Elisabeth Spichiger

Framework for Evaluating the Impact of Advanced Practice Nursing Roles

PURPOSE To address the gap in evidence-based information required to support the development of advanced practice nursing (APN) roles in Switzerland, stakeholders identified the need for guidance to generate strategic evaluation data. This article describes an evaluation framework developed to inform decisions about the effective utilization of APN roles across the country. APPROACH A participatory approach was used by an international group of stakeholders. Published literature and an evidenced-based framework for introducing APN roles were analyzed and applied to define the purpose, target audiences, and essential elements of the evaluation framework. Through subsequent meetings and review by an expert panel, the framework was developed and refined. FINDINGS A framework to evaluate different types of APN roles as they evolve to meet dynamic population health, practice setting, and health system needs was created. It includes a matrix of key concepts to guide evaluations across three stages of APN role development: introduction, implementation, and long-term sustainability. For each stage, evaluation objectives and questions examining APN role structures, processes, and outcomes from different perspectives (e.g., patients, providers, managers, policy-makers) were identified. CONCLUSIONS A practical, robust framework based on well-established evaluation concepts and current understanding of APN roles can be used to conduct systematic evaluations. CLINICAL RELEVANCE The evaluation framework is sufficiently generic to allow application in developed countries globally, both for evaluation as well as research purposes.

Prevalence of symptoms, with a focus on fatigue, and changes of symptoms over three months in outpatients receiving cancer chemotherapy

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY Prevalence of symptoms, with a focus on fatigue, and changes of symptoms were explored over three months in outpatients with lymphoma, lung, breast or colorectal cancer, receiving chemotherapy in the oncology outpatient clinic of a Swiss tertiary care hospital. METHODS Prospective, descriptive design; symptom prevalence was measured at start of chemotherapy (T1), and one week prior to the third and fourth cycle (T2, T3). Included were patients starting chemotherapy, with expected survival of >3 months, irrespective of stage of disease. The Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale was used to assess 32 symptoms; fatigue was measured with the FACIT-Fatigue Scale (negative scale). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and random-intercept regression models. RESULTS 77 patients participated at T1, 58 and 50 at T2 and T3. Patients experienced on average 9.8, 14.4, and 13.7 symptoms, showing a significant increase over time. Lack of energy and feeling drowsy were most frequent. Symptom scores for lack of energy, changes in skin, pain, and feeling drowsy remained >2 over time (scale 0-4, higher scores = more symptoms). Fatigue mean scores were 36.3, 30.2, and 31.3, showing a significant increase of fatigue over time. Individual symptom trajectories varied widely within and among patients. CONCLUSIONS High symptom prevalence at start of chemotherapy as well as over time and great variability in symptom experience call for an individual, systematic symptom assessment and management that does not focus solely on side-effects of therapy but includes disease-related symptoms to achieve satisfactory control of symptoms in outpatients receiving chemotherapy.

Results of a randomized controlled pilot study of a self-management intervention for cancer pain.

PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH This paper reports findings from a randomized controlled pilot study evaluating the PRO-SELF Plus Pain Control Program, a U.S.-developed cancer pain self-management intervention, regarding feasibility and effect sizes in a German patient sample. METHODS AND SAMPLE Thirty-nine German oncology outpatients were randomized to intervention (n = 19) and control (n = 20) groups. The intervention group received the PRO-SELF Plus Pain Control Program in 6 visits and 4 phone calls a 10-week period. The control group received standard education and care. The intervention employed three key strategies: information provision, skills building, and nurse coaching. Primary outcomes were changes in average and worst pain intensity. Secondary outcomes included changes in pain-related knowledge, opioid intake, and self-efficacy. Data were collected at enrollment, then at 6, 10, 14, and 22 weeks. KEY RESULTS The group-by-time effect showed a statistically significant increase in knowledge (week 10: p = 0.04; week 22: p < 0.01). Despite slight reductions in average and worst pain, no statistically significant changes were found for pain, opioid intake, or self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS This study is the first to evaluate and demonstrate the feasibility of a U.S.-developed cancer pain self-management intervention in a German patient population. Pain self-management related knowledge improved significantly and effect sizes for pain reduction were determined. Findings from this pilot RCT provide the basis for planning a larger RCT. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT00920504.

