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Activity reporting of Pastoral Care Coordinators (PCCs) is often inadequate within care settings because of suboptimal analog data collection methods. This study aims to render pastoral care activity reporting more efficient through digitizing data collection in pastoral care settings. A one-year feasibility (pilot) study of a digital tool, the "Pastoral Care Activity Tracker" (PCAT) was conducted between June 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021 at HammondCare, an Australian nonprofit healthcare organization. Feasibility was measured using electronic activity logs collected by the tool and user feedback surveys by PCCs. Of the 43 PCCs working in the organization, 42 (97.7%) used the PCAT tool to complete the logging of 66,298 pastoral care activities (M [SD] = 1,578.5 [827.8] activities per PCC). Most activities were logged successfully (98.3%) and took less than one minute (89.5%). Survey responses (n = 20, 46.6%) indicated many PCCs found the PCAT more convenient (n = 15, 75.0%) and easier to use (n = 10, 50.0%) than paper-based method. PCCs found the PCAT to be feasible, favorable, and easier to use for report generation compared to paper-based methods. The feasibility of the PCAT improved pastoral care activity data capture, as perceived by PCCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millions of Australians use the private health system every year. They should receive safe, high-quality, value-based care. However, poor policy and inadequate regulation of medical technology is driving low-value care at great expense to consumers and the broader health system. Key drivers include the Prescribed List of Medical Devices and Human Tissue, gaps in quality and safety controls for devices being used, and marketing and conflicts of interest. All of these should be addressed to reduce low-value care in Australia's private health system, so consumers are protected from harm and limited health budgets are used effectively. What is known about the topic? With health expenditure rising unsustainably, there is a growing focus on ways to reduce low-value care to improve health outcomes and eliminate unnecessary costs. What does this paper add? This paper details drivers of low-value care in Australia's private health system and recommendations to overcome them. Drivers include the Prescribed List of Medical Devices, gaps in safety and quality controls, and conflicts of interest and marketing. What are the implications for practitioners? These insights are relevant to clinicians, researchers, policymakers, consumers and health business leaders with an interest in low-value care. This article belongs to the Special Issue: Value-based Healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Current evidence shows that medical device‐related pressure injury (MDRPI) has a high prevalence (10%) and incidence (12%), and much research has been done to prevent MDRPI in recent years. However, to our knowledge, there is limited systematic review available on interventions and strategies to prevent MDRPI. Aim: To synthesise research evidence on interventions and strategies used to prevent MDRPI. Methods: This systematic review adhered to the PRISMA Guidelines. We searched six databases including Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane library, Web of Science and ProQuest with no restriction to year of publication. Data were extracted and checked by two authors independently. A narrative summary technique was used to describe the findings. Implementation strategies were grouped into six classifications: dissemination/implementation process/integration/capacity building/sustainability/scale‐up strategies. Results: Twenty‐four peer‐reviewed papers met the inclusion criteria, which comprised of 11 quality improvement projects and 13 original research. Types of devices included respiratory devices (non‐invasive ventilation mask, CPAP/BiPAP mask, endotracheal tube), gastrointestinal/urinary devices and other devices. Interventions used included the use of dressing, hyperoxygenated fatty acids, full‐face mask, training, and/or multidisciplinary education, use of special securement devices or tube holder, repositioning, application of stockinette, early removal and foam ring use. Common implementation strategies included ongoing staff education, audit and standardising documentation or guideline development. Conclusion: Much work on MDRPI prevention strategies has been undertaken. There were a variety of devices reported, however, it is evident that higher quality research is needed. Relevance to clinical practice: Current evidence shows that interventions including use of dressing or special securement device, repositioning, and training/multidisciplinary education can be beneficial for MDRPI prevention. High‐quality research, such as randomised controlled trials are needed to test the effectiveness of the interventions and their implementation strategies. No patient or public contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of digital twins (DTs) has proliferated across various fields and industries, with a recent surge in the healthcare sector. The concept of digital twin for health (DT4H) holds great promise to revolutionize the entire healthcare system, including management and delivery, disease treatment and prevention, and health well-being maintenance, ultimately improving human life. The rapid growth of big data and continuous advancement in data science (DS) and artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to significantly expedite DT research and development by providing scientific expertise, essential data, and robust cybertechnology infrastructure. Although various DT initiatives have been underway in the industry, government, and military, DT4H is still in its early stages. This paper