Development of robust clinical protocols is a time-consuming process that requires allocation of sufficient time and resources. As outlined for the mechanical-ventilation protocol, the goals of the protocol must be clear before embarking on this journey. Critical appraisal of existing evidence is an essential first step to developing a draft ...

Despite high patient comorbid factors, our Renal Care [table: see text] Group program was able to totally eliminate placement of AV grafts and to use only fistulae with an acceptable rate of catheter use--all within four years' time. This demonstrated the importance and value of a multidisciplinary vascular access team. ...

Although research has suggested that teams can differ in the extent to which they encourage proactive learning and competence development among their members (a team learning orientation), the performance consequences of these differences are not well understood. Drawing from research on goal orientation and team learning, this article suggests that, ...

The Ecological Areawide Management (TEAM) of Leafy Spurge program was developed to focus research and control efforts on a single weed, leafy spurge, and demonstrate the effectiveness of a coordinated, biologically based, integrated pest management program (IPM). This was accomplished through partnerships and teamwork that clearly demonstrated the advantages of ...

PURPOSE: To investigate the usefulness of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) in a day treatment programme for clients with rheumatoid arthritis. METHOD: The study was conducted in two parts. In the first part rehabilitation without changes in the programme was performed (n = 16). After that the COPM was ...

In 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) made a commitment to eliminate lymphatic filariasis. The WHO Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (WHO-FIL) needed a reliable supply of diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC) of known acceptable quality at an affordable price, so in August 1999, it started the DEC Project. Today's standards ...

This study evaluated impacts of educational diagnostic teams of consultants used to transfer technology to dairy farms. Herd management performance changes were measured by comparing Dairy Herd Improvement data from 38 project farms to data from herds that were geographical contemporaries. The value of focused goals for effecting change was ...

PURPOSE: The current paper describes the implementation of ICF as a standard language and framework for description of human functioning and disability for common use in every day work by the multiprofessional team. METHOD: An interdisciplinary project team involving all rehabilitation specialities was constituted. The extensive original document of ICF ...

Although numerous studies have focused on conflict management, few have considered the effects of unit technology and intrapersonal, intragroup, and intergroup conflict on team performance effectiveness and work satisfaction. The model was tested using a nonexperimental design. Path analysis using multiple regression was used to test the model. The nonrandom ...

The objective of this study was to report on the role of the Trauma Evaluation and Management (TEAM) module devised by the American College of Surgeons in the trauma education of senior medical students. Twenty-nine medical students who completed their surgical clerkship at the University of Toronto were randomly divided ...

The dental team at Zetland House Clinic are a particularly innovative group. As a result of their parent hospital being the first to complete a whole organization clinical governance programme run by the NHS Modernization Agency, they were consequently the first dental team to do so. Now the clinic is ...

Within administrative surveying work in Sweden, a transition to a client-centered team-based organization was made during 1998. The aim of this study was to describe the employees' perceptions and expectations of job and organizational practices when working as a generalist in a client-centered team-based organization; job and organizational practices and ...

While we elected to install a digital radiography system in the busiest exam room in emergency room (ER) suite at our 535-bed hospital, we selected computed radiography as the primary platform for digital capture throughout the facility because of its flexibility, productivity and cost-effectiveness. We now use CR systems to ...

This quantitative and qualitative longitudinal study was designed to examine the effects on caregivers working therapeutically with seriously traumatized people. The participants were 13 healthcare workers seconded into a trauma and recovery team (TRT) set up to help those traumatized by the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. Quantitative data ...

PURPOSE: Little is known about the roles and experiences of non-scientist and nonaffiliated institutional review board (IRB) members (also known as lay members), and what contributions they are making to IRBs. This study investigated the experiences of IRB lay members from leading academic medical institutions in the United States and ...

BACKGROUND: Health care organizations are increasingly adopting multiorganizational collaborative approaches to quality improvement. Collaboratives have been conducted in many countries. There are large variations in the way collaboratives are structured and run, but there is no widely accepted framework for describing the components of collaboratives. Thus, it is difficult to ...

Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) is an appealing community program model because it proposes to provide individuals with coping skills that allow them to maintain independent lives in their communities and it offers the potential to decrease inpatient stays and increase community tenure. But, it is not without its limitations. Critics ...