Moral distress in nurses at an acute care hospital in Switzerland: Results of a pilot study

Background: In the context of new reimbursement systems like diagnosis-related groups, moral distress is becoming a growing problem for healthcare providers. Moral distress can trigger emotional and physical reactions in nurses and can cause them to withdraw emotionally from patients or can cause them to change their work place. Objective: The aim of this pilot study was to develop an instrument to measure moral distress among acute care nurses in the German-speaking context, to test its applicability, and to obtain initial indications of the instrument’s validity. Method: The study was designed in 2011 as a cross-sectional pilot survey. Conducted on eight units of one university hospital in German-speaking Switzerland, 294 registered nurses were asked to fill out a web-based questionnaire on moral distress. Ethical considerations: The study proposal was approved by the cantonal ethics committee. All participating nurses provided informed consent and were assured of data confidentiality. Results: The survey had a response rate of 55%. The results show the prevalence of statements on the questionnaire indicating situations with the potential to trigger moral distress. The entire range of answers was used in the responses. Most participants found the questionnaire comprehensible, while some criticized the phraseology of certain statements. Many more found the registration process prior to online access to be too time consuming. Nurses confirmed that the results reflect their subjective assessment of their situation and their experience of moral distress. Conclusion: The newly developed moral distress questionnaire appears to produce face validity and is sufficiently applicable for use in our study. The results indicate that moral distress appears to be a relevant phenomenon also in Swiss hospitals and that nurses were experiencing it prior to the introduction of Swiss diagnosis-related groups.

Developing a Financial Framework for Academic Service Partnerships: Models of the United States and Europe

PURPOSE Academic service partnerships (ASPs) are structured linkages between academe and service which have demonstrated higher levels of innovation. In the absence of descriptions in the literature on financial frameworks to support ASPs, the purpose of this paper is to present the supporting financial frameworks of a Swiss and a U.S. ASP. METHODS This paper used a case study approach. RESULTS Two frameworks are presented. The U.S. model presented consists of a variety of ASPs, all linked to the School of Nursing of the University of Pennsylvania. The structural integration and governance system is elucidated. Each ASP has its own source of revenue or grant support with the goal to be fiscally in the black. Joint appointments are used as an instrument to realize these ASPs. The Swiss ASP entails a detailed description of the financial framework of one ASP between the Institute of Nursing Science at the University of Basel and the Inselspital Bern University Hospital. Balance in the partnership, in terms of both benefit and cost between both partners, was a main principle that guided the development of the financial framework and the translation of the ASP in budgetary terms. The model builds on a number of assumptions and provides the partnership management within a simple framework for monitoring and evaluation of the progress of the partnership. CONCLUSIONS In operationalizing an ASP, careful budgetary planning should be an integral part of the preparation and evaluation of the collaboration. The proposed Swiss and U.S. financial frameworks allow doing so. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Outcomes of care can be improved with strong nursing service and academic partnerships. Sustaining such partnerships requires attention to financial and contractual arrangements.

Prevalence and contributors to fatigue in individuals hospitalized with advanced cancer: A prospective, observational study

BACKGROUND Although fatigue affects over 75% of patients with advanced cancer, changes over time in symptoms and antecedents have not been described in the acute care setting. OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence, in patients with advanced cancer, of fatigue and anaemia on admission, describe strategies used to treat anaemia, observe changes in fatigue over ten days, and determine factors associated with fatigue. DESIGN Prospective, observational study. SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS In two Swiss tertiary care hospitals, a convenience sample of patients (N=103) was recruited at admission and followed up at days six (n=76) and ten (n=53). Patients were admitted because of new and/or worsening symptoms, deteriorating health status, or complications. They received measures aimed at symptom control and disease modifying interventions. METHODS Clinical and sociodemographic data were collected on selected patients who were able to complete a test battery of validated measures. Assessment was undertaken on hospital admission and on days six and ten post-admission. FINDINGS At admission, according to the suggested cut-off score of 43 for the FACIT-Fatigue scale, 87% of participants were experiencing cancer-related fatigue. Fatigue varied greatly within and among patients. Data on anaemia were available for 100 patients, of whom 62% were anaemic on admission. Severe and life threatening anaemia were mostly treated with red blood cell transfusions. Over time, fatigue decreased for patients who improved enough to be discharged (p<0.001) but not for those who withdrew from the study, most of whom did so due to worsening health. In multiple regression analysis, younger patients and patients with lower functional status, higher scores for depression, and more other anaemia-related symptoms experienced more fatigue. The variables examined explained 62% of variance in fatigue. CONCLUSIONS Fatigue was common in hospitalized patients with advanced cancer and the majority were anaemic. Based on these data, monitoring and treating fatigue and anaemia over a ten-day hospital stay seem to be supported. The variable trajectories call for interventions carefully tailored to individual patients. The results should be considered as a first step to exploring fatigue in these patients.

