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Aim/s. To assess implementation of the Veterans Health Administration staffing methodology directive. Background. In 2010 the Veterans Health Administration promulgated a staffing methodology directive for inpatient nursing units to address staffing and budget forecasting. Design. A qualitative multi-case evaluation approach assessed staffing methodology implementation. Methods. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted from March - June 2014 with Nurse Executives and their teams at 21 facilities. Interviews focused on the budgeting process, implementation experiences, use of data, leadership support, and training. An implementation score was created for each facility using a 4-point rating scale. The scores were used to select three facilities (low, medium and high implementation) for more detailed case studies. Results/findings. After analysing interview summaries, the evaluation team developed a four domain scoring structure: (1) integration of staffing methodology into budget development; (2) implementation of the Directive elements; (3) engagement of leadership and staff; and (4) use of data to support the staffing methodology process. The high implementation facility had leadership understanding and endorsement of staffing methodology, confidence in and ability to work with data, and integration of staffing methodology results into the budgeting process. The low implementation facility reported poor leadership engagement and little understanding of data sources and interpretation. Conclusion. Implementation varies widely across facilities. Implementing staffing methodology in facilities with complex and changing staffing needs requires substantial commitment at all organizational levels especially for facilities that have traditionally relied on historical levels to budget for staffing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the US, the patient-centred medical home has become a predominant model in the delivery of primary care. This model requires a shift from the physician-centric model to an interprofessional team-based approach. Thus, healthcare staff are being reorganized into teams, resulting in having to work and relate to one another in new ways. In 2010, the Veterans Health Administration implemented the patient aligned care team (PACT) model, its version of the patient-centred medical home. The transition to the PACT model involved restructuring primary care staff into “teamlets”, consisting of a registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, and administrative clerk for each full-time-equivalent primary care provider. This qualitative study used observation and semi-structured interviews to understand the factors that affect teamlet functioning as they implement this new model of care and how teams are interacting to address those factors. Findings suggest that role understanding includes understanding how each teamlet member’s tasks are performed in the daily operations of the clinic. In addition, willingness to perform tasks that benefit the teamlet and acceptance of delegation from all teamlet members were found to be important for teamlet functioning and cohesion. In order for healthcare teams to provide patient-centred care, it is important to provide guidance and support about what these new relationships and roles will entail. The building of team relationships is not a static process; ways of working together build over time and, therefore, should be seen as a continuous cycle of quality improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patient preferences and barriers to care may impact receipt of adequate mental health treatment following psychiatric hospitalization and could inform quality improvement initiatives. This study assessed preferences for a broad range of post-hospital services and barriers to counseling by surveying 291 patients and interviewing 25 patients who had recently been discharged from an inpatient psychiatric stay at one of the two Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. Individual counseling was the most frequently reported service that survey respondents preferred, but did not receive; whereas, open-ended survey responses and interviews also identified telephone follow-up "check-in" calls as a frequently preferred service. Difficulty with transportation was the most commonly cited barrier to counseling among survey respondents and in interviews; however, patients strongly preferred in-person counseling to telephone or internet-video alternatives. Increasing support from family and support from an individual Veteran peer were also perceived to be helpful in the majority of survey respondents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Dizziness is a common presenting complaint to the emergency department (ED), and emergency physicians (EPs) consider these presentations a priority for decision support. Assessing for nystagmus and defining its features are important steps for any acute dizziness decision algorithm. The authors sought to describe nystagmus documentation in routine ED care to determine if nystagmus assessments might be an important target in decision support efforts. Methods: Medical records from ED visits for dizziness were captured as part of a surveillance study embedded within an ongoing population-based cohort study. Visits with documentation of a nystagmus assessment were reviewed and coded for presence or absence of nystagmus, ability to draw a meaningful inference from the description, and coherence with the final EP diagnosis when a peripheral vestibular diagnosis was made. Results: Of 1,091 visits for dizziness, 887 (81.3%) documented a nystagmus assessment. Nystagmus was present in 185 of 887 (20.9%) visits. When nystagmus was present, no further characteristics were recorded in 48 of the 185 visits (26%). The documentation of nystagmus (including all descriptors recorded) enabled a