unlicensed assistive personnel

BACKGROUND: Survey items on the Healthy Work Environment Scale (HWES) for Unlicensed Assistive Personnel (UAP) were developed using statements from a qualitative research study conducted in a large urban healthcare system. PURPOSE: The purposes of this research study were to develop items on the HWES for UAP, to assess the validity and reliability of this tool, and to describe the UAP perceptions of a healthy work environment (HWE) using a nonexperimental descriptive design...

Access to emergency medications is a growing concern, particularly regarding the availability, safety, and use of these medications in schools. The purpose of this article is to report results not previously published from a national survey, specifically regarding the emergency use of epinephrine, albuterol inhalers, and glucagon. A nonexperimental, cross-sectional design was utilized for this descriptive study. An online survey was distributed to school nurses in 2015, and data from 6,298 school nurse respondents are presented in the analysis...

Patient care assistants (PCAs) are unlicensed personnel that perform direct patient care. Providing quality orientation is critical in supporting the transition of a PCA from new staff member to competent employee. PCAs have limited to no experience with simulation in prehire training. An 8-hour orientation day, using interactive teaching strategies and simulation, was successfully implemented at a large academic healthcare institution. This article explores the various teaching methods and outcomes of the class...

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the leading cancer diagnoses affecting both men and women worldwide. Prevention and early detection of CRC is possible by increasing access to and utilisation of screening tests. Although CRC screening is highly recommended, screening rates remain suboptimal in the USA, particularly among underserved populations. Our project site, an urban federally qualified health centre, was not meeting the national screening target of 80% of eligible adults...

Many children have diagnosed diabetes that must be safely managed at school. New laws have created the potential for school systems to rely more heavily on unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) than on nurses to deliver health services, including administration of insulin injections. Using the theory of planned behavior as a framework, aims were to (1) determine the nature and extent to which health services related to diabetes were being delegated to UAP in Kentucky schools, (2) describe the attitudes of Kentucky school nurses regarding the delegation of diabetes health services to UAP, and (3) examine the relationship of selected variables to school nurses' intentions to delegate diabetes health services...

This column is designed to help new nurses in their first year at the bedside-a time of insecurity, growth, and constant challenges-and to offer advice as they learn what it means to be a nurse. This article offers strategies new nurses can use and specific steps they can take to help them succeed in delegating tasks to LPNs/LVNs and unlicensed assistive personnel.

AIM: The aim was to describe home care assistants' (HCA) experiences of providing social care in older people's own homes. BACKGROUND: With the increase in average life expectancy and related growth of the elder population, addressing geriatric care needs has become an increasingly vital issue. However, the frontline workforce faces major challenges in meeting these needs, including a lack of trained professionals entering the field. DESIGN: A qualitative inductive design was used...

Nursing homes use team nursing, with minimal RN presence, leaving the majority of direct care to licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPNs/LVNs) and unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP), including medication aides. The current article describes challenges faced by nursing home directors of nursing (DONs) leading and managing a team nursing approach, including consideration of scope of practice, delegation and supervision regulations, and related policy implications. A secondary data analysis was performed of qualitative data from a study to develop and test DON guidelines for delegation in nursing home practice...

Objective: To investigate the effect of family caregiving on depression in the first 3 months after spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods: A retrospective study was carried out on 76 patients diagnosed with an SCI from January 2013 to December 2016 at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of Kyungpook National University Hospital, Korea. Clinical characteristics including age, gender, level of injury, completeness of the injury, time since injury, caregiver information, etiology, and functional data were collected through a retrospective review of medical records...

Nurses and unlicensed assistive personnel on 2 medical-surgical units were asked about their perceptions regarding patient falls. Their responses reflect learned helplessness and a lack of nurse empowerment that are relevant findings as nurse executives work to decrease patient falls.

BACKGROUND: Pharmacist participation in school medication management (MM) is minimal. School nurses are responsible for increasingly complex medication administration and management in schools. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to 1) assess the MM needs of school nurses in Minnesota, and 2) determine if and how interprofessional partnerships between nurses and pharmacists might optimize MM for students. METHODS: Researchers from the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, School Nurse Organization of Minnesota, and Minnesota Department of Health conducted a 32-item online survey of school nurses...

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to identify and describe emerging models of school health services. Participants ( N = 11) provided information regarding their models in semistructured phone interviews. Results identified a variety of funding sources as well as different staffing configurations and supervision. Strengths of the new models included an increase in school nurses and improved communication between schools, public health agencies, and health providers. Challenges for nurses practicing in the new models included not feeling connected to the school and unclear roles of unlicensed assistive personnel...

In acute care settings, registered nurses need to delegate effectively to unlicensed assistive personnel to provide safe care. This project explored the impact of improved delegation-communication between nurses and unlicensed assistive personnel on pressure injury rates, falls, patient satisfaction, and delegation practices. Findings revealed a tendency for nurses to delay the decision to delegate. However, nurses' ability to explain performance appraisals, facilitate clearer communication, and seek feedback improved...

BACKGROUND: Care coordination is generally viewed as a key to success for health systems seeking to adapt to a range of new value-based payment policies. PURPOSE: This study explores care coordination staffing in four health systems participating in new payment models, including Medicaid payment reform and Accountable Care Organizations. METHODS: Comparative case study design is used to describe models of care coordination. Analysis of 43 semi-structured interviews with leadership, clinicians, and care coordination staff at four health systems engaged in value-based contracts...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Between 75 and 89% of residents living in long-term care facilities have limited mobility. Nurses as well as other licensed and unlicensed personnel directly involved in resident care are in a key position to promote and maintain the mobility of care-dependent persons. This requires a certain level of competence. Kinaesthetics is a training concept used to increase nursing staff's interaction and movement support skills for assisting care-dependent persons in their daily activities...

OBJECTIVE To assess knowledge about infection prevention among nursing home personnel and identify gaps potentially addressable through a quality improvement collaborative. DESIGN Baseline knowledge assessment of catheter-associated urinary tract infection, asymptomatic bacteriuria, antimicrobial stewardship, and general infection prevention practices for healthcare-associated infections. SETTING Nursing homes across 14 states participating in the national "Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Safety Program for Long-Term Care: Healthcare-Associated Infections/Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: The aim was to describe registered nurses' experience in the context of delegating the administration of medication to unlicensed personnel in residential care homes. BACKGROUND: The residents in residential care homes have a need for extensive care and nursing, and large amounts of medicines are common practice. Registered nurses' workload and difficulties in fulfilling their duties, such as administration of medicines, have led to frequent delegation of this task between the registered nurses and unlicensed assisting personnel...

Teams of unlicensed personnel and registered nurses have provided hospital-based nursing care for decades. Although ineffective teamwork has been associated with poor patient outcomes, little is known of the perspectives of nursing assistive personnel (NAP). The purpose of this study was to gain insights into the perceptions of NAP and professional registered nurses (RNs) on teamwork in acute care. In a qualitative descriptive approach in a metropolitan hospital in the southeastern United States, 33 NAP participated in audio-recorded focus group sessions, and 18 RNs provided responses to open-ended electronic survey questions...