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Background: To support early recognition of clinical deterioration on a general ward continuous vital signs monitoring (CMVS) systems using wearable devices are increasingly being investigated. Although nurses play a crucial role in successful implementation, reported nurse adoption and acceptance scores vary significantly. In-depth insight into the perspectives of nurses regarding CMVS is lacking. To this end, we applied a theoretical approach for behaviour change derived from the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW). Aim: To provide insight in the capability, opportunity and motivation of nurses working with CMVS, in order to inform future implementation efforts. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted, including twelve nurses of a surgical ward in a tertiary teaching hospital with previous experience of working with CMVS. Semi-structured interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using thematic analysis. The results were mapped onto the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation – Behaviour (COM-B) model of the BCW. Results: Five key themes emerged. The theme 'Learning and coaching on the job' linked to Capability. Nurses favoured learning about CVSM by dealing with it in daily practice. Receiving bedside guidance and coaching was perceived as important. The theme 'interpretation of vital sign trends' also linked to Capability. Nurses mentioned the novelty of monitoring vital sign trends of patients on wards. The theme 'Management of alarms' linked to Opportunity. Nurses perceived the (false) alarms generated by the system as excessive resulting in feelings of irritation and uncertainty. The theme 'Integration and compatibility with clinical workflow' linked to Opportunity. CVSM was experienced as helpful and easy to use, although integration in mobile devices and the EMR was highly favoured and the management of clinical workflows would need improvement. The theme 'Added value for nursing care' linked to Motivation. All nurses recognized the potential added value of CVSM for postoperative care. Conclusion: Our findings suggest all parts of the COM-B model should be considered when implementing CVSM on general wards. When the themes in Capability and Opportunity are not properly addressed by selecting interventions and policy categories, this may negatively influence the Motivation and may compromise successful implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