meaningful inference about the localization or cause in only 10 of the 185 (5.4%) visits. The nystagmus description conflicted with the EP diagnosis in 113 (80.7%) of the 140 visits that received a peripheral vestibular diagnosis. Conclusions: Nystagmus assessments are frequently documented in acute dizziness presentations, but details do not generally enable a meaningful inference. Recorded descriptions usually conflict with the diagnosis when a peripheral vestibular diagnosis is rendered. Nystagmus assessments might be an important target in developing decision support for dizziness presentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the existence of national American Heart Association guidelines and 2 termination-of-resuscitation (TOR) rules for ceasing efforts in refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, many emergency medical services agencies in the United States have adopted their own local protocols. Public policies and local perceptions may serve as barriers or facilitators to implementing national TOR guidelines at the local level.Methods and Results: Three focus groups, lasting 90 to 120 minutes, were conducted at the National Association of Emergency Medical Services Physicians meeting in January 2008. Snowball sampling was used to recruit participants. Two reviewers analyzed the data in an iterative process to identify recurrent and unifying themes. We identified 3 distinct groups whose current policies or perceptions may impede efforts to adopt national TOR guidelines: payers who incentivize transport; legislators who create state mandates for transport and allow only narrow use of do-not-resuscitate orders; and communities where cultural norms are perceived to impede termination of resuscitation. Our participants suggested that national organizations, such as the American Heart Association and American College of Emergency Physicians, may serve as potential facilitators in addressing these barriers by taking the lead in asking payers to change reimbursement structures; encouraging legislators to revise laws to reflect the best available medical evidence; and educating the public that rapid transport to the hospital cannot substitute for optimal provision of prehospital care.Conclusions: We have identified 3 influential groups who will need to work with national organizations to overcome current policies or prevailing perceptions that may impede implementing national TOR guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Although urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common hospital-acquired infection in the United States, to our knowledge, no national data exist describing what hospitals in the United States are doing to prevent this patient safety problem. We conducted a national study to examine the current practices used by hospitals to prevent hospital-acquired UTI. Methods. We mailed written surveys to infection control coordinators at a national random sample of non-federal US hospitals with an intensive care unit and ⩾50 hospital beds (n = 600) and to all Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals (n = 119). The survey asked about practices to prevent hospital-acquired UTI and other device-associated infections. Results. The response rate was 72%. Overall, 56% of hospitals did not have a system for monitoring which patients had urinary catheters placed, and 74% did not monitor catheter duration. Thirty percent of hospitals reported regularly using antimicrobial urinary catheters and portable bladder scanners; 14% used condom catheters, and 9% used catheter reminders. VA hospitals were more likely than non-VA hospitals to use portable bladder scanners (49% vs. 29%; P<.001), condom catheters (46% vs. 12%; P<.001), and suprapubic catheters (22% vs. 9%; P<.001); non-VA hospitals were more likely to use antimicrobial urinary catheters (30% vs. 14%; P = .002). Conclusions. Despite the strong link between urinary catheters and subsequent UTI, we found no strategy that appeared to be widely used to prevent hospital-acquired UTI. The most commonly used practices-bladder ultrasound and antimicrobial catheters-were each used in fewer than one-third of hospitals, and urinary catheter reminders, which have proven benefits, were used in <10% of US hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is safe, effective and cost-saving when provided immediately postpartum but currently underutilized due to nonreimbursement by Medicaid and other insurers. The objectives of this study were to (a) determine which state Medicaid agencies provide specific reimbursement for immediate postpartum LARC and (b) identify modifiable policy-level barriers and facilitators of immediate postpartum LARC access.Study Design: We conducted semistructured telephone interviews with representatives of 40 Medicaid agencies to characterize payment methodology for immediate postpartum LARC. We coded transcripts using grounded theory and content analysis principles.Results: Three categories of immediate postpartum LARC payment methodology emerged: state Medicaid agency (a) provides separate or increased bundled payment (n=15), (b) is considering providing enhanced payment (n=9) or (c) is not considering enhanced payment (n=16). Two major themes emerged related to Medicaid decision-making about immediate postpartum LARC coverage: (a) Health effects: States with payment for immediate postpartum LARC frequently cited improved maternal/child health outcomes as motivating their reimbursements. Conversely, states without payment expressed misinformation about LARC's clinical effects and lack of advocacy from local providers about clinical need for this service. (b) Financial implications: States providing payment emphasized overall cost savings. Conversely, states without reimbursement expressed concern about immediate budget constraints and potential adverse impact on existing global payment methodology for inpatient care.Conclusions: Many states