15 research outputs found
Staffing and education of nurses and hospital mortality in Europe? Authors' reply
No full textHospital mortality varies substantially within European countries. Our paper1 provides scientific evidence that failure to standardise nursing education at the bachelor's level puts patients at higher risk of dying after common surgeries. We concur with Rele Ologunde that it is alarming that formal bachelor's qualifications are yet to be universally implemented in nursin
Surgical care in low and middle-income countries: Burden and barriers
No full textAbstractSurgically correctable pathology accounts for a sizeable proportion of the overall global burden of disease. Over the last decade the role of surgery in the public health agenda has increased in prominence and attempts to quantify surgical capacity suggest that it is a significant public health issue, with a great disparity between high-income, and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although barriers such as accessibility, availability, affordability and acceptability of surgical care hinder improvements in LMICs, evidence suggests that interventions to improve surgical care in these settings can be cost-effective. Currently, efforts to improve surgical care are mainly coordinated by academia and intuitions with strong surgical and global health interests. However, with the involvement of various international organisations, policy makers, healthcare managers and other stakeholders, a collaborative approach can be achieved in order to accelerate progress towards improved and sustainable surgical care. In this article, we discuss the current burden of global surgical disease and explore some of the barriers that may be encountered in improving surgical capacity in LMICs. We go on to consider the role that international organisations can have in improving surgical care globally. We conclude by discussing surgery as a global health priority and possible solutions to improving surgical care globally
Do trauma courses change practice? A qualitative review of 20 courses in East, Central and Southern Africa
No full textBackground Trauma courses have been shown to improve clinical knowledge and patient outcomes. However, little is known about the individual drivers of change in practice amongst course participants in their home clinic environment. Methods Front-line healthcare workers participated in a two-day Primary Trauma Care (PTC) course. Immediately after the course participants completed an evaluation survey on intended change in the management of trauma patients. Six months after the course, participants completed a survey on actual changes that had occurred. Results A total of 451 participants were sampled, with 321 responding at 6 months, from 40 courses across East, Central and Southern Africa. The most commonly reported intended change was the adoption of an ABCDE/systematic approach (53%). Six months after the course, 92.7% of respondents reported that they had made changes in their management, with adoption of an ABCDE/systematic approach (50.0%) remaining most common. 77% of participants reported an improvement in departmental trauma management, 26% reported an increase in staffing, 29% an increase in equipment and 68% of participants had gone on to train other healthcare workers in PTC. Conclusion The findings suggest that PTC courses not only improve individual management of trauma patients but also but is also associated with beneficial effects for participants’ host institutions with regards to staffing, equipment and training
