Developing metrics for nursing quality of care for low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review linked to stakeholder engagement.

BACKGROUND:The use of appropriate and relevant nurse-sensitive indicators provides an opportunity to demonstrate the unique contributions of nurses to patient outcomes. The aim of this work was to develop relevant metrics to assess the quality of nursing care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where they are scarce. MAIN BODY:We conducted a scoping review using EMBASE, CINAHL and MEDLINE databases of studies published in English focused on quality nursing care and with identified measurement methods. Indicators identified were reviewed by a diverse panel of nursing stakeholders in Kenya to develop a contextually appropriate set of nurse-sensitive indicators for Kenyan hospitals specific to the five major inpatient disciplines. We extracted data on study characteristics, nursing indicators reported, location and the tools used. A total of 23 articles quantifying the quality of nursing care services met the inclusion criteria. All studies identified were from high-income countries. Pooled together, 159 indicators were reported in the reviewed studies with 25 identified as the most commonly reported. Through the stakeholder consultative process, 52 nurse-sensitive indicators were recommended for Kenyan hospitals. CONCLUSIONS:Although nurse-sensitive indicators are increasingly used in high-income countries to improve quality of care, there is a wide heterogeneity in the way indicators are defined and interpreted. Whilst some indicators were regarded as useful by a Kenyan expert panel, contextual differences prompted them to recommend additional new indicators to improve the evaluations of nursing care provision in Kenyan hospitals and potentially similar LMIC settings. Taken forward through implementation, refinement and adaptation, the proposed indicators could be more standardised and may provide a common base to establish national or regional professional learning networks with the common goal of achieving high-quality care through quality improvement and learning

K−^- Meson Production in the Proton-Proton Reaction at 3.67 GeV/c

The total cross section of the reaction $pp\to ppK^+K^-$ has been determined for proton--proton reactions with $p_{beam}=3.67 GeV/c$. This represents the first cross section measurement of the $pp \to ppK^-K^+$ channel near threshold, and is equivalent to the inclusive $pp\to ppK^-X$ cross section at this beam momentum. The cross section determined at this beam momentum is about a factor 20 lower than that for inclusive $pp\to ppK^+X$ meson production at the same CM energy above the corresponding threshold. This large difference in the $K^+$ and $K^-$ meson inclusive production cross sections in proton-proton reactions is in strong contrast to cross sections measured in sub-threshold heavy ion collisions, which are similar in magnitude at the same energy per nucleon below the respective thresholds.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures Phys. Lett. B in prin

Measurements of the reaction pˉp→ϕη\bar{p}p \to \phi \eta of antiproton annihilation at rest at three hydrogen target densities

The proton-antiproton annihilation at rest into the $\phi\eta$ final state was measured for three different target densities: liquid hydrogen, gaseous hydrogen at NTP and at a low pressure of 5 mbar. The yield of this reaction in the liquid hydrogen target is smaller than in the low-pressure gas target. The branching ratios of the $\phi\eta$ channel were calculated on the basis of simultaneous analysis of the three data samples. The branching ratio for annihilation into $\phi\eta$ from the $^3S_1$ protonium state turns out to be about ten times smaller as compared to the one from the $^1P_1$ state.Comment: 10 pages, 3 Postscript figures. Accepted by Physics Letters

Production of η′\eta\prime Mesons in the pp→ppη′pp \to pp\eta\prime Reaction at 3.67 GeV/c

The ratio of the total exclusive production cross sections for $\eta\prime$ and $\eta$ mesons has been measured in the $pp$ reaction at $p_{beam}=3.67$ GeV/c. The observed $\eta\prime/\eta$ ratio is $(0.83\pm{0.11}^{+0.23}_{-0.18})\times 10^{-2}$ from which the exclusive $\eta\prime$ meson production cross section is determined to be $(1.12\pm{0.15}^{+0.42}_{-0.31})\mu b$. Differential cross section distributions have been measured. Their shape is consistent with isotropic $\eta\prime$ meson production.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Phys.Lett.

New data on OZI rule violation in bar{p}p annihilation at rest

The results of a measurement of the ratio R = Y(phi pi+ pi-) / Y(omega pi+ pi-) for antiproton annihilation at rest in a gaseous and in a liquid hydrogen target are presented. It was found that the value of this ratio increases with the decreasing of the dipion mass, which demonstrates the difference in the phi and omega production mechanisms. An indication on the momentum transfer dependence of the apparent OZI rule violation for phi production from the 3S1 initial state was found.Comment: 11 pages, 3 PostScript figures, submitted to Physics Letter

Spin physics with antiprotons

New possibilities arising from the availability at GSI of antiproton beams, possibly polarised, are discussed. The investigation of the nucleon structure can be boosted by accessing in Drell-Yan processes experimental asymmetries related to cross-sections in which the parton distribution functions (PDF) only appear, without any contribution from fragmentation functions; such processes are not affected by the chiral suppression of the transversity function $h_1(x)$. Spin asymmetries in hyperon production and Single Spin Asymmetries are discussed as well, together with further items like electric and magnetic nucleonic form factors and open charm production. Counting rates estimations are provided for each physical case. The sketch of a possible experimental apparatus is proposed.Comment: Presented for the proceedings of ASI "Spin and Symmetry", Prague, July 5-10, 2004, to be published in Czech. J. Phys. 55 (2005

Antiproton stopping power in He in the energy range 1–900 keV and the Barkas effect

AbstractThe p¯ stopping power in helium from 1 keV kinetic energy is evaluated. Contrary to the effect observed around and below the maximum, Obelix data indicate a p¯ stopping power higher than that for proton, the difference being of the order of 15±5% at ≈700 keV. The result contributes to assert the fundamental difference between p¯ stoppings in the simplest gases (He, H2) and in solid targets below some MeV

Polarization Effects in Exclusive Hyperon Production Reactions

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478

Rho^0 meson production in the pp ->pppi+pi- reaction at 3.67 GeV/c

Total and differential cross sections for the exclusive reaction pp->pp rho^0 observed via the pi+pi- decay channel have been measured at beam momentum=3.67 GeV/c. The observed total meson production cross section is determined to be 23.4 +- 0.8 +-8 microb and is significantly lower than typical cross sections used in model calculations for heavy ion collisions. The differential cross sections measured indicate a strong anisotropy cos^2(theta^{CM}) in the rho^0 meson production.Comment: 3 figures, 11 page

DISTO: a large acceptance multiparticle spectrometer for 1–3 GeV proton beams

Abstract A magnetic spectrometer system has been constructed for the study of reactions with multiple charged particles in the final state, induced by polarized proton beams of few GeV energy. The system is based on a large-gap dipole magnet, with a liquid hydrogen target and scintillating fiber tracking detectors embedded inside the magnet. Multiwire proportional chambers, plastic scintillator hodoscopes, and threshold Cherenkov detectors placed outside the magnet provide additional tracking, triggering and particle identification capabilities. The system has been applied to study exclusive hyperon as well as pseudoscalar and vector meson production reactions at bombarding energies below 3 GeV. Additionally, it has been used to monitor the proton beam polarization at Laboratoire National Saturne. The components and performance of the system are reported