Professional nurses must demonstrate sensitivity to and understanding of a variety of cultures within United States (US) healthcare systems. Such skillsets are needed for the provision of high-quality nursing care across the entire spectrum of healthcare. Nurses are challenged to provide holistic care that is congruent with each patient's beliefs,…

The evaluation results of the Orthogeriatric Unit at Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria Hospital, Tenerife, Canary Islands, are set out in this paper. The fundamental aim has been the assessment of comprehensive rehabilitation and the improvement of quality of life, which would allow a faster discharge process for patients over 65 years of age. A…

A search on Amazon revealed more than 6,000 books related to leadership development. The Business Source database has more than 700 articles with the word leadership in the title, published between 2005 and 2015. This suggests that leadership is a topic in which many are interested. Clearly, leadership makes a difference in an organization's…

A cooperative educational program with the U.S. military is described to illustrate a unique opportunity that confronted a graduate healthcare management program. The resulting degree program supported the military's operational medical mission but also presented interesting and unexpected challenges resulting from the wars in Iraq and…

This account of practice outlines how action learning was used as the key component of a leadership development initiative for managers in an acute hospital setting. It explains how the initiative was conceived, why action learning was chosen and how action learning principles were incorporated. Insights into the outcomes and considerations for…

The Purdue Technical Assistance Program (TAP) offers a model of university engagement and service that is achieving technology adoption and performance improvement impacts in healthcare, manufacturing, government, and other sectors. The TAP model focuses on understanding and meeting the changing and challenging needs of those served, always…

This study aimed to examine the implementation, adequacy, and outcomes of discharge planning. The authors carried out a prospective study of 1,426 adult patients discharged from 11 acute care hospitals in Israel. Social workers provided detailed discharge plans on each patient. Telephone interviews were conducted two weeks post-discharge. Findings…

The impact of a newly instituted prime vendor (wholesaler) pharmaceutical system at Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals was studied at 33 VA centers and 32 matched comparison hospitals. Results indicate satisfaction with the new system and illustrate the solutions to some interesting evaluation problems. (SLD)

Describes University Hospital's (Louisville, Kentucky), implementation and evaluation of a Consumer Oriented Relations Education program to re-conceptualize relationships between "patients as consumers" and staff, translate objectives of excellent patient care into consumer-oriented attitudes, reduce dissatisfaction and increase…

Action Learning is now a well established strategy for reflective inquiry in healthcare. Whilst a great deal is know about action learning there has been inadequate research on the process of learning that takes place, and the impact that this holds for individuals, groups or organisations. This article reports on the findings of 15-month action…

The purpose of this monograph is to discuss employee incentive plans with a potential for cost containment in order to assist hospitals in providing efficient and effective delivery of health care. Based on an examination of employee incentive systems both in and outside the health care field, the information is intended to aid the administrative…

Defines and describes different types of audits and areas of patient care which lend themselves to a quality of performance review. Describes an audit application at a hospital-based crisis intervention center and the corrective action taken on the basis of the findings. (Author)

Topics included in this annotated bibliography on patient education are (1) background on development of patient education programs, (2) patient education interventions, (3) references for health professionals, and (4) research and evaluation in patient education. (TA)

This report contains brief descriptions of seven evaluative efforts and outcomes of health education programs, some considerations of problems encountered in evaluating the programs, and detailed descriptions of two case studies: (1) a process evaluation of preoperative teaching and (2) a retrospective study of visiting nurse association use by…

This article describes the evaluation of a comprehensive school-based asthma management program in an inner-city, largely African-American school system. All 54 elementary schools (combined enrollment 13,247 students) from a single urban school system participated in this study. Schools were randomly divided between immediate and delayed…