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The present study was part of an action research project that was performed to implement a clinical pathway for patients on mechanical ventilation and simultaneously explore the implementation process in a Swedish intensive care unit. The aim of this questionnaire study was to evaluate whether an action research methodology could affect the general prerequisites for evidence-based practice (EBP). Informed by the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) framework, the study included registered nurses, assistant nurses and anesthesiologists in the unit at start of the project (n = 50) and at follow-up (n = 44). Data was collected with the Evaluation Before Implementation Questionnaire and the Attitudes towards Guidelines Scale. The results revealed that the general prerequisites for EBP in the setting improved. Compared to baseline measurements, the staff at follow-up conversed significantly more about the importance of the patients' experiences, research utilization, context and facilitation, while changes with respect to clinical experiences were not significant. The attitudes towards guidelines were perceived as positive at baseline as well as at follow-up and did not significantly change. Longer professional experience was associated with a slightly lower probability of perceiving that the importance of research utilization was discussed and reflected upon, while belonging to a profession with longer education was associated with a higher probability of this perception. Compared to registered nurses and assistant nurses, the anesthesiologists perceived, to a greater extent, that the importance of clinical experience was discussed and reflected upon in the setting, while there was no significant association with the length of professional experience and/or specific professions regarding the other components. In conclusion, using action research to implement a clinical pathway methodology seems to set in motion various mechanisms that improve some but not all prerequisites that, according to the PARIHS framework, are advantageous for EBP.

BACKGROUND: The work situation for first-line managers in elderly care is complex and challenging. Little is known about these managers' work situation from a structural and psychological empowerment perspective.

AIM: To describe first-line managers' experiences of their work situation in elderly care from a structural and psychological empowerment perspective.

METHOD: Interviews from 14 female first-line managers were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS: The theme described the managers' work situation as "It's not easy, but it's worth it." In the four subthemes, the managers described their work in terms of "Enjoying a meaningful job," "A complex and demanding responsibility that allows great authority within set boundaries," "Supported by other persons, organisational preconditions and confidence in their own abilities" and "Lacking organisational preconditions, but developing strategies for dealing with the situations."

CONCLUSION: The managers described having various amounts of access to structural empowerment and experienced a feeling of meaning, competence, self-determination and impact, that is, psychological empowerment in their work.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: It is vital that first-line managers have access to organisational support. Therefore, upper management and first-line managers need to engage in continuous dialogue to customize the support given to each first-line manager.

Aim: To explore whether professional training contributed to implementation of the national core value system in practice in care of older people and to identify course participants' perceptions about factors that facilitated or obstructed them in implementing their projects. To identify participants' perceptions concerning factors that facilitate or obstruct implementation.

Design: Descriptive and cross‐sectional.

Methods: Data were retrieved from 451 participants who had completed the course “Understanding and providing leadership based on the national core value system for older people” at Uppsala University during spring semester and autumn semester of 2018. Quantitative and qualitative data were obtained using a web‐based questionnaire.

Results: The results showed that the majority (73%) of project plans were initiated, although not always completed and sometimes interrupted. Organizational readiness in terms of management supporting and prioritizing these plans were two principle facilitators chosen by half of the respondents and consequently the absence of these factors was an obstacle. In addition, successful implementation required dedicated co‐workers and certain resources, such as time and funds. Surprisingly, factors related to the project leader were reported to be of limited importance.

Background

Clinical pathways can enhance care quality, promote patient safety and optimize resource utilization. However, they are infrequently utilized in intensive care. This study aimed to explain the implementation process of a clinical pathway based on a bottom-up approach in an intensive care context.

Methods

The setting was an 11-bed general intensive care unit in Sweden. An action research project was conducted to implement a clinical pathway for patients on mechanical ventilation. The project was managed by a local interprofessional core group and was externally facilitated by two researchers. Grounded theory was used by the researchers to explain the implementation process. The sampling in the study was purposeful and theoretical and included registered nurses (n31), assistant nurses (n26), anesthesiologists (n11), a physiotherapist (n1), first- and second-line managers (n2), and health records from patients on mechanical ventilation (n136). Data were collected from 2011 to 2016 through questionnaires, repeated focus groups, individual interviews, logbooks/field notes and health records. Constant comparative analysis was conducted, including both qualitative data and descriptive statistics from the quantitative data.

