Ectopic Pregnancy

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75503/1/j.1745-7599.1993.tb00880.x.pd

Can followâ up phone calls improve patients selfâ monitoring of blood glucose?

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135418/1/jocn13367.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135418/2/jocn13367_am.pd

Health Communication in Neonatal Intensive Care: Results of Focus Groups or Interviews with Parents, Nurses and Physicians

Background and Purpose: Health communication interventions to successfully promote satisfaction with care among parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are limited. This study investigated strategies for effective health communication in the NICU through focus groups with parents and nurses, and individual interviews with neonatologists. Methods: Eight parents, seventeen nurses, and three neonatologists from one NICU in Genesee County, Michigan participated. Results: Parents expressed a preference for daily, face-to-face communication with the physician. They recommended the use of visual aids to help with understanding infants� conditions. One such aid would be a baby diary to serve as the infant�s daily progress report for the parent to review during the visit. A communication strategy used by nurses was providing parents with the most up-to-date information in an approachable, reassuring manner. Physicians suggested interactive communication practice sessions as strategies to increase effective communication between physicians and parents. Physician-to-nurse strategies consisted of building trustworthy relationships by holding scientific forums, discussing health care disagreements, and accepting differing opinions. Conclusion: Future research may assess the influence of strategies recommended in this study on parental satisfaction with care and adherence to treatment recommendations as well as on health care provider self-efficacy

Can follow-up phone calls improve patients self-monitoring of blood glucose?

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of follow-up phone calls in improving frequency of glucose monitoring over a three month period in two groups of patients with type 2 diabetes with the goal to lower haemoglobin A1C. BACKGROUND: Telephone intervention has been successfully used in improving adherence to diabetes self-management and other chronic disease conditions. DESIGN: A quality improvement study. METHODS: Forty one Type 2 diabetic patients with HA1C ≥7·5% were included in the study. The patients were assigned to two groups. The first group of patients received standard diabetic care (Group 1) and the second group of patients (Group 2) received standard diabetic care plus follow-up phone calls within two weeks after a monthly clinic visit over a three month period. A haemoglobin A1C if indicated was done at the initial study visit. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in the baseline haemoglobin A1C between the two groups or the three month haemoglobin A1C of the two groups. There were no statistically significant differences in mean haemoglobin A1C change between Group 1 and Group 2. The analysis revealed that there were no statistically significant differences between groups in the number of patients who kept logs of their blood glucose readings throughout the study. CONCLUSION: The intervention using telephone follow-up calls did not show a statistically significant improvement in overall HA1C, but there was a clinically significant change in HA1C in the group of patients that received follow-up phone calls. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The clinical significance of the change in A1C in the follow-up phone call group (Group 2) supports that frequent contact by telephone may likely improve adherence to diabetes self-management