have recently provided Medicaid coverage of immediate postpartum LARC, and several other states are considering such coverage. Addressing misinformation about clinical effects and concerns about cost-effectiveness of immediate postpartum LARC may promote adoption of immediate postpartum LARC reimbursement in Medicaid agencies currently without it.Implications: Medicaid policy for reimbursement of immediate postpartum LARC is evolving rapidly across the US. Our findings suggest several concrete strategies to remove policy-level barriers and promote facilitators of immediate postpartum LARC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National Guard soldiers experience high levels of mental health symptoms following deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, yet many do not seek treatment. We interviewed 30 National Guard soldiers with prior deployments to Iraq or Afghanistan to assess mental health treatment barriers and the role of peers in treatment engagement. Interview transcripts were analyzed by a multidisciplinary research team using techniques drawn from grounded theory. The following themes were identified: (1) personal acceptance of having a mental health problem rather than treatment access is the major barrier to treatment entry; (2) tightly connected, supportive peer networks can decrease stigma related to mental health problems and encourage treatment; however, soldiers in impoverished or conflicted peer networks are less likely to receive these benefits; and (3) soldiers are generally positive about the idea of peer-based programs to improve treatment engagement, although they note the importance of leadership support, peer assignment, and unit specialty in implementing these programs. We conclude that some, but not all, naturally occurring peer networks serve to overcome stigma and encourage mental health treatment seeking by soldiers. Formal peer-based programs may assist soldiers not sufficiently benefitting from natural peer networks, although there are barriers to implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Patient safety is a healthcare priority worldwide, with most hospitals engaging in activities to improve care quality, safety and outcomes. Despite these efforts, we have limited understanding of why quality improvement efforts are successful in some hospitals and not others. Using data collected as part of a multi-center study, we closely examined quality improvement efforts and the implementation of recommended practices to prevent central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) in U.S. hospitals. We compare and contrast the experiences among hospitals to better understand ‘how’ and ‘why’ certain hospitals were more successful with practice implementation when taking into consideration specific aspects of the organizational context. This study reveals that among a number of hospitals that focused on implementing practices to prevent CLABSI, the experience and outcomes varied considerably despite using similar implementation strategies. Moreover, our findings provide important insights about how and why different quality improvement strategies might perform across organizations with differing contextual characteristics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) affects over 300,000 individuals per year in the United States with poor survival rates overall. A remarkable 5-fold difference in survival-to-hospital discharge rates exist across United States communities., Methods: We conducted a study using qualitative research methods comparing the system of care across sites in Michigan communities with varying OHCA survival outcomes, as measured by return to spontaneous circulation with pulse upon emergency department arrival., Results: Major themes distinguishing higher performing sites were (1) working as a team, (2) devoting resources to coordination across agencies, and (3) developing a continuous quality improvement culture. These themes spanned the chain of survival framework for OHCA. By examining the unique processes, procedures, and characteristics of higher- relative to lower-performing sites, we gleaned lessons learned that appear to distinguish higher performers. The higher performing sites reported being the most collaborative, due in part to facilitation of system integration by progressive leadership that is willing to build bridges among stakeholders., Conclusions: Based on the distinguishing features of higher performing sites, we provide recommendations for toolkit development to improve survival in prehospital systems of care for OHCA., Competing Interests: Disclosure None reported., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded a 3-year national collaborative focused on facilitating relationships between health care-associated infection (HAI) prevention stakeholders within states and improving HAI prevention activities within hospitals. This program-STRIVE (States Targeting Reduction in Infections via Engagement)-targeted hospitals with elevated rates of common HAIs., Objective: To use qualitative methods to better understand STRIVE's effect on state partner relationships and HAI prevention efforts by hospitals., Design: Qualitative case study, by U.S. state., Setting: 7 of 22 eligible STRIVE state partnerships., Participants: Representatives from state hospital associations, state health departments, and other participating organizations (for example, Quality Innovation Networks-Quality Improvement Organizations), referred to as "state partners.", Measurements: Phone interviews (n = 17) with each organization were conducted, recorded, and transcribed., Results: State partners reported that relationships with each other and with participating hospitals improved through STRIVE participation. The partners saw improvements in hospital-level HAI prevention activities, such as improved auditing and feedback practices and inclusion of environmental services in prevention