District nurses have a crucial position in healthcare provision and are expected to use leadership practices to ensure optimal quality patient care. To better equip them, a leadership program named the ambassador project was developed to support the development of a liaison role between policy and district nursing practice. This research aims to evaluate from different perspectives the impact of this nationwide, five-year leadership program for district nurses at the organizational, regional, and societal levels. A mixed-methods study was conducted using two focus groups based on peer-to-peer shadowing (n = 14), semistructured interviews (n = 13), and an online questionnaire (n = 45). The analysis shows that the impact of a nationwide leadership program for district nurses was perceived as predominantly positive, and nurses experienced an increase in courage, assertiveness, professional pride, and leadership skills. They obtained confidence in representing the group of district nurses at the organizational, regional, and societal levels when speaking with various key stakeholders from the healthcare system. They were able to bridge the gaps among daily practice, policymaking, and politics by using translations and shaping actions and information into terms suiting the needs of those involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Self-management of bipolar disorder (BD) education is a complex nursing intervention in which patients and informal caregivers are taught to be actively involved in self-monitoring and self-regulating activities. Some studies question if nurses are sufficiently equipped to deliver these educational tasks. Other studies suggest that nurses have gathered their knowledge implicitly by experience, but to date, this tacit knowledge is not described from the experiences of mental health nurses (MHNs) in ambulant BD care. Objective: To detect the tacit knowledge used by MHNs by interpreting their experiences in delivering self-management education to people with BD and their informal caregivers. Methods: A phenomenological-hermeneutical study amongst MHNs (N = 9) from three ambulant BD care clinics in the Netherlands. Face-to-face, open, in-depth interviews guided by a topic list, were conducted and transcribed verbatim prior to the hermeneutical analysis. Findings: We found five categories resembling the complex character of self-management interventions provided by MHNs: Building a trustful collaboration, Starting a dialogue about needs and responsibilities, Explaining BD, Utilizing mood monitoring instruments, and Conceptualizing self-management of BD. Conclusion: Eventually MHNs use tacit knowledge to cope with situations that demand an outside-the-box approach. Self-management education is partially trained and partially mastered through experience. Practice implications: In order to facilitate long-term self-management of BD, the collaboration of a supporting network is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible summary Existing evidence suggest that patient education in promoting self-management strategies of bipolar disorder ( BD) is effective. However, results across the full range of service users with BD vary. Learning experiences of service users look to be a crucial factor to take into account when designing, delivering, and evaluating effective interventions that promote self-management in chronic illness. What learning activities service users actually undertake themselves when self-managing BD that might explain varying success rates, and guide future self-management educational programmes has not been examined., Unlike previous studies that suggest that outcomes in self-management depend on individual learning activities, the current study found that learning to self-manage BD takes place in a social network that functions as a learning environment in which it is saved for service users to make mistakes and to learn from these mistakes. Especially, coping with the dormant fear of a recurrent episode and acknowledging the limitations of an individual approach are important factors that facilitate this learning process., Practitioners who provide patient education in order to promote self-management of BD should tailor future interventions that facilitate learning by reflecting on the own experiences of service users. Community psychiatric nurses should keep an open discussion with service users and caregivers, facilitate the use of a network, and re-label problems into learning situations where both play an active role in building mutual trust, thereby enhancing self-management of BD., Abstract Existing evidence suggest that self-management education of bipolar disorder ( BD) is effective. However, why outcomes differ across the full range of service users has not been examined. This study describes learning experiences of service users in self-managing BD that provide a possible explanation for this varying effectiveness. We have conducted a phenomenological study via face-to-face, in-depth interviews, guided by a topic list, along service users with BD I or II (n = 16) in three specialised community care clinics across the Netherlands. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim prior to analysis in Atlas.ti 7. Unlike existing studies, which suggest that individual abilities of service users determine outcomes in self-management of BD, the current study found that self-management of BD is a learning process that takes place in a collaborative network. We identified five categories: acknowledgment of having BD, processing the information load, illness management, reflecting on living with BD, and self-management of BD. The success of self-management depends on the acknowledgment of individual limitations in learning to cope with BD and willingness to use a social network as a back-up instead. Especially, the dormant fear of a recurrent episode is a hampering factor in this learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous remote monitoring of vital signs on the hospital ward gained popularity during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic due to its ability to support early detection of respiratory failure, and the possibility to do so without physical contact between patient and clinician. The effect of continuous monitoring on patient room visits has not been established yet. To assess the impact of continuous monitoring on the number of patient room visits for patients suspected of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the use of personal protection equipment. We performed a before-after study at a ward with private rooms for patients suspected of COVID-19 at a tertiary hospital in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Non-participant observers observed hospital staff during day, evening and night shifts to record patient room visits and personal protection equipment usage. After eleven days, wearable continuous vital sign monitoring was introduced. An interrupted time series analysis was applied to evaluate the effect of continuous monitoring on the number of patient room visits, visits for obtaining vital signs (Modified Early Warning Score visits) and the amount of personal protection equipment used. During the 45 day study period, 86 shifts were observed. During each shift, approximately six rooms were included. A total of 2347 patient room visits were recorded. The slope coefficient for the number of patient room visits did not change after introducing continuous vital sign monitoring (B -0.003, 95% confidence interval -0.022/0.016). The slope coefficients of the number of Modified Early Warning Score visits and the amount of personal protection equipment used did not change either (B -0.002, 95% confidence interval -0.021/0.017 and B 0.046, 95% confidence interval -0.008/0.099). The number of Modified Early Warning Score visits did show a decline over the entire study period, however this decline was not influenced by the intervention. Evening and night shifts were associated with fewer patient room visits compared to day shifts. Introduction of continuous vital sign monitoring at a general ward for patients with suspected COVID-19 did not reduce the number of patient room visits or the usage of personal protection equipment by hospital staff. The number of Modified Early Warning Score visits declined over time, but this was not related to the introduction of continuous monitoring. Detailed analysis of the influence of continuous monitoring on the workflow of hospital staff reveals key points to increase efficacy of this intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The persistence of multiple educational pathways into the nursing profession continues to occupy scholars internationally. In the Netherlands, various groups within the Dutch healthcare sector have tried to differentiate nursing practice on the basis of educational backgrounds for over 50 years. Proponents argue that such reforms are needed to retain bachelor-trained nurses, improve quality of care and strengthen nurses' position in the sector. Opponents have actively resisted reforms because they would mainly benefit bachelor-trained nurses and neglect practical experience and technical skills. This historical case study aims to provide insight in this apparent stalemate. Our analysis of this debate is informed by literature on institutional work and current debates within the historiography of nursing. This study contributes to a better understanding of this contemporary debate by examining a broader timeframe than is usually studied, and by highlighting nurses' roles in complex processes of change. We argue that, rather than being stuck in their professional development, different groups of nurses have forged their own path forward in their professional development, albeit via different strategies., (© 2024 The Authors. Nursing Inquiry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Hospital nurses observe and respond to deterioration using the 'National Early Warning Score 2'. Surgical nurses are highly engaged in the early recognition of and response to deterioration. Responses to deterioration are based on deviating vital signs, while nurses also act on subjective indicators like worry. Scientific literature and (inter)national guidelines do not mention any information about acting upon worry., Objective: To gain an in-depth understanding of the actions nurses on surgical wards undertake to generate an appropriate response to nurses' worry when the 'National Early Warning Score 2' does not indicate deterioration., Method: A qualitative focus-group study with surgical nurses working at a hospital in the Netherlands. Data was collected by focus-group interviews supported by vignettes and analysed thematically., Findings: Four focus-group interviews with a total of 20 participants were conducted between February and April 2020. Two sequential themes emerged: 'Searching for explanation and confirmation' and 'Responding by actively applying nursing interventions'. Nurses gathered additional information about the patient and searched for a reference point to place this information in perspective. Nurses also approached others for co-assessment and verification. However, nurses faced barriers in calling for medical assistance. They felt physicians did not take them seriously. After gathering additional information, nurses responded by applying nursing interventions to comfort the patient., Conclusion: Nurses mainly try to formalise an in-depth understanding of their feeling of worry to convince a physician to accurately treat the patient. Spending much time on a search to this understanding leads to delays in escalating care., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Challenging behavior is prevalent in people with dementia residing in nursing homes and places a high burden on the nursing staff of dementia special care units. This study evaluates an educational program for nursing staff for managing challenging behavior: The Educating Nursing Staff Effectively (TENSE) program. This program can be tailored to care organizations' wishes and needs and combines various learning styles., Objective: The aim of this cluster-randomized controlled trial was to examine the short-term (3 months) and long-term (9 months) effects of the TENSE training program on experienced stress, work contentment, and stress reactions at work in nursing staff working in dementia special care units., Design: Cluster-randomized controlled trial., Methods: Nursing staff members of 18 dementia special care units within nine nursing homes from different Netherlands regions were randomized into an intervention (n = 168) or control (n = 129) group. The TENSE program consisted of a three-day training course and two follow-up sessions after three and six months, respectively. The primary outcome was stress experienced by nursing staff measured with the Utrecht Burnout Scale - C. Secondary outcomes were work contentment and stress reactions at work. Furthermore, process evaluation data on the reach of and compliance with the program and the program's feasibility and relevance were collected. Data were collected between November 2012 and November 2014., Results: In general, the participants appreciated the quality and relevance of the TENSE training and evaluated the content of the training as beneficial. The TENSE training had no effect on the components of experienced stress, i.e., emotional exhaustion (p = 0.751), depersonalization (p = 0.701), and personal accomplishment (p = 0.182). Furthermore, no statistically significant effects of the intervention on work contentment and stress reactions at work were found., Conclusions: The TENSE training program did not have an effect on experienced stress, work contentment, nor stress reactions at work of nursing staff working in dementia special care units. In future studies, more focus on practicing new skills seems needed., Trial Registration: NTR (Dutch Trial Registration) number NTR3620., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The Dutch Nursing Science Faculties developed the Leadership Mentoring in Nursing Research program, which aims to increase the cadre of nurse scientists, strengthen nursing research within universities, and improve the career development of postdoctoral nurses. The purpose of this article was to describe the development of the leadership and mentoring program to foster its replication and to present a formative program evaluation., Design: The leadership mentoring program was developed using a three-step procedure: a systematic review of the literature on successful leadership programs was conducted; theoretical underpinnings were identified and input; and feedback was solicited from national and international experts and changes made, resulting in the final program, which was executed from February 2016-2018., Findings: A 2-year leadership and mentoring program for postdoctoral nurses working in research was developed and executed. Ten fellows completed the program and worked on their leadership development, developed their own research programs, and established research collaborations. Formative evaluations showed that the fellows highly valued the program sessions. We have learned several key lessons on how to structure, implement, and evaluate the leadership and mentoring program., Conclusions: Through the leadership and mentoring program, the fellows are immersed in concerted leadership development focusing on the academic leadership role. Formative evaluations showed that the program was valued by the fellows and that several key lessons were learned., Clinical Relevance: Through the leadership and mentoring program, 10 postdoctoral nurses strengthened their leadership in research and will further develop their role in healthcare research, clinical practice, and education., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Nursing Scholarship published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Sigma Theta Tau International.)