Design innovations and government-sponsored financial incentives are making solar energy increasingly attractive to homeowners and institutional customers such as school districts. In particular, the passive solar design concept of daylighting is gaining favor among educators due to evidence of improved performance by students working in daylit classrooms. Electricity-generating photovoltaic systems ...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect a medical center based intensive case management team had on utilization of inpatient psychiatric treatment. A frequent user of inpatient psychiatric hospitalization was defined as any patient who had 3 or more admissions during the 12 months prior to referral ...

To identify success factors for implementing computerized physician order entry (CPOE), our research team took both a top-down and bottom-up approach and reconciled the results to develop twelve overarching principles to guide implementation. A consensus panel of experts produced ten Considerations with nearly 150 sub-considerations, and a three year project ...

Geriatric interdisciplinary team training (GITT) is an initiative funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation since 1995. Building from the substantial knowledge gained from the Veteran's Administration project in interdisciplinary team training and lessons from the Pew Foundation initiative, GITT was reconceived by the Foundation to address the need for ...

The Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) program, an educational intervention funded by The John A. Hartford Foundation of New York City, has trained more than 1800 health care professions students and clinicians throughout the United States. Evaluating the effectiveness of this training intervention has proven to be quite a challenge. ...

The John A. Hartford Foundation-supported geriatrics interdisciplinary team training (GITT) initiative was a bold attempt to create a new educational agenda for the health professions. Although some components of GITT were previously in place at the eight institutions that participated in the Hartford initiative and at other institutions (e.g., Department ...

In 1997 the Child and Family Clinic treatment team at Southlake Regional Health Centre (SLRHC) in Newmarket Ontario, Canada created the Eating Disorders Program, which included a day treatment program for adolescents with eating disorders. When first conceived, this day treatment program was the first of its kind in Ontario. ...

For a nationwide Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) program evaluation of 8 sites and 26 teams, team evaluators developed a quantitative and qualitative team observation scale (TOS), examining structure, process, and outcome, with specific focus on the training function. Qualitative data provided an important expansion of quantitative data, highlighting positive ...

A training program has been in place at Disney's Animal Kingdom since the nonhuman animals first arrived at the park. The Primate Team and the Behavioral Husbandry Team have worked together closely to establish a philosophy and framework for this program. This framework emphasizes setting goals, planning, implementing, documenting, and ...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the project was to bring together 17 major emergency departments across Victoria, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory to work together over an 8-month period to reduce both clinical and operational waits and delays, and to improve patient satisfaction. DESIGN: The collaborative was based on the ...

The authors tested the hypothesis that fans of a sports team avoid private contact with their team when it is unsuccessful (cutting off reflected failure, or CORF), whereas fans actively seek private contact with their team when it is successful (basking in reflected glory, or BIRG). During the 2nd half ...

It has been suggested that individuals may use heuristic methods of reasoning and rely on schemata when a quick decision is necessary. Accordingly, it is possible that decisions made by sport officials may be influenced by prior knowledge they have about teams they are officiating. The aim of the present ...

BACKGROUND: The GP Assistant/Research Associate scheme developed in the Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, London, aims to attract and recruit young GPs (GP Assistants) and develop their commitment to work in local inner city practices. Continuing professional development for both young and established GPs is a key ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of training and institutionalizing teamwork behaviors, drawn from aviation crew resource management (CRM) programs, on emergency department (ED) staff organized into caregiver teams. STUDY SETTING: Nine teaching and community hospital EDs. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective multicenter evaluation using a quasi-experimental, untreated control group design with ...

The Ramazzini Foundation research program was started over thirty years ago. The features of this program are: (1) systematic and integrated project design; (2) consistency over time; (3) homogeneity of approach: key members of the team remain unchanged; and (4) choice to work on new frontiers of scientific research. The ...

Large, tradition-bound organizations can make space for radical, low-cost (and therefore low-risk) innovations. Just ask executives at the World Bank. The story of this best practice begins in 1998, when a young new-products group at the international funding agency proposed holding an Innovation Marketplace to capture novel ideas within the ...