efforts; however, some noted those improvements may not be reflected in HAI rates. Many partners outlined plans to sustain their partner relationships by working on future state-level initiatives, such as opioid abuse prevention and antimicrobial stewardship., Limitation: Only 7 participating states were included; direct feedback from participating hospitals was not available., Conclusion: Although there were no substantial changes in aggregate HAI rates, STRIVE achieved its goal of improving state partner relationships and coordination. This improved collaboration may lead to a more streamlined response to future HAI outbreaks and public health emergencies., Primary Funding Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Background: An important goal of the patient-centered medical home is increasing timely access for urgent needs, while maintaining continuity. In academic primary care clinics, meeting this goal, along with training medical residents and associated professionals, is challenging., Methods: The aim of this study was to understand how academic primary care clinics provide continuity to patients requesting same-day access and identify factors that may affect site-level success. We conducted qualitative interviews from December 2013-October 2014 with primary care leadership involved with residency programs at 19 Veterans Health Administration academically-affiliated medical centers. Interview recordings were transcribed verbatim. To analyze the data, we created comprehensive, structured transcript summaries for each site. Site summaries were then entered into NVivo 10 software and coded by main categories to facilitate within-case and cross-case analyses. Themes and patterns across sites were identified using matrix analysis., Results: Interviewees found it challenging to provide continuity for same-day in-person visits. Most sites took a team-based approach to ensure continuity and provide coverage for same-day access, notably using NPs, PAs, and RNs in their coverage algorithms. Further, they reported several adaptations that increased multiple types of continuity for walk-in patients, urgent care between in-person visits, and follow-up care. While this study focused on longitudinal continuity, both by individual PCPs or by a team of professionals, informational continuity and continuity of supervision, as well as, to a lesser extent, relational and management continuity, were also addressed in our interviews. Finally, most interviewees reported clinic intention to provide patient-centered, team-based care and a robust educational experience for trainees, and endeavored to structure their clinics in ways that align these two missions., Conclusions: In contending with the tension between providing continuity and educating new clinicians, clinics have re-conceptualized continuity as team-based, creating alternative strategies to same-day visits with a usual provider, coupled with communication strategies. Understanding the effect of these strategies on different types of continuity as well as patient experience and outcomes are key next steps in the further development and dissemination of effective models for improving continuity and the transition to team-based care in the academic clinic setting.

Background: Men with prostate cancer are often castrated with long-acting injectable drugs termed androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Although many benefit, ADT is also used in patients with little or nothing to gain. The best ways to stop this practice are unknown, and range from blunt pharmacy restrictions to informed decision-making. This study will refine and pilot two different de-implementation strategies for reducing ADT use among those unlikely to benefit in preparation for a comparative effectiveness trial., Methods/design: This innovative mixed methods research program has three aims. Aim 1: To assess preferences and barriers for de-implementation of chemical castration in prostate cancer. Guided by the theoretical domains framework (TDF), urologists and patients from facilities with the highest and lowest castration rates across the VA will be interviewed to identify key preferences and de-implementation barriers for reducing castration as prostate cancer treatment. This qualitative work will inform Aim 2 while gathering rich information for two proposed pilot intervention strategies. Aim 2: To use a discrete choice experiment (DCE), a novel barrier prioritization approach, for de-implementation strategy tailoring. The investigators will conduct national surveys of urologists to prioritize key barriers identified in Aim 1 for stopping incident castration as localized prostate cancer treatment using a DCE experiment design. These quantitative results will identify the most important barriers to be addressed through tailoring of two pilot de-implementation strategies in preparation for Aim 3 piloting. Aim 3: To pilot two tailored de-implementation strategies to reduce castration as localized prostate cancer treatment. Building on findings from Aims 1 and 2, two de-implementation strategies will be piloted. One strategy will focus on formulary restriction at the organizational level and the other on physician/patient informed decision-making at different facilities. Outcomes will include acceptability, feasibility, and scalability in preparation for an effectiveness trial comparing these two widely varying de-implementation strategies., Discussion: Our innovative approach to de-implementation strategy development is directly aligned with state-of-the-art complex implementation intervention development and implementation science. This work will broadly advance de-implementation science for low value cancer care, and foster participation in our de-implementation evaluation trial by addressing barriers, facilitators, and concerns through pilot tailoring., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03579680 , First Posted July 6, 2018.