Nursing home physicians face heavy workloads, because of the aging population and rising number of older adults with one or more chronic diseases. Skill mix change, in which professionals perform tasks previously reserved for physicians independently or under supervision, could be an answer to this challenge. The aim of this study was to describe how skill mix change in nursing homes is organized from four monodisciplinary perspectives and the interdisciplinary perspective, what influences it, and what its effects are. The study focused particularly on skill mix change through the substitution of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, or registered nurses for nursing home physicians. Five focus group interviews were conducted in the Netherlands. Variation in tasks and responsibilities was found. Despite this variation, stakeholders reported increased quality of health care, patient centeredness, and support for care teams. A clear vision on skill mix change, acceptance of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and registered nurses, and a reduction of legal insecurity are needed that might maximize the added value of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and registered nurses., (© 2019 The Authors Nursing & Health Sciences Published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Objectives: This study aimed to gain insight into how substitution of elderly care physicians (ECPs) by nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs) or registered nurses (RNs) in nursing homes is modelled in different contexts and what model in what context contributes to perceived quality of healthcare. Second, this study aimed to provide insight into elements that contribute to an optimal model of substitution of ECPs by NPs, PAs or RNs., Design: A multiple-case study was conducted that draws on realist evaluation principles., Setting: Seven nursing homes in the Netherlands PARTICIPANTS: The primary participants were NPs (n=3), PAs (n=2) and RNs (n=2), working in seven different nursing homes and secondary participants were included; ECPs (n=15), medical doctors (MDs) (n=2), managing directors/managers/supervisors (n=11), nursing team members (n=33) and residents/relatives (n=78)., Data Collection: Data collection consisted of: (1) observations of the NP/PA/RN and an ECP/MD, (2) interviews with all participants, (3) questionnaires filled out by the NP/PA/RN, ECPs/MDs and managing directors/managers and (4) collecting internal policy documents., Results: An optimal model of substitution of ECPs seems to be one in which the professional substitutes for the ECP largely autonomously, well-balanced collaboration occurs between the ECP and the substitute, and quality of healthcare is maintained. This model was seen in two NP cases and one PA case. Elements that enabled NPs and PAs to work according to this optimal model were among others: collaborating with the ECP based on trust; being proactive, decisive and communicative and being empowered by organisational leaders to work as an independent professional., Conclusions: Collaboration based on trust between the ECP and the NP or PA is a key element of successful substitution of ECPs. NPs, PAs and RNs in nursing homes may all be valuable in their own unique way, matching their profession, education and competences., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: More and more older adults desire to and are enabled to grow old in their own home, regardless of their physical and mental capabilities. This change, together with the growing number of older adults, increases the demand for general practitioners (GPs). However, care for older people lacks prestige among medical students and few medical students are interested in a career in care for older people. Innovative solutions are needed to reduce the demand for GPs, to guarantee quality of healthcare and to contain costs. A solution might be found in skill mix change by introducing nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs) or registered nurses (RNs). The aim of this study was to describe how skill mix change is organised in daily practice, what influences it and what the effects are of introducing NPs, PAs or RNs into primary healthcare for older people., Methods: In total, 34 care providers working in primary healthcare in the Netherlands were interviewed: GPs (n = 9), NPs (n = 10), PAs (n = 5) and RNs (n = 10). Five focus groups and 14 individual interviews were conducted. Analysis consisted of open coding, creating categories and abstraction., Results: In most cases, healthcare for older people was only a small part of the tasks of NPs, PAs and RNs; they did not solely focus on older people. The tasks they performed and their responsibilities in healthcare for older people differed between, as well as within, professions. Although the interviewees debated the usefulness of proactive structural screening on frailty in the older population, when implemented, it was also unclear who should perform the geriatric assessment. Interviewees considered NPs, PAs and RNs an added value, and it was stated that the role of the GP changed with the introduction of NPs, PAs or RNs., Conclusions: The roles and responsibilities of NPs, PAs and RNs for the care of older people living at home are still not established. Nonetheless, these examples show the potential of these professionals. The establishment of a clear vision on primary healthcare for older people, including the organisation of proactive healthcare, is necessary to optimise the impact of skill mix change.