presents an overview of the current applications of DTs in healthcare, examines consortium research centers and their limitations, and surveys the current landscape of emerging research and development opportunities in healthcare. We envision the emergence of a collaborative global effort among stakeholders to enhance healthcare and improve the quality of life for millions of individuals worldwide through pioneering research and development in the realm of DT technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to highlight how to reduce medication errors through the implementation of human factors science to the design features of medication containers. Despite efforts to employ automation for increased safety and decreased workload, medication administration in hospital wards is still heavily dependent on human operators (pharmacists, nurses, physicians, etc.). Improving this multi-step process requires its being studied and designed as an interface in a complex socio-technical system. Human factors engineering, also known as ergonomics, involves designing socio-technical systems to improve overall system performance, and reduces the risk of system, and in particular, operator, failures. The incorporation of human factors principles into the design of the work environment and tools that are in use during medication administration could improve this process. During periods of high workload, the cognitive effort necessary to work through a very demanding process may overwhelm even expert operators. In such conditions, the entire system should facilitate the human operator's high level of performance. Regarding medications, clinicians should be provided with as many perceptual cues as possible to facilitate medication identification. Neglecting the shape of the container as one of the features that differentiates between classes of medications is a lost opportunity to use a helpful characteristic, and medication administration failures that happen in the absence of such intentional design arise from "designer error" rather than "user error". Guidelines that define a container's shape for each class of medication would compel pharmaceutical manufacturers to be compatible and would eliminate the confusion that arises when a hospital changes the supplier of a given medication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although economic evaluations (EEs) have been increasingly applied to medical devices, little discussion has been conducted on how the different health realities of specific populations may impact the application of methods and the ensuing results. This is particularly relevant for pediatric populations, as most EEs on devices are conducted in adults, with specific aspects related to the uniqueness of child health often being overlooked. This study provides a review of the published EEs on devices used in paediatrics, assessing the quality of reporting, and summarising methodological challenges. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed to identify peer-reviewed publications on the economic value of devices used in paediatrics in the form of full EEs (comparing both costs and consequences of two or more devices). After the removal of duplicates, article titles and abstracts were screened. The remaining full-text articles were retrieved and assessed for inclusion. In-vitro diagnostic devices were not considered in this review. Study descriptive and methodological characteristics were extracted using a structured template. The Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) 2022 checklist was used to assess the quality of reporting. A narrative synthesis of the results was conducted followed by a critical discussion on the main challenges found in the literature. Results: 39 full EEs were eligible for review. Most studies were conducted in high-income countries (67%) and focused on high-risk therapeutic devices (72%). Studies comprised 25 cost-utility analyses, 13 cost-effectiveness analyses and 1 cost-benefit analysis. Most of the studies considered a lifetime horizon (41%) and a health system perspective (36%). Compliance with the CHEERS 2022 items varied among the studies. Conclusions: Despite the scant body of evidence on EEs focusing on devices in paediatrics results highlight the need to improve the quality of reporting and advance methods that can explicitly incorporate the multiple impacts related to the use of devices with distinct characteristics, as well as consider specific child health realities. The design of innovative participatory approaches and instruments for measuring outcomes meaningful to children and their families should be sought in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the advent of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup 2022 in Qatar, all healthcare systems were gearing up for an influx of patients. The Hamad Medical Corporation Ambulance Service (HMCAS) has also refined its patient supply chain (SC) processes to improve ambulance turnaround times (ATATs) at the emergency departments (EDs). International ambulance services (AS) are complex, and these ambulances are equipped with approximately 500 individual items, which include various types of medical consumables and equipment used during emergencies. By organizing individual medical items into stock units called "pre-packs", according to the needs of the patients and type of clinical interventions, the inventory or stock-taking time of items stored in ambulances can be significantly reduced. Implementing reduced inventory lists of items and standardized pre-pack storage across the ambulance fleet has significantly improved the efficiency and accuracy of ambulance checking, restocking, and recovery time, improving overall ATAT at the ED. Aim: This study evaluates the staff's perceived impact of modular pre-pack kits on ambulance restocking processes and ED ATAT. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a fit-for-purpose survey was designed and distributed to all operational staff at HMCAS. The survey aims to assess HMCAS staff's opinions about the implemented LEAN pre-pack system. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to assess the reliability of the survey. The Mann-Whitney U-test was conducted to compare if there was a difference between the group's opinions. The Shewhart control chart was created to monitor the impact of the implemented intervention on the ATAT at the ED. IBM-SPSS® (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) Version 26 was utilized for data analysis. Results: A group of 287 employees with different backgrounds participated and completed the survey. The Cronbach's alpha was equal to 0.739, indicating a satisfactory level of reliability of the Mann-Whitney U-test. The descriptive analysis and the Shewhart chart revealed that most staff found that the pre-pack concept helped improve LEAN restocking processes, access to clinical applications, and ambulance checks. Overall, this concept matched the international benchmarks for turnaround time. Conclusion: The pre-pack concept promoted easy and quick processing of clinical applications, restocking procedures, and ambulance checks, and this positively impacted the ATAT at the ED. Further, it improved responses to emergency calls and enhanced access to effective care for patients. This approach also simplified the tasks above when many locum staff is employed on a short-term basis to cover mega-events such as the FIFA World Cup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Assistive Technology Device Outcomes Research (ATDOR) checklist was developed as a reporting guideline for researchers to enhance the quality of research in this field. The checklist contains 13 items that cover outcome domains unique to assistive technology devices (ATDs). The ATDOR was intended to be an adjunct to existing publication guidelines for outcomes research. The aim of this investigation was to examine the ability of the ATDOR checklist to identify strengths and weaknesses in ATD outcomes research publications that may not be detected using another publication guideline designed for outcomes research. Twenty original ATD outcome studies were scored using the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist, and the ATDOR in two evaluation rounds. In the first round, articles were scored using the TIDieR alone. In the second round, they were scored using the TIDieR and ATDOR together. The difference in percentage scores between the two evaluation rounds was examined using the Wilcoxon signed rank-sum test for paired data. There was a statistically significant difference in the percentage scores between the two evaluation rounds (Wilcoxon statistic = 10, Z = −3.547, p<.000). When used alongside the TIDieR, the ATDOR adds significant value to evaluations of reporting quality on assistive technology outcomes research. As this field continues to grow, researchers are invited to join in efforts to standardise reporting to promote healthier outcomes for ATD users. Reporting guidelines that evaluate research studies enhance their reporting quality and promote healthier outcomes for ATD users. The Assistive Technology Device Outcomes Research (ATDOR) checklist was shown to be a useful tool for achieving a minimum standard of reporting in the field of assistive technology. As the field of assistive technology continues to explore different methodologies, ongoing efforts to develop and update reporting guidelines are necessary in order to capture the future needs of this research area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim and Objective: To examine intensive care unit (ICU) nurses' knowledge, perceptions and prevention performance about medical device‐related pressure injuries (MDRPIs). Background: Prevention of MDRPIs has been an important part of nursing care, and there is a limited number of studies on nurses' level of knowledge or perception about MDRPIs. Design: This study was designed as a cross‐sectional survey and conducted according to STROBE Guidelines. Method: The data of the study were collected with the Nurse Information Form and the MDRPI Knowledge Assessment Questionnaire. In the first phase, the psychometric properties of the questionnaire were evaluated (content validity, internal consistency and test‐retest). A pilot study was conducted with 20 nurses for the test‐retest phase. These nurses were excluded from the general sample. Results: The study was conducted with 142 ICU nurses. The average percent knowledge score of ICU nurses on MDRPIs was 68.4%. In the survey, the highest rate of correct response was found in the expressions about MDRPIs skin assessment (83.6%), and the lowest was in those about follow‐up (50.8%). There was no significant relationship between the total score and age, work experience and specialties (p >.05 for each). However, scores were significantly higher in females than males (65.5 vs. 47.8, p =.020) and in those with a postgraduate degree than those with a bachelor's degree (81.8 vs. 57.9, p =.008). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that nurses do not have sufficient perception of MDRPIs. The findings of the study can be used to improve nursing policies and practices in acute care settings. Additional studies will be needed with nurses and healthcare professionals working in different clinical settings. Relevance to the clinical practice: This study demonstrates the nurses' need for more knowledge about MDRPIs and will help inform healthcare institutions and their management teams in developing programs and improving protocols to reduce the incidence of MDRPIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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