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Biomedical subjects

Paul Arbon

Publications and source records attributed to Paul Arbon.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Australian issues in the provision of after-hours primary medical care services in rural communities.

OBJECTIVE: In 2003 the Rural Doctors Workforce Agency in South Australia (SA) facilitated the 'SA Rural Hospital After Hours Triage Education and Training Program'. It was designed to improve communication between rural general practitioners (GPs) and nurses undertaking after-hours triage, provide training in triage for rural nurses and develop local collaborative after-hours primary medical care models that can be applied in other settings. DESIGN: The program consisted of a series of three workshops. The first workshop provided an opportunity for GPs and nurses to discuss local issues relating to after-hours primary medical care service delivery. This was followed by a one-day workshop on triage for nurses. A follow-up refresher workshop was conducted approximately six months later. SETTING: Twenty-three rural communities in SA. PARTICIPANTS: Rural GPs and nurses working in rural communities. RESULTS: This paper reports on the issues highlighted by clinicians in providing after-hours primary medical care in rural and remote communities. These included community expectations, systems of care, scope of practice, private practice/public hospital interface, and medico legal issues. CONCLUSION: The issues facing after-hours health services in rural communities are not new. There are many opportunities for improvement of systems. A formal program including workshops and training has provided a useful forum to commence service improvements.

After-Hours Care↗
PubMed2006

The role of the breast care nurse during treatment for early breast cancer: the patient's perspective.

INTRODUCTION: Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer require the support of a range of people during their treatment. Although the role of the breast care nurse in providing support has recently been investigated in several Australian studies the patients' perspective on the role of the breast care nurse in Australian hospitals has not previously been described in detail. The aim of this paper is to explore patients' perspectives on the role of the breast care nurse. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 women who had completed treatment for early breast cancer. The women were asked to describe their experiences from the time of diagnosis through to treatment completion. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. FINDINGS: Breast cancer patients repeatedly emphasised the importance of the role of their breast care nurses throughout their experience of breast cancer. The support that breast care nurses provided incorporated the following components: communication, rapport and an awareness of the women's needs, availability, reassurance and practical information. CONCLUSION: This study provides an understanding of women's perspectives on the role of breast care nurses and confirms that breast care nurses play an important support role during the experience of early breast cancer. Oncology clinics should focus on ensuring that all women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have adequate access to the support that breast care nurses are able to provide.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Understanding experience in nursing.

BACKGROUND: This paper reviews research that considered the life stories of experienced nurses and the relationships between life experience, the way in which people find meaning in their experience(s), the development of nursing knowledge, and the influence of these events and understandings on the characteristics and clinical practice of experienced nurses. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The dominant perspectives in nursing about the place of experience in the development of nurses' practice are considered and the paper argues for a broader understanding of experience; placing experience within the context of nurses' lives, connection with others and their individual understandings about nursing care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The place of experience in the development of nurses has not been well understood although the nursing discourse continues to value clinical experience highly. Becoming experienced as a nurse is described as a progressive and continuous interaction between experience, meaning and the lived world resulting in a personal and unique understanding of practice. The culture and discourse of nursing have tended to exclude or dampen individual difference and the paper considers a more expansive understanding of the place of experience and individual difference in nursing and the relevance of this perspective for the education of nurses.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The development of conceptual models for mass-gathering health.

Mass gatherings are an increasingly common feature of modern society. However, descriptive papers that focus on a single event or event type, dominate the literature, and, while these contribute to our understanding of the patient care required at such events, they do not provide an adequate analysis of the health effects of the mass-gathering phenomenon itself. This paper argues for the development of conceptual models and a research template for mass-gathering research. The development of theory and conceptual models would promote a better understanding of the health effects of mass gatherings. Two preliminary conceptual models are presented as a means to encourage further debate about the dominant influences on the health of people where crowds gather and to promote less superficial forms of analysis of the research data. These conceptual models are based on the idea that mass-gathering health can be understood as an inter-relationship between three domains: (1) the biomedical; (2) the environmental; and (3) the psychosocial. Key features influence the rate of injury and illness and characterize each domain. These key features are more or less well-understood and combine to produce an effect--the patient presentation rate, and a response--the health plan. A new element, the latent potential for injury and illness, is introduced as a mechanism for describing a biomedical precursor state important in assessing health risk during mass gatherings.

Anniversaries and Special Events↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Forecasting medical work at mass-gathering events: predictive model versus retrospective review.

INTRODUCTION: Mass-gathering events are dynamic and challenge traditional medical management systems. To improve the system for the provision of first aid at mass-gathering events, an evaluation of two models that assist in forecasting the number of patients presenting for first-aid services was conducted. METHOD: A prospective evaluation of a recurrent, mass-gathering event was undertaken comparing predicted patient presentations and ambulance transfers generated by a predictive model developed by Arbon et al and a retrospective review of seven years of historical, event data as described by Zeitz et al. RESULTS: Patient presentation rate (per 1,000 patrons) for this event was 1.6 and the transport to hospital rate (per 1,000 patrons) was 0.07. The retrospective review closely predicted the actual overall attendance. Both methods forecast the number of patients presenting on a daily basis. The prediction proved to be more accurate, on a day-by-day basis, using the Zeitz method. CONCLUSION: The Arbon method is particularly useful for events where there is no or limited information about previous medical work. Retrospective review of data generated from specific events (Zeitz method) considers the unique and individual variability that can occur from event to event and is more accurate at predicting patient presentations when the data are available. Both methods have the potential to be used more frequently to adequately and efficiently plan for the resources required for specific events.

Ambulances↗