Objectives: To develop and validate an abbreviated version of the Cognitive Failure Questionnaire that can be used by patients as part of self-assessment to measure functional cognitive outcome in ICU survivors., Design: A retrospective multicenter observational study., Setting: The ICUs of two Dutch university hospitals., Patients: Adult ICU survivors., Interventions: None., Measurements and Main Results: Cognitive functioning was evaluated between 12 and 24 months after ICU discharge using the full 25-item Cognitive Failure Questionnaire (CFQ-25). Incomplete CFQ-25 questionnaires were excluded from analysis. Forward selection in a linear regression model was used in hospital A to assess which of the CFQ-25 items should be included to prevent a significant loss of correlation between an abbreviated and the full CFQ-25. Subsequently, the performance of an abbreviated Cognitive Failure Questionnaire was determined in hospital B using Pearson's correlation. A Bland-Altman plot was used to examine whether the reduced-item outcome scores of an abbreviated Cognitive Failure Questionnaire were a replacement for the full CFQ-25 outcome scores. Among 1,934 ICU survivors, 1,737 were included, 819 in hospital A, 918 in hospital B. The Pearson's correlation between the abbreviated 14-item Cognitive Failure Questionnaire (CFQ-14) and the CFQ-25 was 0.99. The mean of the difference scores was -0.26, and 95% of the difference scores fell within +5 and -5.5 on a 100-point maximum score., Conclusions: It is feasible to use the abbreviated CFQ-14 to measure self-reported cognitive failure in ICU survivors as this questionnaire has a similar performance as the full CFQ-25.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine construct validity of the Dutch Essentials of Magnetism II © instrument, designed to assess nursing practice environments, using hypotheses testing., Background: Reduction in hospital length of stay and the number of inpatient beds increases care intensity. Educational levels and numbers of nursing staff in hospitals, however, do not match this increase, resulting in a strain on quality of care and patient safety. A possible answer to existing concerns about quality of care may be the creation of a productive and healthy practice environment, as this has an impact on the quality of care. Therefore, areas requiring improvement of the practice environment have to be defined., Design: A cross-sectional, correlational study design., Method: We determined construct validity with hypotheses testing by relating the Dutch Essentials of Magnetism II to the Dutch Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index. We formulated 15 hypotheses prior to data-analysis; 10 related to convergent validity and five related to discriminant validity. Data were collected from qualified nurses (N = 259) on nine randomly selected hospital wards from March to April 2012., Results: Response rate was 47% (n = 121). Total scores of both instruments are strongly correlated (r = 0·88). In total, 12 of 15 hypotheses (80%) were confirmed and three were rejected., Conclusion: The D-EOMII has satisfactory construct validity for measuring the nursing practice environment in hospitals and can be used by nurses, managers, health policy makers, hospitals and governments to assess and identify processes and relationships that are in need of improvement., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: Acute pain in trauma patients in emergency care is still undertreated. Early pain treatment is assumed to effectively reduce pain in patients and improve long-term outcomes. In order to improve pain management in the chain of emergency care, a national evidence-based guideline was developed. The aim of this study was to assess whether current practice is in compliance with the guideline 'Pain management for trauma patients in the chain of emergency care' from the Netherlands Association for Emergency Nurses (in Dutch NVSHV), and to evaluate early and initial pain management for adult trauma patients in emergency care., Methods: Chart reviews were conducted in three regions of the Netherlands using electronic patient files of trauma patients from the chain of emergency care. We included one after-hours General Practitioner Co-operation (GPC), one ambulance Emergency Medical Services (EMS), two Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS), and three Emergency Departments (EDs). Organisation of pain management, pain assessment, and pain treatment was examined and compared with national guideline recommendations, including quality indicators., Results: We assessed a random sample of 1066 electronic patient files. The use of standardised tools to assess pain was registered in zero to 52% of the electronic patient files per organisation. Registration of (non-)pharmacological pain treatment was found in less than half of the files. According to the files, pharmacological pain treatment deviated from the guideline in 73-99% of the files. Time of administration of medication was missing in 73-100%. Reassessment of pain following pain medication was recorded in half of the files by the HEMS, but not in files of the other organisations., Conclusions: The (registration of) current pain management in trauma patients in the chain of emergency care varies widely between healthcare organisation, and deviates from national guideline recommendations. Although guideline compliance differs across groups of healthcare professionals, maximum compliance rate with indicators registered is 52%. In order to improve pain management and evaluate its effectiveness, we recommend to improve pain registration in patient files. Furthermore, we advise to identify barriers and facilitators related to the implementation of the national guideline in all emergency care organisations., (Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: No-rinse disposable wash gloves are increasingly implemented in health care to replace traditional soap and water bed baths without proper evaluation of (cost) effectiveness., Objectives: To compare bed baths for effects on skin integrity and resistance against bathing and costs., Design: Cluster randomized trial., Setting: Fifty six nursing home wards in the Netherlands. Participants: Five hundred adult care-dependent residents and 275 nurses from nursing home wards., Methods: The experimental condition 'washing without water' consists of a bed bath with disposable wash gloves made of non-woven waffled fibers, saturated with a no-rinse, quickly vaporizing skin cleaning and caring lotion. The control condition is a traditional bed bath using soap, water, washcloths and towels. Both conditions were continued for 6 weeks. Outcome measures were prevalence of skin damage distinguished in two levels of severity: any skin abnormality/lesion and significant skin lesions. Additional outcomes: resistance during bed baths, costs., Results: Any skin abnormalities/lesions over time decreased slightly in the experimental group, and increased slightly in the control group, resulting in 72.7% vs 77.6% of residents having any skin abnormalities/lesions after 6 weeks, respectively (p=0.04). There were no differences in significant skin lesions or resistance after 6 weeks. Mean costs for bed baths during 6 weeks per resident were estimated at €218.30 (95%CI 150.52-286.08) in the experimental group and €232.20 (95%CI: 203.80-260.60) in the control group (difference €13.90 (95%CI: -25.61-53.42)., Conclusion: Washing without water mildly protects from skin abnormalities/lesions, costs for preparing and performing bed baths do not differ from costs for traditional bed bathing. Thus, washing without water can be considered the more efficient alternative., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Health care is increasingly featured by the use of Web 2.0 communication and collaborative technologies that are reshaping the way patients and professionals interact. These technologies or tools can be used for a variety of purposes: to instantly debate issues, discover news, analyze research, network with peers, crowd-source information, seek support, and provide advice. Not all tools are implemented successfully; in many cases, the nonusage attrition rates are high. Little is known about the preferences of the Dutch general population regarding the use of the Internet and social media in health care., Objective: To determine the preferences of the general population in the Netherlands regarding the use of the Internet and social media in health care., Methods: A cross-sectional survey was disseminated via a popular Dutch online social network. Respondents were asked where they searched for health-related information, how they qualified the value of different sources, and their preferences regarding online communication with health care providers. Results were weighed for the Dutch population based on gender, age, and level of education using official statistics. Numbers and percentages or means and standard deviations were presented for different subgroups. One-way ANOVA was used to test for statistical differences., Results: The survey was completed by 635 respondents. The Internet was found to be the number one source for health-related information (82.7%), closely followed by information provided by health care professionals (71.1%). Approximately one-third (32.3%) of the Dutch population search for ratings of health care providers. The most popular information topics were side effects of medication (62.5%) and symptoms (59.7%). Approximately one-quarter of the Dutch population prefer to communicate with a health care provider via social media (25.4%), and 21.2% would like to communicate via a webcam., Conclusions: The Internet is the main source of health-related information for the Dutch population. One in 4 persons wants to communicate with their physician via social media channels and it is expected that this number will further increase. Health care providers should explore new ways of communicating online and should facilitate ways for patients to connect with them. Future research should aim at comparing different patient groups and diseases, describing best practices, and determining cost-effectiveness.

