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Biomedical subjects

Mary Cadogan

Publications and source records attributed to Mary Cadogan.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Improving end-of-life care in nursing facilities: the Community State Partnership To Improve End-of-Life Care--California.

BACKGROUND: The California Coalition for Compassionate Care formed in 1998 when activists and organizational leaders in several arenas sought to link their efforts for synergistic impact on end-of-life care and to obtain funding to sustain their forward momentum and collaboration. The Coalition focused on public engagement, professional education, and reforms in skilled nursing facilities. With skilled nursing facilities, the Coalition's work built on the efforts of the ECHO (Extreme Care, Human Options) Long Term Care Task Force, which served as a precursor to the Coalition. OBJECTIVE: The Coalition's objective was to assist committed facilities in devising processes of care that would operationalize basic end-of-life care principles in a manner specific to their particular facility. DESIGN: The Coalition recruited three-member leadership teams from nursing facilities throughout California to attend a 2-day training program, write an action plan, and receive 6 months of modest follow-up support. To assess its success, the group used posttraining evaluations, a follow-up evaluation, a focus group, and informal feedback over several years to assess the dynamics, achievements, and challenges of their efforts. RESULTS: In 2000-2002 the training reached 298 people representing 109 nursing facilities and each district office of the nursing facility surveyors. Response to the training was enthusiastic. Self-reported improvements in 27 care practices were best in the areas of pain assessment and management. Completion of nursing facilities' self-identified action plans varied widely. Participants generally perceived the commitment to improving end-of-life care as a vehicle for improving the overall care and quality management in nursing facilities. CONCLUSIONS: The specific challenges of organizational change in nursing facilities require sustained, focused leadership and hands-on guidance to overcome the inevitable barriers and setbacks. The Coalition's experience confirms that coalitions depend upon personal commitments and relationships, a focus on practical products, and a consistent infrastructure.

Advisory Committees↗

The minimum data set prevalence of restraint quality indicator: does it reflect differences in care?

PURPOSE: This study investigated whether the use of restraining devices and related measures of care quality are different in nursing homes that score in the upper and lower quartiles on the Minimum Data Set (MDS) "prevalence of restraint" quality indicator, which assesses daily use of restraining devices when residents are out of bed. DESIGN AND METHODS: The study was a cross-sectional study, with 413 residents in 14 nursing facilities. Eight homes scored in the lower quartile (25th percentile; low prevalence, 0-5%) on the MDS restraint prevalence quality indicator, and six homes scored in the upper quartile (75th percentile; high prevalence, 28-48%). Eight care processes related to the management of restraints and gait and balance problems were defined and operationalized into clinical indicators. Research staff conducted direct observations during three 12-hr days (7 a.m.-7 p.m.) to determine the prevalence of restraining devices and identify resident and staff behaviors that may be affected by restraint use. RESULTS: Residents in high-restraint homes were in bed during the day on more observations than residents in low-restraint homes (44% vs. 33%; p <.001), were more frequently observed with bed rails in use (74% of residents vs. 64% of residents; p <.03), and received less feeding assistance during meals (2.7 min vs. 4.1 min; p <.001). There were no differences between homes in the use of out-of-bed restraints, nor were there any differences on any care process measure related to the management of restraints, gait and balance problems, or measures of physical or social activity. IMPLICATIONS: A home's score on the MDS-generated prevalence of restraint quality indicator was not associated with differences in the use of restraints, physical activity, or any care process measure when residents were out of bed. However, there were differences in the use of in-bed restraining devices, and residents in high-restraint homes were in bed more often during the day. These differences were associated with poor feeding assistance and reflect important differences in quality of care between homes, even though these differences are not what the restraint prevalence quality indicator purports to measure. Methods to monitor and improve the quality of care related to exercise, in-bed times, and resident freedom of movement are discussed.

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Relationship of nursing home staffing to quality of care.

OBJECTIVE: To compare nursing homes (NHs) that report different staffing statistics on quality of care. DATA SOURCES: Staffing information generated by California NHs on state cost reports and during onsite interviews. Data independently collected by research staff describing quality of care related to 27 care processes. STUDY DESIGN: Two groups of NHs (n=21) that reported significantly different and stable staffing data from all data sources were compared on quality of care measures. DATA COLLECTION: Direct observation, resident and staff interview, and chart abstraction methods. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Staff in the highest staffed homes (n=6), according to state cost reports, reported significantly lower resident care loads during onsite interviews across day and evening shifts (7.6 residents per nurse aide [NA]) compared to the remaining homes that reported between 9 to 10 residents per NA (n=15). The highest-staffed homes performed significantly better on 13 of 16 care processes implemented by NAs compared to lower-staffed homes. CONCLUSION: The highest-staffed NHs reported significantly lower resident care loads on all staffing reports and provided better care than all other homes.

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Standardized quality-assessment system to evaluate pressure ulcer care in the nursing home.

OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate reliability and feasibility of a standardized protocol to assess and score quality indicators relevant to pressure ulcer (PU) care processes in nursing homes (NHs). DESIGN: Descriptive. SETTING: Eight NHs. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred ninety-one NH residents for whom the PU Resident Assessment Protocol of the Minimum Data Set was initiated. MEASUREMENTS: Nine quality indicators (two related to screening and prevention of PU, two focused on assessment, and five addressing management) were scored using medical record data, direct human observation, and wireless thigh monitor observation data. Feasibility and reliability of medical record, observation, and thigh monitor protocols were determined. RESULTS: The percentage of participants who passed each of the indicators, indicating care consistent with practice guidelines, ranged from 0% to 98% across all indicators. In general, participants in NHs passed fewer indicators and had more problems with medical record accuracy before a PU was detected (screening/prevention indicators) than they did once an ulcer was documented (assessment and management indicators). Reliability of the medical record protocol showed kappa statistics ranging from 0.689 to 1.00 and percentage agreement from 80% to 100%. Direct observation protocols yielded kappa statistics of 0.979 and 0.928. Thigh monitor protocols showed kappa statistics ranging from 0.609 to 0.842. Training was variable, with the observation protocol requiring 1 to 2 hours, medical records requiring joint review of 20 charts with average time to complete the review of 20 minutes, and the thigh monitor data requiring 1 week for training in data preparation and interpretation. CONCLUSION: The standardized quality assessment system generated scores for nine PU quality indicators with good reliability and provided explicit scoring rules that permit reproducible conclusions about PU care. The focus of the indicators on care processes that are under the control of NH staff made the protocol useful for external survey and internal quality improvement purposes, and the thigh monitor observational technology provided a method for monitoring repositioning care processes that were otherwise difficult to monitor and manage.

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The minimum data set pressure ulcer indicator: does it reflect differences in care processes related to pressure ulcer prevention and treatment in nursing homes?

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether nursing homes (NHs) that score in the extreme quartiles of pressure ulcer (PU) prevalence as reported on the Minimum Data Set (MDS) PU quality indicator provide different PU care. DESIGN: Descriptive, cohort. SETTING: Sixteen NHs. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred twenty-nine NH residents at risk for PU development as determined by the PU Resident Assessment Protocol of the MDS. MEASUREMENTS: : Sixteen care process quality indicators (10 specific to PU care processes, five related to nutrition, and one related to incontinence management) were scored using medical record data, direct human observation, interviews, and data from wireless thigh movement monitors. RESULTS: There were no differences between homes with low- and high-PU prevalence rates reported on the MDS PU quality indicator on most care processes. NHs with high PU prevalence rates used pressure-reduction surfaces more frequently and were better at documentation of four wound characteristics when PUs were present. No measure of PU care processes was better in low-PU NHs. Neither low- nor high-PU prevalence NHs routinely repositioned residents every 2 hours, even though 2-hour repositioning was documented in the medical record for nearly all residents. CONCLUSION: The assumption that homes with fewer PUs and thus low PU prevalence according to the MDS PU quality indicator are providing better PU care was not supported in this sample. NHs that scored low on the MDS PU quality indicator did not provide significantly better care than NHs that scored high. All NHs could improve PU prevention, as evidenced by the poor performance on prevention care processes by low- and high-PU NHs. The MDS PU quality indicator is not a useful measure of the quality of PU care in NHs and can be misleading if not presented with an explanation of the meaning of the indicator.

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The Minimum Data Set bedfast quality indicator: differences among nursing homes.

BACKGROUND: Excessive time in bed has negative effects on both physical conditioning and functioning. There are no data or practice guidelines relevant to how nurses should manage the in-bed times of nursing home residents, although all nursing homes receive a bedfast prevalence quality indicator report generated from the Minimum Data Set. OBJECTIVES: To compare nursing homes that score in the upper and lower quartiles on the Minimum Data Set bedfast prevalence quality indicator for proportion of bedfast residents, activity and mobility nursing care, and amount of time all residents spend in bed, and to evaluate whether residents who spend more time in bed are different from those who spend less time in bed according to functional measures. METHODS: A cohort design used medical records, resident interviews, and direct observation data to compare 15 nursing homes (n = 451 residents) on the proportion of bedfast residents, the amount of time residents spent in bed, the frequency of activity, and the scores on six activity and mobility care process indicators. RESULTS: Significant differences were found between upper (i.e., higher prevalence of bedfast residents) and lower quartile nursing homes in the proportion of time residents were observed in bed (43% vs. 34%, respectively; p =.007), and in the proportion of residents who spent more than 22 hours in bed per day (18% vs. 8%, respectively; p =.002). All nursing homes underestimated the number of bedfast residents. The residents of upper quartile homes showed more activity episodes and reported receiving more walking assistance than the residents of lower quartile homes. DISCUSSION: Minimum Data Set bedfast quality indicator identified nursing homes in which residents spent more time in bed, but did not reflect differences in activity and mobility care. In fact, upper quartile homes provided more activity and mobility care than lower quartile homes. Across all the nursing homes, most of the residents spent at least 17 hours a day in bed. Further study of activity and mobility care and bedfast outcomes in nursing homes is needed, and nurses need to note the amount of time nursing home residents spend in bed.

Activities of Daily Living↗