Background: Nearly 20% of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients present with potentially incurable (Stage IV) disease, yet their physicians do not integrate cancer treatment with palliative care. Compared with patients treated by primary providers, surgical patients with terminal diseases are significantly less likely to receive palliative or end-of-life care., Objective: To describe surgeon perspectives on palliative and end-of-life care for patients with Stage IV CRCs., Design: This is a convergent mixed methods study using a validated survey instrument from the Critical Care Peer Workgroup of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care Project with additional qualitative questions., Settings: Participants were all current, nonretired members of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons., Main Outcome Measures: Surgeon-perceived barriers to palliative and end-of-life care for patients with Stage IV CRCs were identified., Results: Among 131 Internet survey respondents (response rate 16.5%), 76.1% reported no formal education in palliative care, and specifically noted inadequate training in techniques to forgo life-sustaining measures (37.9%) and communication (42.7%). Over half (61.8%) of surgeons cited unrealistic expectations among patients and families as a barrier to care, which also limited discussion of palliation. At the system level, absence of documentation, appropriate processes, and culture hindered the initiation of palliative care. Thematic analysis of open-ended questions confirmed and extended these findings through the following major barriers to palliative and end-of-life care: (1) surgeon knowledge and training; (2) communication challenges; (3) difficulty with prognostication; (4) patient and family factors encompassing unrealistic expectations and discordant preferences; and (5) systemic issues including culture and lack of documentation and appropriate resources., Limitations: Generalizability is limited by the small sample size inherent to Internet surveys, which may contribute to selection bias., Conclusions: Surgeons valued palliative and end-of-life care but reported multilevel barriers to its provision. These data will inform strategies to reduce these perceived barriers.

Background: In 2010, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) began implementation of its medical home, Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT), in 900 primary care clinics nationwide, with 120 located in academically affiliated medical centers. The literature on Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) implementation has focused mainly on small, nonacademic practices., Objective: To understand the experiences of primary care leadership, physicians and staff during early PACT implementation in a VHA academically affiliated primary care clinic and provide insights to guide future PCMH implementation., Design: We conducted a qualitative case study during early PACT implementation., Participants: Primary care clinical leadership, primary care providers, residents, and staff., Approach: Between February 2011 and March 2012, we conducted 22 semi-structured interviews, purposively sampling participants by clinic role, and convenience sampling within role. We also conducted observations of 30 nurse case manager staff meetings, and collected data on growth in the number of patients, staff, and physicians. We used a template organizing approach to data analysis, using select constructs from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR)., Key Results: Establishing foundational requirements was an essential first step in implementing the PACT model, with teamlets able to do practice redesign work. Short-staffing undermined development of teamlet working relationships. Lack of co-location of teamlet members in clinic and difficulty communicating with residents when they were off-site hampered communication. Opportunities to educate and reinforce PACT principles were constrained by the limited clinic hours of part-time primary care providers and residents, and delays in teamlet formation., Conclusions: Large academic medical centers face special challenges in implementing the medical home model. In an era of increasing emphasis on patient-centered care, our findings will inform efforts to both improve patient care and train clinicians to move from physician-centric to multidisciplinary care delivery.

Importance: Preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), a common health care-associated infection, is important for improving the care of hospitalized patients and in meeting the goals for reduction of health care-associated infections set by the US Department of Health and Human Services., Objective: To identify ways to enhance CAUTI prevention efforts based on the experiences of hospitals participating in the Michigan Health and Hospital Association Keystone Center for Patient Safety statewide program to reduce unnecessary use of urinary catheters (the Bladder Bundle)., Design: Qualitative assessment of data collected through semistructured telephone interviews with key informants at 12 hospitals and in-person interviews and site visits at 3 of the 12 hospitals. The analysis focused on perceptions and key issues identified by hospitals as influencing implementation of CAUTI prevention practices as recommended by the Bladder Bundle initiative., Setting: Twelve purposefully sampled hospitals in Michigan., Participants: Key informants including infection preventionists, clinical personnel, and senior executives., Results: Common barriers to Bladder Bundle implementation and appropriate urinary catheter use included (1) difficulty with nurse and physician engagement, (2) patient and family request for indwelling catheters, and (3) catheter insertion practices and customs in the emergency department. Strategies to address these barriers were also identified by several of the participating hospitals, including (1) incorporating urinary management (eg, planned toileting) as part of other patient safety programs, such as a fall reduction program, (2) explicitly discussing the risks of indwelling urinary catheters with patients and families, and (3) engaging with emergency department nurses and physicians to implement a process that ensures that appropriate indications for catheter use are followed., Conclusions and Relevance: The Bladder Bundle program provides a model for implementing strategies to reduce CAUTI. These findings provide actionable information to inform CAUTI prevention-related activities in hospitals throughout the country.