Background: There is only limited understanding of why hand hygiene improvement strategies are successful or fail. It is therefore important to look inside the 'black box' of such strategies, to ascertain which components of a strategy work well or less well. This study examined which components of two hand hygiene improvement strategies were associated with increased nurses' hand hygiene compliance., Methods: A process evaluation of a cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted in which part of the nursing wards of three hospitals in the Netherlands received a state-of-the-art strategy, including education, reminders, feedback, and optimising materials and facilities; another part received a team and leaders-directed strategy that included all elements of the state-of-the-art strategy, supplemented with activities aimed at the social and enhancing leadership. This process evaluation used four sets of measures: effects on nurses' hand hygiene compliance, adherence to the improvement strategies, contextual factors, and nurses' experiences with strategy components. Analyses of variance and multiple regression analyses were used to explore changes in nurses' hand hygiene compliance and thereby better understand trial effects., Results: Both strategies were performed with good adherence to protocol. Two contextual factors were associated with changes in hand hygiene compliance: a hospital effect in long term (p < 0.05), and high hand hygiene baseline scores were associated with smaller effects (p < 0.01). In short term, changes in nurses' hand hygiene compliance were positively correlated with experienced feedback about their hand hygiene performance (p < 0.05). In the long run, several items of the components 'social influence' (i.e., addressing each other on undesirable hand hygiene behaviour p < 0.01), and 'leadership' (i.e., ward manager holds team members accountable for hand hygiene performance p < 0.01) correlated positively with changes in nurses' hand hygiene compliance., Conclusion: This study illustrates the use of a process evaluation to uncover mechanisms underlying change in hand hygiene improvement strategies. Our study results demonstrate the added value of specific aspects of social influence and leadership in hand hygiene improvement strategies, thus offering an interpretation of the trial effects., Trial Registration: The study is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov, dossier number: NCT00548015.

Background: Improving hand hygiene compliance is still a major challenge for most hospitals. Innovative approaches are needed., Objective: We tested whether an innovative, theory based, team and leaders-directed strategy would be more effective in increasing hand hygiene compliance rates in nurses than a literature based state-of-the-art strategy., Design and Setting: A cluster randomised controlled trial called HELPING HANDS was conducted in 67 nursing wards of three hospitals in the Netherlands., Participants: All affiliated nurses of the nursing wards. Wards were randomly assigned to either the team and leaders-directed strategy (30 wards) or the state-of-the-art strategy (37 wards)., Methods: The control arm received a state-of-the-art strategy including education, reminders, feedback and targeting adequate products and facilities. The experimental group received all elements of the state-of-the-art strategy supplemented with interventions based on social influence and leadership, comprising specific team and leaders-directed activities. Strategies were delivered during a period of six months. We monitored nurses' HH compliance during routine patient care before and directly after strategy delivery, as well as six months later. Secondary outcomes were compliance with each type of hand hygiene opportunity, the presence of jewellery and whether the nurses wore long-sleeved clothes. The effects were evaluated on an intention-to-treat basis by comparing the post-strategy hand hygiene compliance rates with the baseline rates. Multilevel analysis was applied to compensate for the clustered nature of the data using mixed linear modelling techniques., Results: During the study, we observed 10,785 opportunities for appropriate hand hygiene in 2733 nurses. The compliance in the state-of-the-art group increased from 23% to 42% in the short term and to 46% in the long run. The hand hygiene compliance in the team and leaders-directed group improved from 20% to 53% in the short term and remained 53% in the long run. The difference between both strategies showed an Odds Ratio of 1.64 (95% CI 1.33-2.02) in favour of the team and leaders-directed strategy., Conclusions: Our results support the added value of social influence and enhanced leadership in hand hygiene improvement strategies. The methodology of the latter also seems promising for improving team performance with other patient safety issues., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov [NCT00548015]., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To identify barriers experienced and perceived at discharge by physicians, nurses, patients and relatives., Design: We developed questionnaires based on focus group interviews with hospital and community care providers, and individual interviews with patients and relatives. A survey was conducted among patients, relatives and related nurses and physicians from hospital and community care., Setting: One university hospital and the related community care area in the Netherlands., Participants: Thirty health-care providers and eight patients and/or relatives participated in focus group and individual interviews. Questionnaires were returned by 344 health-care providers and 206 patients and relatives., Results: Information from the hospital to community care is often incomplete, unclear and delayed. Especially hospital physicians (52%) and general practitioners (GPs; 63%) experience the quality of information exchanged from the hospital to the GP as poor. Coordination of care is often frustrated by a lack of care provider knowledge and collaboration. Hospital physicians (47%) and GPs (71%) feel that hospital physicians are often not sufficiently aware of the patient's home situation. Respectively, 59 and 81% experience that the GP is often not clearly informed about expected tasks and responsibilities at discharge., Conclusions: This is the first study that provides a clear picture of the experiences and perceptions of stakeholders regarding handovers at hospital discharge. Lack of knowledge, understanding and interest between hospital and community care providers are important causes for ineffective and unsafe discharge. The study suggests that improvement efforts should be focused more on these aspects, as primary conditions for improving hospital discharge.

