors. No entity In Malta is given permission to collect, test and distribute blood, to any of the hospitals, (state or private) except the blood bank This supply is collected from voluntary non remunerated blood donors. The objective of this study is to find out what motivates people to continue to donate blood and why others opt out. The fact that we have seen an average decline of 3 72 donors per year in the last seven years, together with a large increase in demand, made it necessary to evaluate and analyse why some people (about 6% of people between 17-60 years of age) give blood and others don't. This is necessary, if we want to retain established blood donors and motivate more people to become blood donors. Blood donor behaviour was never evaluated in Malta. Literatures were selected from international studies. A cross sectional study was conducted. The hypothesis of this study states that better recruitment strategies are necessary to retain and motivate donors. A randomly selected week was chosen and the donors attending the blood bank in Malta were asked to participate by filling out a questionnaire. In all, 189 questionnaires were answered. Only 5 participants refused to comply. Another 138 donors who decided not to donate blood again in the last two years were contacted via a fixed telephone line and a similar questionnaire was asked adding a question addressing the reason for their decline to donate blood. The blood bank in Malta was used for this project and 327 existing Maltese blood donors were asked to participate in this study. Data gained from questionnaires was analysed by means of SPSS version 16. Overall findings indicated that Time constraints, Lack of information and Fear were the main deterrents to blood donation. On the other hand, Appeals and Information together with Altruism were the main factors that participants think are the drivers behind blood donation in Malta. Graphs and Tables demonstrated in the results section gave a clear indication of what should be improved and/ or implemented to improve the existing recruitment and retention strategy thus making it possible to increase our daily collection of blood units. Inferential statistics were carried out and an unpaired T-Test was used to test for significance. In this analysis, it is evident that participants are satisfied with most of the services provided to them by the blood bank. Description: P.Q.DIP.HEALTH SERVICES MANGT.