There is a need to develop models of practice-based learning that are effective in bringing about improvement in the quality of care that patients receive. This paper describes a facilitated practice-based project where five general practices in Dorset formed interprofessional teams that worked over a six-month period using a continuous ...

Assertive community treatment (ACT) programs originated to meet the needs of the severely mentally ill (SMI) for multiple psychosocial supports necessary for community living. Housing has been prominent among these needs and research to date on ACT programs has addressed residential outcomes, principally reduced homelessness and maintenance in some form ...

The speciality of periodontics in Australia and New Zealand has seen steady growth since 1986, when the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Periodontics (ANZAP) was formed. Very few members of ANZAP have retired in the 16 years since its formation. However, the results of a survey of members revealed ...

Semiautomated external defibrillators are widely used by prehospital emergency personnel. Some of the devices have a rhythm display and some show only text commands on the screen. To evaluate the effects on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performance of seeing the rhythm during resuscitation, 60 fire-fighter students were randomly divided in two ...

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASAs) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) have teamed up to explore the use of NASA developed technologies to help criminal justice agencies and professionals solve crimes. The objective of the program is to produce instruments and communication ...

Virtual teams are a phenomenon of the Information Era and their existence in health care is anticipated to increase with technology enhancements such as telehealth and groupware. The mobilization and support of high performing virtual teams are important for leading knowledge-based health professionals in the 21st century. Using an adapted ...

This article focuses on the introduction of team learning and shared knowledge creation using computer-based learning environments and teams as networks in the development of healthcare organizations. Using computer technology, care units can be considered learning teams and the hospital a network of those learning teams. Team learning requires that ...

The nurses in the peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) program at the University of Washington Medical Center perform ongoing data tracking to measure team and patient outcomes. Quality improvement initiatives have included the transition to microintroducer technology and ultrasound-guided placement. Used together, this technology has allowed the PICC team to ...

Due to constant competition conditions, track cycling can be accurately modeled through physiological and biomechanical means. Mathematical modeling predicts an average workload of 520 W for every team member for a new team pursuit world record. Performance in team pursuit racing is highly dependent on aerobic capacity, anaerobic skills, and ...

A systematic approach to managing vascular access problems is the key to reducing current high rates of access thrombosis and failure. This approach begins with a thorough knowledge of vascular access anatomy that, when combined with the physical examination, can help optimize access planning and maintenance. Because of the high ...

This paper explores cross-boundary working and the impact it may have on the manner in which multiprofessional teams function. It draws on data collected for a study commissioned by the Department of Health, Human Resource Initiative entitled Evaluating New Roles in Practice (ENRiP). A series of case studies formed one ...

Sensitive planning and architectural design will impact long-term costs and daily operations. At the same time, the quality of the total environment has a direct impact on the patient, the family and the staff. These needs should be carefully balanced with the emotions of the patient, the care partner (parent, ...

In this article, the strategies used by five US rural interdisciplinary training grant programs to respond to local needs and to promote recruitment in rural communities are described. The programs provide training to 17 health care disciplines and serve disadvantaged Hispanic, African-American, Amish, Native American, and Anglo populations. Four programs ...

BACKGROUND: In 1996, Congress passed legislation requiring the Department of Defense to conduct trauma training in civilian hospitals. In September of 1998 an Army team composed of surgeons, nurses, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and operating room technicians (OR techs) trained in a civilian level 1 trauma center. This study analyzes ...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics of borderline performance in final year medical students (trainee interns), as judged by their supervisors. DESIGN: Qualitative study based on in-depth interviews followed by validation descriptions of borderline trainee interns identified prospectively over 12 months. SETTING: Christchurch School of Medicine, University of Otago, New Zealand. ...

A rapid-response team process was used to achieve unique team synergy and project success. The team's mission was to reduce the waiting time in the emergency care unit for inpatient telemetry beds. Data needed for root cause analysis were collected before the first team meeting, and "just-in-time" team training was ...

BACKGROUND: The Trauma Evaluation and Management (TEAM) module was devised by the American College of Surgeons for teaching senior medical students trauma management principles. This article reports on the teaching effectiveness of this module. METHOD: Cognitive skills (by 20 item multiple-choice question examination on trauma topics) and clinical trauma management ...