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Aims: To investigate fundamental care delivery regarding oral care in a surgical context, and to compare patients' self‐reported oral health with registered nurse assessments. Design: A descriptive and comparative study, with a consecutive selection. Methods: A patient oral health rating tool, including questions about performed oral care, was distributed to patients (n = 50), at four surgical wards in Sweden. The response rate was 72%. Oral health status was assessed by a registered nurse using the Revised Oral Assessment Guide (ROAG), and a comparison between patient and registered nurse assessment was performed by calculating Cohen's kappa coefficient and percentage agreement. Results: Patients (38%) reported severe oral symptoms, mostly dry lips and not an adequate amount of saliva, and 80% were not offered help with oral care. ROAG assessments revealed that 74% had problems with oral health. Almost half of the patients (48%) needed assistance with oral care but only 10% received help. Registered nurses assessed the patient's oral health as worse than the patient's self‐assessment did. Conclusion: There are deficiencies in fundamental care delivery regarding oral care in a surgical care context. Oral health assessments need to be performed by registered nurses. Routines for systematic oral assessments and for oral care need to be implemented by nurse managers to ensure that patients' fundamental care needs are fulfilled. Implications for the Profession and Patient Care: Oral health assessments need to be performed regularly by registered nurses since it is insufficient that patients self‐assess their oral health. Nurse managers need to provide and implement routines for nurse assessments and oral care in surgical care contexts. Impact: There are deficiencies in patients' oral health and oral care, and registered nurses need to perform oral health assessments. Nurse managers need to implement routines for registered nurse assessments and oral care. Patient Contribution: Patients admitted to a surgical ward were included in the study after being screened for inclusion criteria. After participants signed informed consent, they filled in a questionnaire about oral health and oral care, and a registered nurse performed an oral health assessment. Reporting Method: This study was carried out according to the STROBE checklist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Missed nursing care occurs globally, and the consequences are severe for the patients when fundamental care needs are not fulfilled, nor delivered in a person-centred way. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence and cause of missed nursing care, and the relationship between registered nurses' and nursing assistants' perceptions of missed nursing care, in a surgical care context. Methods: A quantitative study was performed using the MISSCARE survey, measuring missed nursing care and associated reasons, in three surgical wards with registered nurses and nursing assistants as the participants (n = 118), during May-November in 2022. The MISSCARE survey also covers background data such as job satisfaction and intention to leave. The survey was distributed paper-based and the response rate was 88%. Results: Aspects of nursing care rated to be missed the most were 'attending interdisciplinary care conferences', 'turning patient every 2 h', 'ambulation 3 times per day or as ordered', and 'mouth care'. Differences between registered nurse and nursing assistant ratings were detected for eight out of 24 items, where registered nurses rated more missed nursing care. The uppermost reasons for missed nursing care were 'inadequate number of staff' and 'unexpected rise in patient volume and/or acuity on the unit'. Registered nurses and nursing assistants rated differently regarding six of 17 items. Almost every fourth staff member (24.6%, n = 29) had the intention to leave within a year in the present department. Conclusions: The occurrence of missed nursing care is frequent in the surgical context, and in combination with a high number of staff members intending to leave their employment, poses a hazard to patient safety. Registered nurses, holding higher educational levels, reported more missed care compared with the nursing assistants. The main reason for missed nursing care was an inadequate number of staff. These findings support a warranted investment in nursing within the organisation. The results can be used to form strategies and interventions, to reduce nurse attrition and optimise competence utilisation, and to achieve safe person-centered fundamental care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of pain and pain assessment among inpatients in a university hospital. Pain management could be considered an indicator of quality of care. Few studies report on prevalence measures including all inpatients. Quantitative and explorative. Survey. Of the inpatients at the hospital who answered the survey, 494 (65%) reported having experienced pain during the preceding 24 hours. Of the patients who reported having experienced pain during the preceding 24 hours, 81% rated their pain >3 and 42·1% rated their pain >7. Of the patients who reported having experienced pain during the preceding 24 hours, 38·7% had been asked to self-assess their pain using a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS); 29·6% of the patients were completely satisfied, and 11·5% were not at all satisfied with their participation in pain management. The result showed that too many patients are still suffering from pain and that the NRS is not used to the extent it should be. Efforts to overcome under-implementation of pain assessment are required, particularly on wards where pain is not obvious, e.g., wards that do not deal with surgery patients. Work to improve pain management must be carried out through collaboration across professional groups. Using a pain assessment tool such as the NRS could help patients express their pain and improve communication between nurses and patients in relation to pain as well as allow patients to participate in their own care. Carrying out prevalence pain measures similar to those used here could be helpful in performing quality improvement work in the area of pain management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]