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Introduction: The OSCE is a sociomaterial assemblage—a meshing together of human and material components producing multiple effects. Materials matter because they shape candidate performance, with potentially calamitous career consequences if materials influence performance unjustly. Although the OSCE literature refers to materials, few papers study the sociomateriality of OSCEs. Therefore, we explored OSCE stakeholders' talk about sociomaterial assemblages to better understand their importance for candidate performance. Methods: We conducted 15 focus groups with OSCE candidates (n = 42), examiners (n = 20) and simulated patients (n = 17) after an Australian postgraduate nursing OSCE. Sociomateriality informed our team‐based framework analysis of data. Results: Participants identified a multiplicity of OSCE materials (objects, technologies and spaces) thought to matter for candidate performance. Candidates' unfamiliarity with materials and missing or malfunctioning materials were reported to yield numerous negative impacts (eg cognitive overload, negative affect, time‐wasting), thereby adversely affecting candidate performance. Both examiners and candidates made micro‐adjustments to sociomaterial assemblages during the OSCE in order to make it work (eg candidates saying what they would do rather than doing it). Sometimes, such tinkering extended so far that sociomaterial assemblages were ruptured (eg examiners ignoring rubrics to help pass candidates), potentially influencing OSCE standardisation. Discussion: Our novel empirical study extends previous conceptual work by illustrating wide‐ranging sociomaterial assemblages influencing OSCE candidate performance. Further research is now needed employing sociomaterial approaches to further elucidate sociomaterial entanglements in diverse OSCEs. We encourage OSCE stakeholders to become more attuned to the productive nature of materials within all stages of OSCE design and implementation. The authors demonstrate the extent to which materials really matter in shaping candidate performance in OSCEs [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Residents from aged care facilities make up a considerable proportion of ED presentations. There is evidence that many residents transferred from aged care facilities to EDs could be managed by primary care services. The present study aimed to describe the characteristics of residents transferred from residential aged care facilities to EDs, and to evaluate the appropriateness and cost of these presentations. Methods A retrospective review of ED records was undertaken for residents transferred from residential aged care facilities to two EDs in Melbourne, Victoria, in 2012. Data examined included residents' mode and time of arrival to ED, presenting complaint, triage category, procedures within ED, diagnosis, length of stay, and disposition. Data were examined against a previously established tool to identify resident transfers that might be 'potentially avoidable'. Results There were 2880 resident transfers included in the sample, of which 408 transfers were randomly selected for scrutiny of documentation. Seventy-one residents (17.4%) were identified as being potentially avoidable transfers. Conclusion Many resident transfers might have been avoided with better primary care services in place. Future strategies to improve resident care might include aged care staff skill mix and the availability of outreach or primary care services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors consider the need for improvement in the delivery and measurement of cultural sensitive palliative care, with special attention to migrants from Asian countries in Australia. They believe that there have been no clearly defined cultural indicators of quality care provided in the palliative care period and towards the end of life. They argue that quality indicators (CI) can be used to provide high quality of care to all patients.

This paper describes the preliminary work required to understand cultural differences in palliative care in the United Kingdom and three countries in the Asia-Pacific region, in preparation for a cross-country study. The study is intended to address cultural understandings of palliative care, the role of the family in end of life care, what constitutes good care and the ethical issues in each country. Suggestions are then made to shape the scope of the study and to be considered as outcomes to improve care of the dying in these countries. It is anticipated that the method used to achieve consensus on cross-country palliative care issues will be both qualitative and quantitative. Identifying key priorities in the delivery and quality measures of palliative care will involve participants in focus groups, a Delphi survey and in the development of clinical indicators towards creating standards of palliative care common to the Asian Pacific region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of the relationship between the concepts of space and time in the human mind is much debated. Some claim that space is primary and that it structures time (cf. Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) while others (cf. Walsh, 2003) maintain no difference in status between them. Using fully immersive virtual reality (VR), we examined the influence of object distance and time of appearance on choice of demonstratives (this and that) to refer to objects. Critically, demonstratives can be used spatially (this/that red triangle) and temporally (this/that month). Experiment 1 showed a pattern of demonstrative usage in VR that is consistent with results found in real‐world studies. Experiments 2, 3, and 4 manipulated both when and where objects appeared, providing scenarios where participants were free to use demonstratives in either a temporal or spatial sense. Although we find evidence for time of presentation affecting object mention, the experiments found that demonstrative choice was affected only by distance. These results support the view that spatial uses of demonstratives are privileged over temporal uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]