Results

A conceptual model of the clinical pathway implementation process emerged, and a central phenomenon, which was conceptualized as ‘Struggling for a feasible tool,’ was the core category that linked all categories. The phenomenon evolved from the ‘Triggers’ (‘Perceiving suboptimal practice’ and ‘Receiving external inspiration and support’), pervaded the ‘Implementation process’ (‘Contextual circumstances,’ ‘Processual circumstances’ and ‘Negotiating to achieve progress’), and led to the process ‘Output’ (‘Varying utilization’ and ‘Improvements in understanding and practice’). The categories included both facilitating and impeding factors that made the implementation process tentative and prolonged but also educational.

Conclusions

The findings provide a novel understanding of a bottom-up implementation of a clinical pathway in an intensive care context. Despite resonating well with existing implementation frameworks/theories, the conceptual model further illuminates the complex interaction between different circumstances and negotiations and how this interplay has consequences for the implementation process and output. The findings advocate a bottom-up approach but also emphasize the need for strategic priority, interprofessional participation, skilled facilitators and further collaboration.

This study aimed to describe and explain teamwork and factors that influence team processes in everyday practice in an intensive care unit (ICU) from a staff perspective. The setting was a Swedish ICU. Data were collected from 38 ICU staff in focus groups with registered nurses, assistant nurses, and anaesthetists, and in one individual interview with a physiotherapist. Constant comparative analysis according to grounded theory was conducted, and to identify the relations between the emerged categories, the paradigm model was applied. The core category to emerge from the data was balancing intertwined responsibilities. In addition, eleven categories that related to the core category emerged. These categories described and explained the phenomenon's contextual conditions, causal conditions, and intervening conditions, as well as the staff actions/interactions and the consequences that arose. The findings indicated that the type of teamwork fluctuated due to circumstantial factors. Based on the findings and on current literature, strategies that can optimise interprofessional teamwork are presented. The analysis generated a conceptual model, which aims to contribute to existing frameworks by adding new dimensions about perceptions of team processes within an ICU related to staff actions/interactions. This model may be utilised to enhance the understanding of existing contexts and processes when designing and implementing interventions to facilitate teamwork in the pursuit of improving healthcare quality and patient safety.

AIM: To investigate relationships between first-line managers' ratings of structural and psychological empowerment, and the subordinates' ratings of structural empowerment, as well as their ratings of the managers' leadership-management performance.

BACKGROUND: Work situations in elderly care are complex. To date, few studies have used a longitudinal, correlational and multilevel design to study the working life of subordinates and managers.

METHOD: In five Swedish municipalities, questionnaires were answered twice during 2010-12 by 56 first-line managers and 769 subordinates working in nursing homes or home-help services.

RESULTS: First-line managers' empowerment at Time 1 partially predicted subordinate's structural empowerment and ratings of their managers' leadership-management performance at Time 2. Changes over time partially revealed that the more access managers had to structural empowerment, i.e. increase over time, the higher the ratings were for structural empowerment and managerial leadership-management performance among subordinates.

CONCLUSIONS: Findings strengthen research and theoretical suggestions linking first-line managers' structural empowerment to their subordinates' structural empowerment and ratings of their manager's leadership-management performance.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Managers with high access to structural empowerment are more likely to provide subordinates access to structural empowerment.

OBJECTIVE:

To describe general practitioners' experiences of being the principal physician responsible for a nursing home.

METHOD:

Fifteen general practitioners assigned to a nursing home participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. Data were analysed using systematic text condensation.

RESULT:

Medical assessment is the main duty of general practitioners. Advance care planning together with residents and family members facilitates future decisions on medical treatment and end-of-life care. Registered Nurses' continuity and competence are perceived as crucial to the quality of care, but inadequate staffing, lack of medical equipment and less-than-optimal IT systems for electronic healthcare records are impediments to patient safety.

CONCLUSION:

The study highlights the importance of advance care planning together with residents and family members in facilitating future decisions on medical treatment and end-of-life care. To meet the increasing demands for more complex medical treatment at nursing homes and to provide high-quality palliative care, there would seem to be a need to increase Registered Nurses' staffing and acquire more advanced medical equipment, as well as to create better possibilities for Registered Nurses and general practitioners to access each other's healthcare record systems.