Introduction: The aim of the study is to give insight into facilitators and barriers in pain management in trauma patients in the chain of emergency care in the Netherlands., Patients and Methods: A qualitative approach was adopted with the use of the implementation Model of Change of Clinical Practice. The chain of emergency care concerned prehospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Departments (EDs). We included two EMS ambulance services and three EDs and conducted five focus groups and 10 individual interviews. Stakeholders and managers of organisations were interviewed individually. Focus group participants were selected based on availability and general characteristics. Transcripts of the audio recordings and field notes were analysed in consecutive steps, based on thematic content analysis. Each step was independently performed by the researchers, and was discussed afterwards. We analysed differences and similarities supported by software for qualitative analysis MaxQDA., Results: This study identified five concepts as facilitators and barriers in pain management for trauma patients in the chain of emergency care. We described the concepts of knowledge, attitude, professional communication, organisational aspects and patient input, illustrated with quotes from the interviews and focus group sessions. Furthermore, we identified whether the themes occurred in the chain of care. Knowledge deficits, attitude problems and patient input were similar for the EMS and ED settings, despite the different positions, backgrounds and educational levels of respondents. In the chain of care a lack of professional communication and organisational feedback occurred as new themes, and were specifically related to the organisational structure of the prehospital EMS and EDs., Conclusion: Identified organisational aspects stressed the importance of organisational embedding of improvement of pain management. However, change of clinical practice requires a comprehensive approach focused at all five concepts. We think a shift in attitudes is needed, together with constant surveillance and feedback to emergency care providers. Implementation efforts need to be aimed at the identified barriers and facilitators, tailored to the chain of emergency care and the multi-professional group of emergency care providers., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: In many countries out-of-hours care faces serious challenges, including shortage of general practitioners, a high workload, reduced motivation to work out of hours, and increased demand for out-of-hours care. One response to these challenges is the introduction of nurse practitioner as doctor substitutes, in order to maintain the (high) accessibility and safety of out of hours care. Although nurse practitioners have proven to provide equally safe and efficient care during daytime primary care, it is unclear whether substitution is effective and efficient in the more complex out of hours primary care. This study aims to assess the effects of substitution of care from general practitioners to nurse practitioners in an out of hours primary care setting., Design: A quasi experimental study is undertaken at one "general practitioner cooperative" to offer out-of-hours care for 304.000 people in the South East of the Netherlands. In the experimental condition patient care is provided by a team of one nurse practitioner and four general practitioners; where the nurse practitioner replaces one general practitioner during one day of the weekend from 10 am to 5 pm. In the control condition patient care is provided by a team of five general practitioners during the other day of the weekend, also from 10 am to 5 pm. The study period last 15 months, from April 2011 till July 2012., Methods: Data will be collected on number of different outcomes using a range of methods. Our primary outcome is substitution of care. This is calculated using the number and characteristics of patients that have a consultation at the GP cooperative. We compare the number of patients seen by both professionals, type of complaints, resource utilization (e.g. prescription, tests, investigations, referrals) and waiting times in the experimental condition and control condition. This data is derived from patient electronic medical records. Secondary outcomes are: patient satisfaction; general practitioners workload; quality and safety of care and barriers and facilitators., Discussion: The study will provide evidence whether substitution of care in out-of-hours setting is safe and efficient and give insight into barriers and facilitators related to the introduction of nurse practitioners in out-of-hours setting., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT01388374.

Objectives: To develop and validate a delirium prediction model for adult intensive care patients and determine its additional value compared with prediction by caregivers., Design: Observational multicentre study., Setting: Five intensive care units in the Netherlands (two university hospitals and three university affiliated teaching hospitals)., Participants: 3056 intensive care patients aged 18 years or over., Main Outcome Measure: Development of delirium (defined as at least one positive delirium screening) during patients' stay in intensive care., Results: The model was developed using 1613 consecutive intensive care patients in one hospital and temporally validated using 549 patients from the same hospital. For external validation, data were collected from 894 patients in four other hospitals. The prediction (PRE-DELIRIC) model contains 10 risk factors-age, APACHE-II score, admission group, coma, infection, metabolic acidosis, use of sedatives and morphine, urea concentration, and urgent admission. The model had an area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of 0.87 (95% confidence interval 0.85 to 0.89) and 0.86 after bootstrapping. Temporal validation and external validation resulted in areas under the curve of 0.89 (0.86 to 0.92) and 0.84 (0.82 to 0.87). The pooled area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (n=3056) was 0.85 (0.84 to 0.87). The area under the curve for nurses' and physicians' predictions (n=124) was significantly lower at 0.59 (0.49 to 0.70) for both., Conclusion: The PRE-DELIRIC model for intensive care patients consists of 10 risk factors that are readily available within 24 hours after intensive care admission and has a high predictive value. Clinical prediction by nurses and physicians performed significantly worse. The model allows for early prediction of delirium and initiation of preventive measures. Trial registration Clinical trials NCT00604773 (development study) and NCT00961389 (validation study).

