Biomedical subjects

Stuart J Farber

Publications and source records attributed to Stuart J Farber.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Integrating communication training into a required family medicine clerkship.

Persistent evidence suggests that the communication skills of practicing physicians do not achieve desired goals of enhancing patient satisfaction, strengthening health outcomes and decreasing malpractice litigation. Stronger communication skills training during the clinical years of medical education might make use of an underutilized window of opportunity-students' clinical years-to instill basic and important skills. The authors describe the implementation of a novel curriculum to teach patient-centered communication skills during a required third-year, six-week family medicine clerkship. Curriculum development and implementation across 24 training sites in a five-state region are detailed. A faculty development effort and strategies for embedding the curriculum within a diverse collection of training sites are presented. Student and preceptor feedback are summarized and the lessons learned from the curriculum development and implementation process are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Issues in end-of-life care: patient, caregiver, and clinician perceptions.

CONTEXT: Review of published research indicates the need to better incorporate patient and caregiver perceptions when providing end-of-life (EOL) care. Although considerable research regarding patient and caregiver experience of EOL has been done, little research has studied patients, caregivers, and clinicians as a connected system. OBJECTIVE: To study the perceptions of patients, caregivers, and physicians who are already connected with one another in an EOL care experience. DESIGN: Qualitative study consisting of in-depth, open-ended, face-to-face interviews and content analysis. SETTING: Community family practice residency programs in rural and urban settings in the Affiliated Family Practice Residency Network of the Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-two patients and 39 caregivers facing EOL were interviewed either alone or together after referral by their physicians. Additionally, results of previously published findings from interviews with 39 family practice faculty were included. OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceptions of participants on EOL issues. RESULTS: Participants identified four primary issues related to their experience of EOL care: awareness of impending death, management/coping with daily living while attempting to maintain the management regimen, relationship fluctuations, and the personal experiences associated with facing EOL. Participants expected their physicians to be competent and to provide a caring relationship. CONCLUSIONS: Awareness of these crucial patient and caregiver EOL issues and expectations and how they differ from clinician perspectives can assist clinicians to appropriately explore and address patient/caregiver concerns and thereby provide better quality EOL care.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Technology available in nursing programs: implications for developing virtual end-of-life educational tools.

BACKGROUND: To overcome insufficient attention to end-of-life (EOL) care in nursing education, the authors are developing the "Toolkit for Nursing Excellence at End-of-Life Transition" (TNEEL). METHOD: An evidence-based design process was used to create a computerized (CD-ROM) multimedia toolkit of instructional aides. An online survey of all U.S. undergraduate nursing programs was conducted to identify their current technologic infrastructures available for innovative teaching aides. Expert review process guided pedagogic decisions. RESULTS: Survey findings enabled TNEEL development to be responsive to nurse educators' needs and preferences. CONCLUSION: Educators can use TNEEL to actively engage students in meaningful learning about EOL care.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed2002

Defining effective clinician roles in end-of-life care.

OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to determine primary care clinician perceptions of what is important to the provision of quality end-of-life care. STUDY DESIGN: We used ethnography, a qualitative research method involving the use of open-ended semistructured interviews. POPULATION: We included 38 family practice residency faculty from 9 community residency programs of the Affiliated Family Practice Residency Network, Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. OUTCOMES MEASURED: The roles described by interviewees when discussing their best practices while delivering end-of-life care were compiled. RESULTS: Primary care clinicians organize their delivery of quality end-of-life care predominantly through their relationships with patients and families. They play 3 roles when providing end-of-life care. As consultants, clinicians provide expert medical advice and treatment. As collaborators, they seek to understand the patient and family experience. Seasoned clinicians act as guides, using their personal intuitive knowledge of patient and family to facilitate everyone's growth when providing end-of-life care. CONCLUSIONS: Shifting clinician focus from skills and knowledge toward relationship, meaning, and roles provides new opportunities to improve end-of-life care for patients, families, and clinicians.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Technology survey of nursing programs: implications for electronic end-of-life teaching tool development.

From an online survey of current technological capabilities of US undergraduate nursing programs, we found almost universal use of Microsoft Windows-based computers and Microsoft Office Suite software. Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer were the most popular browsers for Internet access. The survey also assessed faculty preferences for end-of-life care teaching materials and found that nurse educators preferred simple easy-to-use tools provided on CD-ROM or the Internet, with instructions provided via CD-ROM, the Internet, and demonstration workshops. Our findings have numerous implications for the development of electronic teaching materials for nursing.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗

PubMedDate not supplied

TNEEL workshop. Interactive methods for teaching end-of-life care.

Nurse educators have identified lack of end-of-life content as a serious deficit in undergraduate nursing education. TNEEL, a new software program with tools for teaching end-of-life topics, was created to help educators overcome this problem. The authors implemented an experiential workshop to help educators learn how to use TNEEL's wide variety of educational tools. Trainers provided information about TNEEL and coached participants (N = 94) as they practiced using laptop computers to increase their familiarity and comfort in using the toolkit. Workshop participants completed pre- and posttest evaluations addressing their opinions and beliefs about using this computer tool. Findings support the workshop as an effective way to facilitate adoption of this innovative educational resource and support the development of a nation-wide training plan for TNEEL with experiential workshops.

CD-ROM↗