Patient safety in Europe: medication errors and hospital-acquired infections

The Report was commissioned by the European Federation of Nurses Associations (EFN) in November 2007 in order to support its policy statements on Patient Safety (June 2004). In that statement the EFN declares its belief that European Union health services should operate within a culture of safety that is based on working towards an open culture and the immediate reporting of mistakes; exchanging best practice and research; and lobbying for the systematic collection of information and dissemination of research findings. This Report adressess specifically the culture of highly reliable organisations using the work of James Reason (2000). Medication errors and hospital-acquired infections are examined in line with the Reprt´s parameters and a range of European studies are used as evidence. An extensive reference list is provided that allows EFN to explore work in greater detail as required

Funding the Future: Resources for Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health Programs in Developing Countries

Provides a directory of over 90 foundations, agencies, and organizations that support adolescent reproductive and sexual health related programs in developing countries, through direct and/or indirect financing, technical assistance, and information

Electronic Health Records: An International Perspective on "Meaningful Use"

Examines the extent of meaningful use of electronic health records in Denmark, New Zealand, and Sweden, including sharing information with organizations, health authorities, and patients. Outlines challenges of and insights into encouraging U.S. adoption

Administrative Compensation for Medical Injuries: Lessons From Three Foreign Systems

Examines "no-fault" systems in New Zealand, Sweden, and Denmark, in which patients injured by medical negligence can file for compensation through governmental or private adjudicating organizations. Considers lessons for U.S. medical malpractice reform

Organic Food for Youth in Public Settings: Potentials and Challenges. Preliminary Recommendations from a European Study

This report contains presentations from the four explorative work packages in iPOPY. The iPOPY project – innovative Public Organic food Procurement for Youth – is one of eight transnational research programs initiated by the 11 European countries participating in the CORE Organic I funding body network. iPOPY aims at increasing the consumption of organic food among young people, especially in school meal settings but also elsewhere, e.g. at music festivals. We work towards this goal by studying how organic food as well as the organic concept in general has been introduced in public food serving settings in various countries, and what may be the most promising approaches. Italy, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Germany are the countries being studied. The iPOPY work packages explore policy issues, supply chain organization and the impact of certification, the users’ perceptions and participation in the food system, and the health impacts of organic food implementation. By June 2010, iPOPY will be completed. Hence, this report is linked to the last iPOPY seminar arranged during the BioFach Trade Fair in Nuremberg, Germany. We arranged similar seminars also in 2008 and 2009. These seminars presented the situation with respect to organic school meals in many different European countries (2008) and in more detail in iPOPY countries as well as some relevant cases (2009). Proceedings are available from the 2009 seminar (Nölting et al 2009), and all presentations from the 2008 seminar are found on the iPOPY website, www.ipopy.coreportal.org. In the seminar in 2010, we will draw a link from iPOPY results to the municipality of Nuremberg, which has ambitious aims as to becoming an Organic Model City (BioModellstadt). This includes far reaching goals for the share of organic and regional food served in public schools and kindergartens. Further, the project results will be linked to the general situation for school meals in Europe. For this presentation, no written paper is available, but we will present the slides on the website. From the project we present preliminary recommendations and conclusions from the four explorative work packages

Who Owns a Woman\u27s Body?

In lieu of an abstract, below is the first paragraph of the paper. Every hour, approximately eight women around the world die as a result of complications from unsafe induced abortions. Almost half of those who survive are hospitalized due to complications including hemorrhage and sepsis. Roe v. Wade is becoming a faded memory from the past as U.S. states place further restrictions. Abortion is a worldwide issue that needs to be addressed now. Too many women are putting themselves at risk to obtain one of modern medicine\u27s safest procedures. Not only should abortion be legalized on a global-level, but work should also be done to prevent the need of the procedure by increasing awareness and creating more sexual education programs

Perceptions of French private veterinary practitioners’ on their role inorganic dairy farms and opportunities to improve their advisoryservices for organic dairy farmers

Veterinarians could be the expected sparring partners of organic dairy farmers in promoting animal health which is one of the main organic principles. However, in the past organic dairy farmers did not always consider veterinarians to be pertinent advisors for them. The objectives of this study are – from private veterinary practitioners’ point of views- i) to describe the roles of veterinarians today in organic dairy farmers’ animal health promotion strategies, ii) to identify factors related to organic farming which determine their role on organic dairy farms, and, iii) to identify opportunities for improvement of veterinarians’ advisory services for organic dairy herds. Fourteen veterinarians, providing herd health advisory services to dairy farmers, were interviewed using qualitative semi-structured research interviews. A modified approach to Grounded Theory was used for data collection and analysis. Most often veterinarians had only contact with the organic dairy farmers in cases of individual ill animals or acute herd health problems. Even though certain veterinarians experienced situations and approaches of animal health and welfare on organic dairy farms not meeting their standards, they were not always able to establish themselves an advisory role supporting farmers in improving this. Indeed, organic production principles, regulations and farmers’ health approaches challenged veterinarians’ values on animal health and welfare and their perceptions of ‘good veterinary practices’. Also, some veterinarians considered that there was no direct economic interest for them in the organic dairy sector and that could diminish their willingness to invest in this sector. Possible opportunities for improvement were identified; for example proposing more proactively advice via existing organisations, by making adaptations to advisory services for the organic sector and/or by dissociating veterinarians’ curative role from their advisory role in disease prevention