Healthcare Quality Management: A Study on Quality Awareness among Employees of Indian Hospitals

ABSTRACT The study has made an attempt to measure the effectiveness of hospital quality management practices to meet quality performance. Keeping this as an objective, the study dealt with quality awareness which may affect the quality performance of hospitals. The study was conducted among network hospitals accredited for Tamilnadu Government Employees New Health Insurance Scheme in India. Among 514 hospitals, 490 hospitals located in Tamilnadu were taken as population size and a sample of 245 hospitals were chosen for the study using systematic sampling method. The data were collected from top and middle level executives of network hospitals. The study adopted descriptive statistics, factor analysis and one-way ANOVA for its analytical process. From the findings of the study it was observed that, larger share of the respondents profile is from clinical and non-clinical departments and mostly heads of the departments represented for the survey. The study observed that the level of quality awareness among executives were moderate in nature. The study observed that the level of quality awareness among executives were moderate in nature. Further the variable, quality awareness were reduced to two factors. These factors were used for further investigation and found that respondents profile like designation, no. of years of experience and the departments are associated with many of the Quality practices. Keywords: Quality management, healthcare management, quality awareness, Indian Hospital

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECT OF ELETTARIA CARDAMOM OIL ON CARRAGEENAN-INDUCED PAW EDEMA USING RATS BASED ON TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR α, INTERLEUKIN 6, AND INTERLEUKIN 1 LEVELS IN SERUM

 Objective: In this study, we evaluated the anti-inflammatory effect of Elettaria cardamom oil and the underlying mechanism using in vivo models of inflammation.Methods: Male Sprague–Dawley rats, 4-6 weeks old, weighing 120-130 gms are used for the study. The anti-inflammatory study of E. cardamom oil was studied by injecting 0.1 ml of 1% carrageenan to the subplantar region of the right hind paw of rats. The development of acute inflammation was measured at the end of every 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th h using plethysmometer.Results: As results from the above study, E. cardamom oil at a dose of 0.175 ml/kg was less significant than that of E. cardamom oil at a dose of 0.280 ml/kg when given orally. A p<0.05 shows a significant decrease in paw edema. It also reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin (IL) 1, and IL 6 levels in the serum. The histopathology results also showed a significant reduction of congested blood vessels with no marked impression for inflammation.Conclusion: E. cardamom oil possesses anti-inflammatory activity in dose-dependent manner as they inhibit the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines

Study of fetomaternal outcome in gestational diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND: India being the diabetic capital of the world, Indian women have a high prevalence of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus(16.5%). It can cause a wide range of complications as well as long term implications in both the mother and fetus. A large proportion of women also progress to become overt diabetics in the future hampering with their quality of life by causing morbidity in various forms. AIM OF THE STUDY: To study the fetomaternal outcome in women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus at Chengalpattu Medical College, Chengalpattu and the incidence of glucose intolerance in these women during the postpartum period. METHOD: All patients attending the antenatal OPD at Chengalpattu Medical College were offered a 75g Glucose Challenge Test and 400 patients diagnosed with GDM were included in the study from October 2016 - September 2017 for a period of one year. Fetomaternal complications were studied and postpartum follow up was done in these patients. RESULTS: Out of these 400 women, 49% delivered via LSCS, 46% via labor naturalis and 5% via instrumental delivery. 59.5% were on insulin and 40.5% were treated with meal plan. Pre-eclampsia complicating pregnancy was seen in 26%, polyhydramnios was encountered in 17.5%, Urinary tract infection in 11%, preterm labour in 8.8% and PROM in 6.8%. Adverse fetaloutcome was seen in 5% of the babies. Birth asphyxia was seen in 7.2%, macrosomia in 13%, shoulder dystocia in 1.8%.5.2% of the babies had congenital anomalies. In the postapartum follow up at 6 weeks 22.8% of the study population were glucose intolerant (75g OGTT). CONCLUSION: Early detection and prompt management of this condition can tremendously reduce the short term and long term complications in both the mother and fetus

Optimization of a horizontal axis marine current turbine via surrogate models

Flow through a scaled horizontal axis marine current turbine was numerically simulated after validation and the turbine design was optimized. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code Ansys-CFX 16.1 for numerical modeling, an in-house blade element momentum (BEM) code for analytical modeling and an in-house surrogate-based optimization (SBO) code were used to find an optimal turbine design. The blade-pitch angle (θ) and the number of rotor blades (NR) were taken as design variables. A single objective optimization approach was utilized in the present work. The defined objective function was the turbine’s power coefficient (CP). A 3x3 full-factorial sampling technique was used to define the sample space. This sampling technique gave different turbine designs, which were further evaluated for the objective function by solving the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS). Finally, the SBO technique with search algorithm produced an optimal design. It is found that the optimal design has improved the objective function by 26.5%. This article presents the solution approach, analysis of the turbine flow field and the predictability of various surrogate based techniques

CRITICAL REVIEW ON AGASTHYAHAREETAKI AVALEHA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SWASAHARA KARMA

Respiratory disorders are one of the leading causes of morbidity worldwide. In Ayurvedic classics many poly herbal preparations are mentioned for curing respiratory disorders. Agasthyahareetaki avaleha is one such formulation mentioned in classical text books specially indicated for curing Swasa, Kasa, Vishamajvara etc. A detailed literature survey has been conducted to explore the probable mode of action of Agasthyahareetaki Avaleha in Swasa Roga. Most of the ingredients are having anti asthmatic, anti-inflammatory, immune modulator and antimicrobial activities may works on respiratory pathology. Apart from this Katu, Tikta Rasa, Ruksa, Lagu Guna and Kaphavata hara, Swasa- Kasa- Sopha Hara property of ingredients will hamper the pathology of Swasaroga

Effectiveness of Aromatherapy on Arthralgia among menopausal women in Gandhinagar at Pechiparai Panchayat, Kanyakumari District

INTRODUCTION: Arthralgia is experienced by more than half of the women around the time of menopause. The cause of joint pain in postmenopausal women can be difficult to determine as period of menopause coincide with using incidence of chronic rheumatic condition such as Osteoarthritis prevalence of Arthralgia does appear to increase in women with menopausal transition. So it is the nurse’s responsibility to help the women to overcome the Arthralgia related to menopause to lead a healthy life. This can be achieved by Pharmacological as well as non pharmacological measures. OBJECTIVES: The overall objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of aromatherapy massage on Arthralgia among menopausal women. METHODOLOGY: The research design selected for the study was Quasi experimental pre test post test control group design with 60 samples by adopting purposive sampling technique. Among the sixty samples, thirty were assigned to the experimental group and thirty to the control group.” Numerical rating scale for pain was used for assessing the Arthralgia among menopausal women. Both the groups were pre tested. After pre testing only the experimental group was given aromatherapy massage three times in a week for one month. Outcome were measured using the same tool for both the groups after one month. The pre and post test data were analysed using inferential and descriptive statistics. MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY: The findings of the study depicted that the mean level of arthralgia among menopausal women in experimental and control group were 3.57±0.42 and 4.66±0.22 respectively. The mean level of Arthralgia among the menopausal women in the experimental group after aromatherapy was 1.06±1.02 and the same without intervention in control group was 5.06±1.44. This result revealed that there was a significant decrease in Arthralgia among the experimental group after aromatherapy. CONCLUSION: The study concluded that aromatherapy found to be an effective non pharmacological measure to reduce Arthralgia among menopausal women