Smartphones

Many of the research approaches to smartphones actually regard them as more or less transparent points of access to other kinds of communication experiences. That is, rather than considering the smartphone as something in itself, the researchers look at how individuals use the smartphone for their communicative purposes, whether these be talking, surfing the web, using on-line data access for off-site data sources, downloading or uploading materials, or any kind of interaction with social media. They focus not so much on the smartphone itself but on the activities that people engage in with their smartphones

Front-Line Physicians' Satisfaction with Information Systems in Hospitals

Day-to-day operations management in hospital units is difficult due to continuously varying situations, several actors involved and a vast number of information systems in use. The aim of this study was to describe front-line physicians' satisfaction with existing information systems needed to support the day-to-day operations management in hospitals. A cross-sectional survey was used and data chosen with stratified random sampling were collected in nine hospitals. Data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The response rate was 65 % (n = 111). The physicians reported that information systems support their decision making to some extent, but they do not improve access to information nor are they tailored for physicians. The respondents also reported that they need to use several information systems to support decision making and that they would prefer one information system to access important information. Improved information access would better support physicians' decision making and has the potential to improve the quality of decisions and speed up the decision making process.Peer reviewe

Electronic Bedside Documentation and Nurse-Patient Communication: A Dissertation

Nurses are often the first members of the health care team with whom patients interact. The initial impression of the nurses’ receptiveness to the patients’ needs influences the patients’ views of their overall care. Researchers have suggested that understanding communication between individuals can provide the human link, or social element, to the successful implementation and use of electronic health records, including documentation (Lanham, Leykum, & McDaniel, 2012). Zadvinskis, Chipps, and Yen (2014) identified that the helpful features of bedside documentation systems were offset by the mismatch between the system and nurse’s workflow. The purpose of this micro-ethnography study was to explore the culture of nurse-patient interaction associated with electronic documentation at the bedside. Data were collected through passive participant observation, audio-taping of the nurse-patient interactions, and informal and semi-structured interviews with the nurses. A total of twenty-six observations were conducted on three nursing units at an urban healthcare facility in New England. These three units were occupied by similar patient populations and all patients required cardiac monitoring. Three themes consistently emerged from qualitative data analysis: the nurses paused during verbal communication, the nurses played a game of tag between the patient and the computer, and the nurses performed automatic or machine-like actions. The participants described these themes in the informal and semi-structured interviews. The nurses’ actions were observed during passive participant observation, and the audio-taped interactions supported these themes. Understanding the adaptation of caregiving necessitated by bedside electronic documentation will have a positive impact on developing systems that interface seamlessly with the nurses’ workflow and encourage patients’ active participation in their care

Positive health: The passport approach to improving continuity of care for low income South African chronic disease sufferers

Research Problem: The South African health system faces numerous challenges associated with its status as a middle-income developing nation. Wasteful expenditure and poor clinical outcomes arise from inefficient inter-organizational communication of patient information and the lack of a centralized health database. Research question: How does the experience of chronic disease patients with their health information inform the development of future health records in low income population groups? Proposition: Exploration of patient and health care workers experiences of medical records can inform their future development to enhance continuity of care. Objectives, methodology, procedures and outcome: Identification of an appropriate format, technological basis and functional design of a prototype medical record system by means of a phenomenological study conducted through in-depth interviews of patients and doctors in order to improve clinical care. Left and right hermeneutics were used to analyse the data and develop themes. Findings: Health records play a critical role in the clinics workflow processes, document the patients' management and clinical progress. They are an important intermediary in the relationship between the patient and the facility. Inefficiencies in the paper-based system lead to ineffective consultations, loss of continuity of care and discord between practitioners and patients. Improvement of the records format is required to provide ubiquitous access to health and improve patient health literacy

Investigating the Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving (CIT) as a rehabilitation outcome measure

Reliable and valid outcome measures are needed in community rehabilitation settings following acquired neurological injury. The Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving (CIT) (Su, Tay and Diener, 2013) was investigated for this purpose. The CIT is a 54 item self-report measure that provides 18 subscales and seven main scales of thriving: Relationships, Engagement, Mastery, Autonomy, Meaning, Optimism and Subjective Well-being. Participants (n=76) were administered the CIT on admission to a community rehabilitation service. The mean age of participants was 54.8 (SD = 17.7), with 43% being male. The main diagnostic groups were cerebrovascular disease (28%), traumatic brain injury (17%) and Parkinson's disease (12%). Internal consistency was moderate to high (α =.6 to .9) for all subscales with the exception of Support (Relationships) and Skills (Mastery); and high (α=.79-.93) for all indexes with the exception of Subjective Wellbeing. Correlational analyses supported the scale groupings. However, the subscales of Support (Relationships) and Skills (Mastery) did not correlate significantly with any subscales. Additionally the Subjective Well-being scale should not be calculated, but instead its three subscales (Negative Feelings, Life Satisfaction, Positive Feelings) used individually. In terms of demographic variables, there were no significant gender differences on CIT scales. Age had low correlations with two Relationships subscales only (Trust r=.23, p=.04; Loneliness r=-.25, p=.03). Diagnostic group minimally influenced CIT scores. Significant between-group differences were only found for Accomplishment (Mastery), with post-hoc analyses indicating higher levels for the cerebrovascular group. The CIT shows considerable promise in rehabilitation outcomes as a reliable and valid multi-component measure of wellbeing

Proceeding for Recent Trends in Biomedical Sciences-2018 (RTBS-2018)

Organised by Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Lovely Professional University PunjabSmt. Shanti Devi Mittal Auditorium, Lovely Professional University Punjabon 16th March 2018 (Friday