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Gaps abound in the literature about what happens when people living with deafblindness or dual sensory impairment (DBDSI) go to the hospital. Anecdotally, from my lived experiences and professional work, as well as from within communities, stories are told about how hazardous it is to be a patient in an Australian hospital for those living with DBDSI. This paper outlines a quantitative component of a mixed-methods study examining the intricacies of these experiences. The research objective was to discover what hospital interactions looked like for patients living with DBDSI. A constrained question set was used, namely, the Australian hospital experience question set (AHPEQS 2017). It asked patients about key factors in their hospital interactions. The results form a distressing snapshot of care and communication interactions. Experiences of flouting protective conventions, dehumanisation, neglect, discrimination, disparate care, inaccessible consent forms, and a lack of communication predominate. The participants reported experiences from multiple different hospitals, so these findings suggest a broad culture of failing to provide patient-centred care and accessible-to-the-patient communication. The findings showcase the urgency for more research and remedial actions to be undertaken by both professionals and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To determine the prevalence of, and reasons for, missed care by nurses and the factors associated with it in Iranian hospitals. Background: Despite providing high‐quality patient care in hospitals, nurses often fail to deliver optimum care, which jeopardizes the safety of patients and increases health care costs. Therefore, identifying missed nursing care is essential if the quality of health services is to be improved. Methods: A cross‐sectional study was conducted among 215 nurses working in the medical–surgical wards of eight public and private hospitals in Tabriz, Iran. The 'MISSCARE' survey tool was used to collect data in relation to the extent of missed care and the related reasons. Logistic regression models were used to assess the association between factors and missed nursing care. Results: Results showed that the mean score of overall missed nursing care was 2.57 and 72.1% of the nurses reported that they missed at least one nursing care item on their last shift. 'Patient discharge planning and teaching', 'emotional support to patient and/or family' and 'attend interdisciplinary care conferences whenever held' were the most common missed items by nurses in Iran. In a 5‐point Likert scale, the most important reasons identified by nurses for missed care were 'human resources', 3.11 (95% CI: 3.03–3.19); 'material resources', 2.7 (95% CI: 2.6–2.8); and 'communication', 2.4 (95% CI: 2.3–2.5), respectively. Missed nursing care was associated with sex (OR for males = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.01–7.89), age (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.01–1.33) and the number of patients under care (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.01–1.22). A reverse association was found with the number of patients discharged (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.82–0.96) and satisfaction with teamwork (OR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.41–0.89). Conclusions: There is a need to identify the factors contributing to the incidence of missed nursing care in hospitals and to develop strategies to address these. Implications for Nursing Management: The results of this study highlighted the importance of addressing missed nursing care in Iranian public and private hospitals. Nursing management should consider improving communication between team members and units. Changes are required regarding task division and payments to the nursing staff. Further research is required to understand the reasons behind missed nursing care, and the development of appropriate policies to address better nursing care in hospitals is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influenza is a significant cause of childhood morbidity and death; it contributes to up to 16% of hospitalizations for respiratory illnesses worldwide. Novel rapid viral diagnostic tests, including molecular diagnostic tests, have the potential to significantly affect both time to diagnosis and selection of optimal anti-infective therapy. However, little is known about current treatment algorithms used in US hospitals. In this study, for hospitalized children in the United States, we aimed to define the current approaches to influenza diagnosis and treatment and to explore reasons for their potential variation. In this study, we aimed to define the current approaches to pediatric influenza diagnosis and treatment in US hospitals, and to explore reasons for their potential variation. Our results suggest a rise in the availability and use of rapid molecular diagnostic testing in addition to continued variability in anti-infective management, particularly with regard to antiviral use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Little is known about variation in use of rehabilitation services provided in acute care hospitals for people who have had a stroke. Objective The objective was to examine patient and hospital sources of variation in acute care rehabilitation services provided for stroke. Design This was a retrospective, cohort design. Methods The sample consisted of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with ischemic stroke admitted to acute care hospitals in 2010. Medicare claims data were linked to the Provider of Services file to gather information on hospital characteristics and the American Community Survey for sociodemographic data. Chi-square tests compared patient and hospital characteristics stratified by any rehabilitation use. We used multilevel, multivariable random effect models to identify patient and hospital characteristics associated with the likelihood of receiving any rehabilitation and with the amount of therapy received in minutes. Results Among 104,295 patients, 85.2% received rehabilitation (61.5% both physical therapy and occupational therapy; 22.0% physical therapy only; and 1.7% occupational therapy only). Patients received 123 therapy minutes on average (median [SD] = 90.0 [99.2] minutes) during an average length of stay of 4.8 [3.5] days. In multivariable analyses, male sex, dual enrollment in Medicare and Medicaid, prior hospitalization, ICU stay, and feeding tube were associated with lower odds of receiving any rehabilitation services. These same variables were generally associated with fewer minutes of therapy. Patients treated by tissue plasminogen activator, in limited-teaching and nonteaching hospitals, and in hospitals with inpatient rehabilitation units, were more likely to receive more therapy minutes. Limitation The findings are limited to patients with ischemic stroke. Conclusion Only 61% of patients with ischemic stroke received both physical therapy and occupational therapy services in the acute setting. We identified considerable variation in the use of rehabilitation services in the acute care setting following a stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an emphasis on Chinese seniors, this article raises awareness of the importance of cultural competency and how this can impact care delivery, as well as strategies healthcare professionals can use to improve cultural competency in their institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This outbreak column explores the epidemiology and infection prevention guidance on tuberculosis (TB) in the UK. The column finds that, at present, national guidance leaves UK hospitals ill-prepared to prevent nosocomial TB transmission. Reasons for this conclusion are as follows: (1) while TB is predominantly a disease that affects people with ‘social ills’, it has the potential to infect anyone who is sufficiently exposed; (2) nosocomial transmission is documented throughout history; (3) future nosocomial exposures may involve less treatable disease; and (4) current UK guidance is insufficient to prevent nosocomial transmission and is less than that advocated by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]