Views on Interprofessional Collaboration in a Dutch Sexual Assault Center: A Qualitative Study Among Workers.

Purpose: As the response to sexual assault victims proved to be shattered and substandard, sexual assault centers were set up to improve care by providing the victims with medical, psychosocial and legal care. The Dutch Centers for Sexual Assault were launched in 2012. We wished to examine the challenges in interprofessional collaboration experienced in a long-running Dutch Sexual Assault Center. Methods: In this qualitative study, data was collected via semi-structured explorative interviews which were analyzed using thematic analysis in an iterative process. The semi-structured interviews were held with fifteen professionals from medical, psychosocial and legal disciplines. An interview guide was developed based on expert opinion and the Bronstein Index of Interprofessional Collaboration. Qualitative analyses were done using the method of thematic analysis in ATLAS.ti and were reported according to the COREQ criteria. The themes of the experienced challenges in interprofessional collaboration were further clarified using quotations. Results: Participants mentioned three themes that challenged interprofessional collaboration: 1. discrepancies in professional involvement, 2. conflicting goals and 3. a lack of connection. Discrepancies in motivation and affinity to work with victims of sexual violence between professionals proved to be the most pivotal challenge to collaboration, leading to disturbing differences in professional involvement. A low caseload and time restraints complicated gaining expertise, affinity and motivation. Conflicting goals and confidentiality issues arose between the medical and legal disciplines due to their contrasting aims of caring for victims versus facilitating prosecution. Some professionals felt a lack of connection, particularly due to missing face-to-face personal contact, which hindered the sharing of complex or burdensome cases and gaining insight into the other discipline's competences. Conclusion: Building collective ownership and equal professional involvement are crucial for interprofessional collaboration. Professional involvement should be increased by training courses to clarify conflicting goals and to improve reciprocal personal contact between professionals. Training courses should be facilitated with organizational financial support.

[Drug-facilitated sexual assault; frequently used substances, symptoms and toxicological investigation]. / Verkrachting onder invloed.

Drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) is a term used to describe incidents of sexual assault in which the victim is incapacitated and/or unable to provide consent to the sexual act as a result of drug or alcohol consumption. There are two types: 'proactive' in which the victim is covertly administered an incapacitating or disinhibiting substance by an assailant for the purpose of sexual assault; and 'opportunistic' in which a perpetrator engages in sexual activity with a victim who is profoundly intoxicated by his or her actions, to the point of near or actual unconsciousness. Alcohol is the drug most commonly found in alleged sexual assault cases. It is followed by non-opiate analgesics, illicit drugs and benzodiazepines. The possibility of DFSA should be considered in sexual assault cases. If there is suspicion, drug and alcohol screening has to be done as soon as possible because delay may lead to false-negative results.

Tensions and Ambivalent Feelings: Opinions of Emergency Department Employees About the Identification and Management of Intimate Partner Violence.

The objective of this study was to examine factors facilitating and constraining the identification and management of intimate partner violence (IPV) at an emergency department (ED). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 ED employees of a university hospital in the Netherlands. All interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed by using qualitative content analysis in Atlas.ti. Constraining factors were lack of knowledge, awareness, and resources at the ED. ED employees felt many barriers to bringing up IPV. Facilitating factors were good cooperation among staff, the involvement of one team member in producing an IPV protocol, having received training on child abuse, and private consulting rooms. The ED setting and the ED employees' task perception and attitude contained both constraining and facilitating factors: ED employees saw it as their task and responsibility to help IPV victims, but their priorities were to secure a high turnover and treat acute physical problems. Although ED employees expressed openness and willingness to help, they also took the view that victims had a considerable responsibility of their own in disclosing and managing IPV, which led to ambivalent feelings. In conclusion, ED employees faced tensions in IPV identification and management caused by lack of awareness, knowledge and resources, conflicting priorities at the ED, and ambivalent feelings. Improvements can be made by supporting ED employees with guidelines in the form of a protocol and with training that also addresses the tensions ED employees face.

A tailored e-learning program to improve handover in the chain of emergency care: a pre-test post-test study.

OBJECTIVE: To standardize patient handover in the chain of emergency care a handover guideline was developed. The main guideline recommendation is to use the DeMIST model (Demographics, Mechanism of Injury/illness, Injury/Illness, Signs, Treatment given) to structure pre-hospital notification and handover. To benefit from the new guideline, guideline adherence is necessary. As adherence to guidelines in emergency care settings is variable, there is a need to systematically implement the new guideline. For implementation of the guideline we developed a e-learning program tailored to influencing factors. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this e-learning program to improve emergency care professionals' adherence to the handover guideline during pre-hospital notification and handover in the chain of emergency medical service (EMS), emergency medical dispatch (EMD), and emergency department (ED). METHODS: A prospective pre-test post-test study was conducted. The intervention was a tailored e-learning program that was offered to ambulance crew and emergency medical dispatchers (n=88). Data on adherence included pre-hospital notifications and handovers and were collected through observations and audiotapes before and after the e-learning program. Data were analyzed using X(2)-tests and t-tests. RESULTS: In total, 78/88 (88.6%) professionals followed the e-learning program. During pre- and post-test, 146 and 169 handovers were observed respectively. After the e-learning program, no significant difference in the number of handovers with the DeMIST model (77.9% vs. 73.1%, p=.319) and the number of handovers with the correct sequence of the DeMIST model (69.9% vs. 70.5%, p=.159) existed. During the handover, the number of questions by ED staff and interruptions significantly increased from 49.0% to 68.9% and from 15.2% to 52.7% respectively (both p=.000). Most handovers were performed after patient transfer, this did not change after the intervention (p=.167). The number of handovers where information was documented during handover slightly increased from 26.9% to 29.3% (p=.632). CONCLUSIONS: The tailored e-learning program did not improve adherence to a handover guideline in the chain of emergency care. Results show a relatively high baseline adherence rate to usage and correct sequence of the DeMIST model. Improvements in the handover process can be made on the documentation of information during handover, the number of interruptions and questions, and the handover moment.