Background: Hand hygiene prescriptions are the most important measure in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections. Yet, compliance rates are generally below 50% of all opportunities for hand hygiene. This study aims at evaluating the short- and long-term effects of two different strategies for promoting hand hygiene in hospital nurses., Methods/design: This study is a cluster randomised controlled trial with inpatient wards as the unit of randomisation. Guidelines for hand hygiene will be implemented in this study. Two strategies will be used to improve the adherence to guidelines for hand hygiene. The state-of-the-art strategy is derived from the literature and includes education, reminders, feedback, and targeting adequate products and facilities. The extended strategy also contains activities aimed at influencing social influence in groups and enhancing leadership. The unique contribution of the extended strategy is built upon relevant behavioural science theories. The extended strategy includes all elements of the state-of-the-art strategy supplemented with gaining active commitment and initiative of ward management, modelling by informal leaders at the ward, and setting norms and targets within the team. Data will be collected at four points in time, with six-month intervals. An average of 3,000 opportunities for hand hygiene in approximately 900 nurses will be observed at each time point., Discussion: Performing and evaluating an implementation strategy that also targets the social context of teams may considerably add to the general body of knowledge in this field. Results from our study will allow us to draw conclusions on the effects of different strategies for the implementation of hand hygiene guidelines, and based on these results we will be able to define a preferred implementation strategy for hospital based nursing., Trial Registration: The study is registered as a Clinical Trial in ClinicalTrials.gov, dossier number: NCT00548015.

Background: Complications related to venous access devices (VADs) remain the major drawback of home parenteral nutrition (HPN) support. In addition to technical issues, patients also experience psychosocial problems. The aim of this study is to present an overview of VAD-related complications in patients on long-term HPN and to assess whether these adversities are related to experienced psychosocial problems and quality of life (QOL)., Methods: Information on VAD-related complications was collected from the medical charts of 110 adult HPN patients who were followed by the 2 major referral centers in the Netherlands. In addition, a survey was conducted in this group to characterize psychosocial problems and assess their association with technique-related complications; 75 patients (68%) responded., Results: At the time of survey, the majority of patients (76%) had developed 1 or more episodes of catheter-related sepsis at some point during their HPN treatment. The overall incidence of VAD-related blood stream infections (BSIs) was 3 per 1,000 venous access days. The incidence of VAD occlusions was 0.8 per 1,000 venous access days. During the observation period, there was a highly significant association between the incidence of VAD-related complications and the occurrence of psychosocial complaints (eg, depression, fatigue, social impairment, and decreased QOL)., Conclusions: Psychosocial complaints are associated with previously experienced VAD-related complications in patients on HPN therapy. Although only an association, and not a causal relationship is demonstrated by these findings, our results underscore the need for preventive and therapeutic measures regarding both types of problems in these patients.

Aim: The aim of this study is to describe the quality, quantity and content of care given to home parenteral nutrition-dependent patients by various professionals in the Netherlands and to detect potential shortcomings., Background: Home parenteral nutrition is a lifesaving treatment for patients who cannot eat or cannot eat sufficiently. Very little is known about follow-up care after hospital stay. Yet this is an important aspect of care as patients must cope with high-tech skills at home. Also, complications and psychosocial complaints can occur., Design: Survey., Methods: A patient questionnaire was used to assess contacts with professionals and possible shortcomings in care. Nursing files from home parenteral nutrition nurses were reviewed for information from all contact moments. Home parenteral nutrition nurses and home care teams were interviewed to assess nursing care and to detect bottlenecks., Results: The nutrition support team was primarily responsible for the home parenteral nutrition care. Physical complaints like abdominal pain or nausea and venous access problems like fever were discussed most often. Patients were satisfied about the nutrition support team, but both the patients and the home parenteral nutrition nurses reported that relatively little attention was paid to psychosocial problems. Furthermore, the included patients visited their General Practitioner 11 times per year on average (range 1-104). Patients experienced a bottleneck with respect to the general practitioner's knowledge of home parenteral nutrition-related matters., Conclusion: Home parenteral nutrition patients visit the nutrition support team and their general practitioner most frequently and much attention is paid to medical and physical problems. Psychosocial problems, however, were only discussed in a minority of patients, and this was experienced as a shortcoming. Relevance to clinical practice.  Both the patients and the home parenteral nutrition nurses reported that relatively little attention was paid to psychosocial problems. Patients' concerns must be integrated in contact moments to enhance Quality of Life., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

The purpose of this study was to determine the cost for prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers from a hospital perspective and to identify the least resource-intensive pressure ulcer prevention strategy. Cost analyses were examined from a hospital perspective using direct costs. The study was carried out alongside a prospective cohort study on the incidence and risk factors for pressure ulcers. Two large teaching hospitals in the Netherlands with (partly) opposing approaches in prevention, a technological versus a human approach, were analyzed. The main outcome measures were resource use, costs of preventive measures and treatment, and pressure ulcer incidence in both hospitals. Pressure ulcer prevention through a predominantly technical approach resulted in a similar incidence rate as prevention through a predominantly human approach. However, the technical approach was considerably less expensive.

