What Patients Think: A Study Examining Perceptions of Teamwork, Self-Management, and Quality of Life of Patients Diagnosed With Diabetic Foot Ulceration.

Identifying strategies to support patients diagnosed with diabetic foot ulceration (DFU) is essential to affect not only wound outcomes but also mortality and quality of life. This article reports on a cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational study of patients receiving treatment for DFU at a specialty clinic. Most participants were <60 years of age and had been diagnosed with diabetes for >5 years. Results indicated that patients with higher self-management scores reported improved general health, physical functioning, and quality of life. These findings, in a younger patient population with normal work and family obligations, suggest that interventions supporting self-management behaviors can improve physical, emotional, and general health and, ultimately, quality of life. The involvement of an interprofessional care team enhances these self-management behaviors.

An Innovative Nurse Practitioner Curricular Design Using an Adaptive Learning Platform, Adaptive Case Studies, and Telehealth Simulations: A Feasibility Study.

Introduction: This project explored the feasibility of implementing an innovative cross-curricular framework using an adaptive learning (AL) platform and telehealth simulations. Objective: To determine the feasibility of implementing an innovative cross-curricular framework using an AL platform and telehealth simulations. Methods: A mixed-method pilot study was conducted using novel AL modules, adaptive case studies, and telehealth simulation. Results: Quantitative data analysis demonstrated significant correlations within and across demographics using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Simulation Effectiveness Tool-Modified (SET-M). Specifically, significant correlations are evident between TAM ease of use items 1-6, 8, and 10 and TAM usefulness 1, 3, and 9, with SET-M items 3 and 5-15. Thematic analysis revealed that participants felt that the overall project was worthwhile and increased confidence in telehealth. Conclusion: Participants found the technology used in this study was easy and useful, and they indicated a positive experience with telehealth simulation. Overall, this study demonstrated that implementation of AL using our paradigm is feasible and supports further investigation into implementing a cross-curricular framework using an AL platform and telehealth simulations.

Patient and family perceptions of interprofessional collaborative teamwork: An integrative review.

AIMS: To understand the patient and family perceptions of teamwork by synthesising existing evidence using the Interprofessional Education Collaborative Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice as a guiding framework. BACKGROUND: Advances in healthcare have resulted in more people living longer with health conditions, and patients and families have become the primary caregivers. The role of the interprofessional collaborative team supports a paradigm shift to a care model with the patient and family at the centre of healthcare decisions. However, patient and family views of interprofessional collaborative team care have rarely been studied. METHODS: The authors applied Whittmore and Knafl's methodology to conduct an integrative review of the literature. Databases searched included Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PubMed and PsycINFO along with reference searches. The studies included were those related to patient and family perceptions of teamwork published from 2000 to 2020. The IPEC Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice served as the guiding framework for analysis. A PRISMA flow chart documented the search, inclusion and exclusion criteria for the review. RESULTS: Seventeen articles met the inclusion criteria. The findings identified differing perspectives by patients of the impact of the interprofessional collaborative team in their care which suggests that interventions to increase knowledge about interprofessional collaborative team care from the patient and family perspective may be beneficial. CONCLUSIONS: There is limited research on understanding IPC teams from the patient and family viewpoint. This review reveals incongruencies in patient and provider perspectives of IPC teams and suggests the need for additional research about patient and family perspectives of teamwork. To fully implement the IPC team vision, perceptions of teamwork must be fully understood.

Quality Olympics: Experiential Interprofessional Learning to Improve Quality and Safety.

BACKGROUND: Effective communication and teamwork is essential to improve the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of patient care. Quality Olympics, a competitive, educational intervention, was designed to offer nursing and medical students the opportunity to apply new knowledge on safety quality and cost in an interprofessional environment. METHOD: Nursing (N = 220) and medical students (N = 163) participated in Quality Olympics. Student perceptions of teamwork were analyzed using the Student Perceptions of Interprofessional Clinical Education-Revised (SPICE-R). RESULTS: In years one and two, significance was found for nursing students on all survey items. Medical student responses reached significance on four items in year two. CONCLUSION: The contrast in findings between these professions suggests that students would benefit from early, additional opportunities to link patient safety and outcomes to interprofessional collaboration. In doing so, educators may ensure that future providers have the attitudes, knowledge, and skills to impact individualized care and transform health care systems.[J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(10):589-593.].

Local Anesthetic Adjuvants Providing the Longest Duration of Analgesia for Single- Injection Peripheral Nerve Blocks in Orthopedic Surgery: A Literature Review.

Inadequate pain relief after surgery may delay surgical recovery, decrease patient satisfaction, increase length of stay, raise the risk of hospital readmissions, and increase overall healthcare costs. One way to decrease postoperative pain for patients undergoing orthopedic surgery is through the use of peripheral nerve blocks. Anesthesia providers can add many adjuvants to local anesthetics to improve quality and prolong duration of analgesia. The purpose of this literature review is to evaluate local anesthetic adjuvants to peripheral nerve blocks. A review of published studies using PubMed, MEDLINE, and Cochrane search engines was performed using predefined data fields. Based on this literature review, recommendations for practice are provided.