Professionelle Pflege – Entwicklung und Inhalte einer Definition

Die hier vorgestellte Definition professioneller Pflege wurde von Mitarbeiterinnen des Instituts fur Pflegewissenschaft der Universitat Basel in Zusammenarbeit mit der Expertengruppe des Projektes «Zukunft Medizin Schweiz» der Schweizerischen Akademie der Medizinischen Wissenschaften entwickelt. Ausgangspunkt waren bestehende Definitionen und eine Liste erwunschter Inhalte. Mittels Ansatzen der Grounded Theory wurden mogliche Inhalte bearbeitet und ein erster Entwurf geschrieben. In mehreren Feedback-Runden wurde dieser zur jetzt vorliegenden Definition verfeinert. Professionelle Pflege wird in zwei Kernsatzen definiert. Inhaltlich geht es um das Fordern und Erhalten von Gesundheit, das Vorbeugen von gesundheitlichen Schaden und das Unterstutzen von Menschen in der Behandlung und im Umgang mit Auswirkungen von Krankheiten und deren Therapien. Ziel sind bestmogliche Behandlungs- und Betreuungsergebnisse sowie eine bestmogliche Lebensqualitat in allen Phasen des Lebens bis zum Tod fur die betreuten Menschen...

Monitoring the impact of the DRG payment system on nursing service context factors in Swiss acute care hospitals: Study protocol.

Aims: With this study protocol, a research program is introduced. Its overall aim is to prepare the instruments and to conduct the first monitoring of nursing service context factors at three university and two cantonal hospitals in Switzerland prior to the introduction of the reimbursement system based on Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) and to further develop a theoretical model as well as a methodology for future monitoring following the introduction of DRGs. Background: DRG was introduced to all acute care hospitals in Switzerland in 2012. In other countries, DRG introduction led to rationing and subsequently to a reduction in nursing care. As result, nursing-sensitive patient outcomes were seriously jeopardised. Switzerland has the opportunity to learn from the consequences experienced by other countries when they introduced DRGs. Their experiences highlight that DRGs influence nursing service context factors such as complexity of nursing care or leadership, which in turn influence nursing-sensitive patient outcomes. For this reason, the monitoring of nursing service context factors needs to be an integral part of the introduction of DRGs. However, most acute care hospitals in Switzerland do not monitor nursing service context data. Nursing managers and hospital executive boards will be in need of this data in the future, in order to distribute resources effectively. Methods/Design: A mixed methods design in the form of a sequential explanatory strategy was chosen. During the preparation phase, starting in spring 2011, instruments were selected and prepared, and the access to patient and nursing data in the hospitals was organized. Following this, online collection of quantitative data was conducted in fall 2011. In summer 2012, qualitative data was gathered using focus group interviews, which helped to describe the processes in more detail. During 2013 and 2014, an integration process is being conducted involving complementing, comparing and contrasting quantitative and qualitative findings. Conclusion: The research program will produce baseline data on nursing service context factors in Swiss acute care hospitals prior to DRG introduction as well as a theoretical model and a methodology to support nursing managers and hospital executive boards in distributing resources effectively. The study was approved by the ethics committees of Basel, Bern, Solothurn and Zürich.

[Interprative phenomenology: a qualitative research method for nursing care].

This paper aims at discussing interpretive phenomenology as a research method and at demonstrating its usefulness for nursing. The philosophical background of phenomenology and aspects of the philosophical perspective underlying interpretive phenomenology are discussed. The research process with data collection, analysis, and presentation of the results, as well as the evaluation of such studies are elucidated. Interpretive phenomenology allows insights into the daily world of ill or disabled people and their families. The articulation of their experiences gives them a voice and has the capacity to bring about positive changes in nursing practice.

Interpretive phenomenology: A research method for nursing

This paper aims at discussing interpretive phenomenology as a research method and at demonstrating its usefulness for nursing. The philosophical background of phenomenology and aspects of the philosophical perspective underlying interpretive phenomenology are discussed. The research process with data collection, analysis, and presentation of the results, as well as the evaluation of such studies are elucidated. Interpretive phenomenology allows insights into the daily world of ill or disabled people and their families. The articulation of their experiences gives them a voice and has the capacity to bring about positive changes in nursing practice.