Objectives: The majority of VA patient suicides are completed with firearms. Interventions that delay patients' gun access during high-risk periods may reduce suicide, but may not be acceptable to VA stakeholders or may be challenging to implement. Using qualitative methods, stakeholders' perceptions about gun safety and interventions to delay gun access during high-risk periods were explored., Methods: Ten focus groups and four individual interviews were conducted with key stakeholders, including VA mental health patients, mental health clinicians, family members and VA facility leaders (N=60). Transcripts were consensus-coded by two independent coders, and structured summaries were developed and reviewed using a consensus process., Results: All stakeholder groups indicated that VA health system providers had a role in increasing patient safety and emphasized the need for providers to address gun access with their at-risk patients. However, VA mental health patients and clinicians reported limited discussion regarding gun access in VA mental health settings during routine care. Most, although not all, patients and clinicians indicated that routine screening for gun access was acceptable, with several noting that it was more acceptable for mental health patients. Most participants suggested that family and friends be involved in reducing gun access, but expressed concerns about potential family member safety. Participants generally found distribution of trigger locks acceptable, but were skeptical about its effectiveness. Involving Veteran Service Organizations or other individuals in temporarily holding guns during high-risk periods was acceptable to many participants but only with numerous caveats., Conclusions: Patients, clinicians and family members consider the VA health system to have a legitimate role in addressing gun safety. Several measures to delay gun access during high-risk periods for suicide were seen as acceptable and feasible if implemented thoughtfully., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Most women with depression around the time of childbearing are not treated adequately, or at all. Clinical practice guidelines focus primarily on provision of information rather than on interaction factors. In this study, we explored clinician interactional style characteristics contributing to patient response to perinatal depression referral and treatment. Stratified purposeful sampling resulted in 23 participants selected by pregnancy, socioeconomic, and depression status. Participants completed semistructured interviews exploring their experiences with and preferences for clinician interactional style characteristics in the context of obstetrics-setting referral and delivery of depression treatment. Thematic analysis revealed a central theme related to interactional cues that influence women's reactions to clinical encounters, summarized by the question, "Can this person help me?" Women evaluated this question in four domains: feeling heard, developing trust in the clinician, perceiving technical competence in the clinician, and feeling that the intervention focus is effectively chosen and communicated. Our results imply that, in addition to informational factors, the way in which clinicians interact with patients about depression might strongly influence patient responses.

Objective: We conducted a qualitative study to understand how prenatal care providers perceive influences on their delivery of perinatal depression care. Given that depression screening protocols were in place at the clinics where we sampled providers, we hypothesized that clinic- and system-level factors such as resources, training opportunities and coordination would be dominant in influencing provider decisions., Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews with 20 prenatal care providers from six obstetric clinics. We performed a thematic analysis, including within-case and cross-case comparisons, and built a conceptual model of provider decision making from the data., Results: Although depression screening protocols were in place at our study clinics, we found that decisions to address perinatal depression were largely made at the level of the individual provider and were undefined on a clinic level, resulting in highly variable practice patterns. In addition, while providers acknowledged externally derived influences, such as logistical resources and coordination of care, they spoke of internally derived influences, including familiarity with consultants, personal engagement styles and perceptions of role identity, as more directly relevant to their decision making., Conclusion: Our results highlight the pivotal role of internal factors in decisions to deliver perinatal depression care. Future interventions in obstetric settings should target the intrinsic motivations of providers., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Healthcare-associated infection (HAI) is costly and causes substantial morbidity. We sought to understand why some hospitals were engaged in HAI prevention activities while others were not. Because preliminary data indicated that hospital leadership played an important role, we sought better to understand which behaviors are exhibited by leaders who are successful at implementing HAI prevention practices in US hospitals., Methods: We report phases 2 and 3 of a 3-phase study. In phase 2, 14 purposefully sampled US hospitals were selected from among the 72% of 700 invited hospitals whose lead infection preventionist had completed a quantitative survey on HAI prevention during phase 1. Qualitative data were collected during 38 semistructured phone interviews with key personnel at the 14 hospitals. During phase 3, we conducted 48 interviews during 6 in-person site visits to identify recurrent and unifying themes that characterize behaviors of successful leaders., Results: We found that successful leaders (1) cultivated a culture of clinical excellence and effectively communicated it to staff; (2) focused on overcoming barriers and dealt directly with resistant staff or process issues that impeded prevention of HAI; (3) inspired their employees; and (4) thought strategically while acting locally, which involved politicking before crucial committee votes, leveraging personal prestige to move initiatives forward, and forming partnerships across disciplines. Hospital epidemiologists and infection preventionists often played more important leadership roles in their hospital's patient safety activities than did senior executives., Conclusions: Leadership plays an important role in infection prevention activities. The behaviors of successful leaders could be adopted by others who seek to prevent HAI.

