Search

To understand the challenges in delivering comprehensive care for patients recovering from stroke in Guangdong Province, China. A cross-sectional qualitative study was conducted in two tertiary hospitals with different socio-economic characteristics in Guangdong Province, Southern China. Interviews were conducted with 16 stroke care providers including doctors, nurses, rehabilitation therapists and care workers. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and translated from Mandarin to English. Thematic analysis was used to draw out descriptive and analytical themes relating to care providers' experiences of existing routine stroke care services and the perceptions of challenges in delivering comprehensive stroke care. The interviews with stroke care providers highlighted three key factors that hinder the capacity of the two hospitals to deliver comprehensive stroke care. First, expertise and knowledge regarding stroke and stroke care are lacking among both providers and patients; second, stroke care systems are not fully integrated, with inadequate coordination of the stroke team and inconsistency in care following discharge of stroke patients; third, stroke patients have insufficient social support. While comprehensive stroke care has become a priority in China, our study highlights some important gaps in the current provision of stroke care. Comprehensive integrated stroke care is essential to maximize the effectiveness of stroke services and in China it needs to be further improved. Multidisciplinary stroke care systems should strengthen collaborations across all relevant disciplines and should include a clear role for registered nurses. Follow-up care after discharge needs more engagement with family caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Covid-19 crisis has created new and difficult working conditions for all frontline healthcare staff and leaders. Ward managers in particular have faced significant challenges. The practice development initiative described in this article began at a hospital in Denmark immediately after the country's first Covid-19 wave. The hospital has person-centredness as its vision for care and research. Aim: The purpose of this article is to offer a reflection on the ways in which our research and its findings enabled us to learn from the experiences of ward managers so as to support them and strengthen their network during a difficult time, using principles of practice development. Conclusion and implications for practice: The evidence produced in the project was found to be relevant to leadership practice by the ward managers and led to a strengthened position at a time of crisis. This implies that: • It is possible to establish collaborative and useful evidence for clinical practice under difficult circumstances • • By using principles of practice development it is possible to facilitate constructive dialogues between ward managers and executive managers • At a time of a major crisis, the role of ward managers should not be underestimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]