Eliminating Central Line Infections and Spreading Success at High-Performing Hospitals

Synthesizes lessons in preventing central line-associated bloodstream infections, including the importance of evidence-based protocols, dedicated teams to oversee central line insertions, participation in collaboratives, and monitoring of infection rates

Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital: Aligning Goals to Achieve Efficiency

Describes strategies to integrate with outpatient clinics and post-discharge treatment programs to minimize hospitalizations, distribute performance data organization-wide, delegate staff, and meet quality and safety standards while controlling costs

The global graduate: developing the global careers service

Graduate employability is an international issue. Students seek a higher education experience with added value in terms of employability and an international perspective. How do careers services meet the expectations that accompany these aspirations? The University of Nottingham, an established global university with campuses in Malaysia and China, attracts students from across the world. These students have diverse and culturally-specific career development needs, requiring skilled practitioners with knowledge of the global graduate opportunity structure. This article explores ways in which the Careers and Employability Services are being developed to meet a global market through support for staff and internationalised employer engagement

Intermountain Healthcare's McKay-Dee Hospital Center: Driving Down Readmissions by Caring for Patients the "Right Way"

Outlines the hospital's strategies for low readmission rates for heart failure and pneumonia, including standardization of care, interdisciplinary care coordination and discharge planning, and integration with community providers, and lessons learned

Achieving Efficiency: Lessons From Four Top-Performing Hospitals

Synthesizes lessons from case studies of how four hospitals achieved greater efficiency, including pursuing quality and access, customizing technology, emphasizing communications, standardizing processes, and integrating care, systems, and providers

Seeking a Research Method to Study Women Who Have Recovered from Trauma and Addiction that Combines Feminist Theory, Somatic Theory, Alternative Forms of Representation, and Social Justice

The following paper attempts to find an approach to research that will best suit women who have recovered from addictions and trauma and consider themselves resilient. This approach will need to combine contemporary feminist theory, somatic theory, and alternative forms of representation/interpretation. The paper will begin by exploring the connection between postmodern feminist theory and somatic theory and what they both have to say about how we embody social conditions of gender through non-verbal interactions. Research will then be examined that captures the non-verbal aspects of being in the world and how this intersects with the postmodern turn. Finally, in combining postmodernism, embodiment, and alternative forms of representation, cutting edge research will be explored that takes embodiment to the next level: social action

The Anthropology of Plague: Insights from Bioarcheological Analyses of Epidemic Cemeteries

Most research on historic plague has relied on documentary evidence, but recently researchers have examined the remains of plague victims to produce a deeper understanding of the disease. Bioarcheological analysis allows the skeletal remains of epidemic victims to bear witness to the contexts of their deaths. This is important for our understanding of the experiences of the vast majority of people who lived in the past, who are not typically included in the historical record. This paper summarizes bioarcheological research on plague, primarily investigations of the Black Death in London (1349–50), emphasizing what anthropology uniquely contributes to plague studies

Integrating Spirituality and Medical Education: What Students and Teachers Have to Say - A Qualitative Study

Aims This thesis explored the perceptions of medical students and teachers with regards to spirituality, its role in health care, and its integration into medical education. Methods Two studies were conducted using qualitative descriptive thematic analysis: the first using focus groups with students; and the second depth interviews with teachers. Both studies were carried out in Francophone Canada. Findings Teachers spoke of a concept of spirituality evolving as a journey, while students reported sudden turning-points. Both regarded spirituality as important to patient care. Students were struggling with their future physician role and their commitment to rationality, whereas teachers emphasized the central role of the patient-doctor relationship in healing. Spirituality was perceived as a taboo topic in medical circles. Barriers and facilitators for integrating spirituality in medical curricula were identified. Conclusion Both groups made recommendations for earlier exposure to patients and increased physician mentorship. A holistic and integrated approach to medical education is required