Background: Family support is important in diabetes self-management. However, children as providers of support have received little attention. This study examines the role of children in their parents' diabetes self-management, diet, and exercise., Methods: This research used community-based participatory research principles. Researchers conducted semi-structured parallel interviews of 24 Latino and African-American adults with diabetes and with a child (aged 10-17 years) in their home (2004-2006). Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for themes (2004-2007)., Results: Adults and children perceived that children play many roles related to adults' diabetes self-management. Parents described children as monitoring parents' dietary intake and reminding them what they should not be eating. Some children helped with shopping and meal preparation. Families described children reminding parents to exercise and exercising with their parents. Children reminded parents about medications and assisted with tasks such as checking blood sugar. Parents and children perceived that children played a role in tempting parents to stray from their diabetes diet, because children's diets included food that parents desired but tried to avoid., Conclusions: Children and parents perceived that children have many roles in both supporting and undermining adults' diabetes self-management. There is more to learn about the bi-directional relationships between adults and children in this setting, and the most beneficial roles children can play. Healthcare providers should encourage family lifestyle changes, strengthen social support for families, and direct children toward roles that are beneficial for both parent and child without placing an unreasonable level of responsibility on the child.

Infection control professionals and hospital epidemiologists are accustomed to using quantitative research. Although quantitative studies are extremely important in the field of infection control and prevention, often they cannot help us explain why certain factors affect the use of infection control practices and identify the underlying mechanisms through which they do so. Qualitative research methods, which use open-ended techniques, such as interviews, to collect data and nonstatistical techniques to analyze it, provide detailed, diverse insights of individuals, useful quotes that bring a realism to applied research, and information about how different health care settings operate. Qualitative research can illuminate the processes underlying statistical correlations, inform the development of interventions, and show how interventions work to produce observed outcomes. This article describes the key features of qualitative research and the advantages that such features add to existing quantitative research approaches in the study of infection control. We address the goal of qualitative research, the nature of the research process, sampling, data collection and analysis, validity, generalizability of findings, and presentation of findings. Health services researchers are increasingly using qualitative methods to address practical problems by uncovering interacting influences in complex health care environments. Qualitative research methods, applied with expertise and rigor, can contribute important insights to infection prevention efforts.

Objective: To determine what practices are used by hospitals to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and, through qualitative methods, to understand more fully why hospitals use certain practices and not others., Design: Mixed-methods, sequential explanatory study., Methods: We mailed a survey to the lead infection control professionals at 719 US hospitals (119 Department of Veterans Affairs [VA] hospitals and 600 non-VA hospitals), to determine what practices are used to prevent VAP. We then selected 14 hospitals for an in-depth qualitative investigation, to ascertain why certain infection control practices are used and others not, interviewing 86 staff members and visiting 6 hospitals., Results: The survey response rate was 72%; 83% of hospitals reported using semirecumbent positioning, and only 21% reported using subglottic secretion drainage. Multivariable analyses indicated collaborative initiatives were associated with the use of semirecumbent positioning but provided little guidance regarding the use of subglottic secretion drainage. Qualitative analysis, however, revealed 3 themes: (1) collaboratives strongly influence the use of semirecumbent positioning but have little effect on the use of subglottic secretion drainage; (2) nurses play a major role in the use of semirecumbent positioning, but they are only minimally involved with the use of subglottic secretion drainage; and (3) there is considerable debate about the evidence supporting subglottic secretion drainage, despite a meta-analysis of 5 randomized trials of subglottic secretion drainage that generally supported this preventive practice, compared with only 2 published randomized trials of semirecumbent positioning, one of which concluded that it was ineffective at preventing the development of VAP. CONCLUSION. Semirecumbent positioning is commonly used to prevent VAP, whereas subglottic secretion drainage is used far less often. We need to understand better how evidence related to prevention practices is identified, interpreted, and used to ensure that research findings are reliably translated into clinical practice.