Background: Pressure ulcers frequently occur in hospitalised patients. The prevalence of pressure ulcers grade 2 or worse varies from 3% to 12% in hospitalised patients. Incidence figures are not frequently reported. While incidence and prevalence are both measures of disease frequency, they provide different perspectives on pressure ulcers., Objectives: To describe the incidence rate and prevalence of pressure ulcers in hospitalised patients., Design: Prospective inception cohort study., Setting: Two large hospitals, one general (530-beds) and one teaching (1042-beds), in The Netherlands., Participants: A non-selected, though not strictly random, sample of 1536 patients was eligible for inclusion in the study. One thousand four hundred and thirty one patients (93.2%) consented to participate. Eventually, 1229 patients (80%) had a complete follow-up. The sample consisted of patients admitted to the surgical, internal, neurological and geriatric wards for more than 5 days between January 1999 and June 2000., Methods: Follow-up once a week until pressure ulcer occurrence, discharge or length of stay over 12 weeks., Main Outcome Measures: Occurrence of a pressure ulcer grade 2 or worse during admission to hospital, according to the classification of the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel., Results: One hundred and thirty four patients developed 172 pressure ulcers during follow-up. The overall weekly incidence rate was 0.06 per week (95% confidence interval 0.05-0.07 per week). Highest rates were observed for surgical patients and lowest for geriatric and neurologic patients (0.08 and 0.02, respectively). The week specific prevalence varied between 12.8% and 20.3%., Conclusions: Among patients hospitalised for more than 5 days overall one may expect 6% per week to develop pressure ulcers. It would appear that any preventive measures can only be effective if taken timely. Accordingly, preventive measures should be considered early, because pressure ulcers were observed already within the first week of admission.

Objective: To describe the short-term and long-term effects of a hospital-wide pressure ulcer prevention and treatment guideline on both the incidence and the time to the onset of pressure ulcers in critically ill patients., Design: Prospective cohort study., Setting: Adult intensive care department of a university medical center., Patients: Critically ill patients (n = 399)., Interventions: A guideline for pressure ulcer care was implemented on all intensive care units. The attention of nurses for timely transfer to a specific pressure-reducing device was an important part of this guideline., Measurements and Main Results: Patient characteristics, demographics, pressure ulcer risk profile at admission, daily pressure ulcer grading, and type of mattress were determined to describe the short-term and long-term effects 3 and 12 months after the implementation. The incidence density of pressure ulcers grade II-IV decreased from 54 per 1000 patient days at baseline to 32 per 1000 days (p = .001) 12 months after the implementation. The median pressure ulcer-free time increased from 12 days to 19 days (hazard rate ratio, 0.58; p = .02). After adjustment for differences in risk factors in a Cox proportional hazard model, the number of preventive transfers to special mattresses was the strongest indicator for the decreased risk of pressure ulcers (hazard rate ratio, 0.22; p < .001). The number needed to treat to prevent one pressure ulcer during the first 9 days was six., Conclusions: The implementation of a guideline for pressure ulcer care resulted in a significant and sustained decrease in the development of grade II-IV pressure ulcers in critically ill patients. Timely transfer to a specific mattress (i.e., transfer before the occurrence of a pressure ulcer) was the main indicator for a decrease in pressure ulcer development.

Objective: To determine the effects of a new policy on the efficiency of pressure ulcer care., Design: Series of 1-day pressure ulcer surveys before and after the implementation., Setting: A 900-bed University Medical Centre in The Netherlands., Participants: On the days of the surveys, 657 patients were included before the implementation, 735 patients at 4 months after the implementation, and 755 patients at 11 months after the implementation., Intervention: Implementation of a hospital guideline for pressure ulcer care combined with the introduction of viscoelastic foam mattresses on the efficiency of the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers., Main Outcome Measures: Comparisons before versus after the implementation were made regarding the care behaviour of nurses and the frequency of patients with pressure ulcer., Results: Inadequate prevention decreased from 19 to 4% after 4 months and to 6% after 11 months (P < 0.001), and inadequate treatment decreased from 60 to 31% (P = 0.005). Excluding the use of mattresses as a positive indicator for care behaviour, we found no significant increase in adequate care to prevent pressure ulcers. Also, in adequate treatment activities, we found no significant difference. Overall, we found a significant decrease in hospital-acquired pressure ulcer frequency from 18 to 13% (P = 0.003) after 4 months and 11% (P < 0.001) after 11 months., Conclusion: The number of pressure ulcer patients in hospital can successfully be reduced. General measures such as the introduction of adequate mattresses and guidelines for prevention and treatment are promising tools in this respect.

Patients undergoing surgery are prone to develop pressure ulcers during the surgical procedure. The aim of the study was to gain insight into the problem by describing the incidence, clinical features and progression of pressure ulcers and closed pressure ulcers in patients undergoing surgery lasting more than 4 hours. A prospective follow-up study was conducted in a university hospital in the Netherlands. Two-hundred and eight patients from nine surgical specialities were included in the study. The skin of patients was observed the evening before surgery and, if the patient's condition allowed it, directly postoperatively and subsequently daily for 14 days or until discharge, whichever occurred first. When patients developed a pressure ulcer they were observed daily until discharge or until the pressure ulcer had healed. The size and colour of the lesion, stage and skin condition were described every day. In addition, data were collected concerning the operation, postoperative period, and general characteristics. Forty-four patients (21.2%) developed 70 pressure ulcers in the first 2 days following surgery. Twenty-one pressure ulcers deteriorated in the days following surgery. More than half (52.9%) of the lesions developed on the heels, and 15.7% developed in the sacral area. Twenty-five patients (12%) were impaired by the lesions they developed. None of the patients in the study developed closed pressure ulcers. Pressure ulcer development during a surgical procedure is a serious problem. Therefore, preventive measures should be taken during surgery and the first few days afterwards, until the patient is able to mobilize independently.