Objective: To examine adult-child interactions related to soda consumption in families where 1 inner-city African-American or Latino adult with diabetes is attempting lifestyle changes., Methods: The study used semistructured individual interviews of adults and a child (age 10-17) in their home. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, coded and analyzed for themes., Results: We completed 28 interviews (14 adult-child pairs). Most adults in this group reduced or stopped drinking nondiet soda. Some parents included their children in that change by removing nondiet soda from the household and by delivering messages regarding soda to their children. Some children obtained soda outside the home. Sweetened fruit drinks remained in some households even after nondiet soda was removed. Nonetheless, many children reported adjusting to the lack of soda in the household and a lower intake of nondiet soda and sweetened fruit drinks, in contrast to continued high consumption of sweets and fried food., Conclusions: These in-depth family interviews suggest that interventions intended to change adult consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages may also benefit their children, and this hypothesis merits further investigation in larger studies. A new diabetes diagnosis may motivate adults toward dietary change and provide opportunities to improve overall family health. Healthcare providers should emphasize decreasing availability of soda for everyone in the home.

Objective: Although urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common hospital-acquired infection, there is little information about why hospitals use or do not use a range of available preventive practices. We thus conducted a multicenter study to understand better how US hospitals approach the prevention of hospital-acquired UTI., Methods: This research is part of a larger study employing both quantitative and qualitative methods. The qualitative phase consisted of 38 semistructured phone interviews with key personnel at 14 purposefully sampled US hospitals and 39 in-person interviews at 5 of those 14 hospitals, to identify recurrent and unifying themes that characterize how hospitals have addressed hospital-acquired UTI., Results: Four recurrent themes emerged from our study data. First, although preventing hospital-acquired UTI was a low priority for most hospitals, there was substantial recognition of the value of early removal of a urinary catheter for patients. Second, those hospitals that made UTI prevention a high priority also focused on noninfectious complications and had committed advocates, or "champions," who facilitated prevention activities. Third, hospital-specific pilot studies were important in deciding whether or not to use devices such as antimicrobial-impregnated catheters. Finally, external forces, such as public reporting, influenced UTI surveillance and infection prevention activities., Conclusions: Clinicians and policy makers can use our findings to develop initiatives that, for example, use a champion to promote the removal of unnecessary urinary catheters or exploit external forces, such public reporting, to enhance patient safety.

Objective: To examine the extent to which US acute care hospitals have adopted recommended practices to prevent central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections (CR-BSIs)., Participants and Methods: Between March 16, 2005, and August 1, 2005, a survey of infection control coordinators was conducted at a national random sample of nonfederal hospitals with an intensive care unit and more than 50 hospital beds (n=600) and at all Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers (n=119). Primary outcomes were regular use of 5 specific practices and a composite approach for preventing CR-BSIs., Results: The overall survey response rate was 72% (n=516). A higher percentage of VA compared to non-VA hospitals reported using maximal sterile barrier precautions (84% vs 71%; P=.01); chlorhexidine gluconate for insertion site antisepsis (91% vs 69%; P<.001); and a composite approach (62% vs 44%; P=.003) combining concurrent use of maximal sterile barrier precautions, chlorhexidine gluconate, and avoidance of routine central line changes. Those hospitals having a higher safety culture score, having a certified infection control professional, and participating in an infection prevention collaborative were more likely to use CR-BSI prevention practices., Conclusion: Most US hospitals are using maximal sterile barrier precautions and chlorhexidine gluconate, 2 of the most strongly recommended practices to prevent CR-BSIs. However, fewer than half of non-VA US hospitals reported concurrent use of maximal sterile barrier precautions, chlorhexidine gluconate, and avoidance of routine central line changes. Wider use of CR-BSI prevention practices by hospitals could be encouraged by fostering a culture of safety, participating in infection prevention collaboratives, and promoting infection control professional certification.

Infection control professionals and hospital epidemiologists, using the valid methods of applied epidemiology-surveillance, benchmarking, intervention, evaluation--have largely been responsible for dramatically reducing the incidence of health care-associated infections over the past several decades. However, we believe that the field of infection control can--and should--also be a leader in understanding how research findings can be efficiently and effectively translated into clinical practice. Unfortunately, there is no current reliable information about which preventive practices are being used in US hospitals to prevent common device-related infections. If we are to understand how best to translate research into practice, the reasons hospitals are using some preventive practices-or are not-must be explored more fully. This article provides a framework for one proposed research endeavor to promote the successful translation of proven infection prevention practices and a subsequent decrease in health care-associated infections. In addition, we hope that this article will stimulate increased interest and research in identifying strategies that will successfully move evidence from the peer-reviewed literature to the patient's bedside.