Title. Understanding nursing on an acute stroke unit: perceptions of space, time and interprofessional practice. Aim. This paper is a report of a study conducted to uncover nurses' perceptions of the contexts of caring for acute stroke survivors. Background. Nurses coordinate and organize care and continue the rehabilitative role of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social workers during evenings and at weekends. Healthcare professionals view the nursing role as essential, but are uncertain about its nature. Method. Ethnographic fieldwork was carried out in 2006 on a stroke unit in Canada. Interviews with nine healthcare professionals, including nurses, complemented observations of 20 healthcare professionals during patient care, team meetings and daily interactions. Analysis methods included ethnographic coding of field notes and interview transcripts. Findings. Three local domains frame how nurses understand challenges in organizing stroke care: 1) space, 2) time and 3) interprofessional practice. Structural factors force nurses to work in exceptionally close quarters. Time constraints compel them to find novel ways of providing care. Moreover, sharing of information with other members of the team enhances relationships and improves 'interprofessional collaboration'. The nurses believed that an interprofessional atmosphere is fundamental for collaborative stroke practice, despite working in a multiprofessional environment. Conclusion. Understanding how care providers conceive of and respond to space, time and interprofessionalism has the potential to improve acute stroke care. Future research focusing on nurses and other professionals as members of interprofessional teams could help inform stroke care to enhance poststroke outcomes.

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Introduction: In collaboration with the Alberta Medical Association's Physician Learning Program we developed individualized physician reports and held a group feedback session on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) performance measures (PM) to facilitate treat-to-target (T2T) strategies and evaluated physician experiences with this process. Methods: 5 PMs addressing T2T concepts from an established Canadian quality framework were operationalized for physician practice reports at 2 university-affiliated rheumatology clinics. Rheum4U, a quality improvement and research platform, was the data source. The audit results were reviewed in a facilitated group feedback session. Rheumatologists provided experiential feedback on the process through survey and/or an interview. Transcripts from interviews were analyzed using a 6-step thematic analysis. Results: 11 of 12 eligible rheumatologists consented to receive practice reports and provided feedback through surveys (n = 5) and interviews (n = 6). The practice reports from Rheum4U

Triage RNs require appropriately designed triage environments and computer technology that enable them to secure real time knowledge of the ED to maintain situation awareness.

E levated blood pressure, or hypertension, is a well established and modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, ischemic heart disease and heart failure (1-9). Approximately 40% of Canadians have hypertension by the age of 55 years (1,3) and for those who do not have hypertension by age of 55 years, the residual lifetime risk of developing hypertension is 90% (8). Hypertension is largely asymptomatic, and over 40% of adults with hypertension are unaware of their condition (10,11). Although awareness is an initial HEALTH OUTCOMES/PUBLIC POLICY ©2008 Pulsus Group Inc. All rights reserved BACKGROUND: High blood pressure (BP) is an established and modifiable cardiovascular risk factor; however, awareness and management of this primarily asymptomatic disease remains suboptimal. OBJECTIVES: The Airdrie Community Hypertension Awareness and Management Program (A-CHAMP) was a community-based BP program for seniors designed to improve public and health care provider awareness and management of hypertension. METHODS: Volunteer peer health educators (VPHEs) were recruited from the community and trained to manage BP screening sessions in local pharmacies. Airdrie (Alberta) residents 65 years of age and older were invited by their family physicians (FPs) to attend the A-CHAMP sessions. VPHEs identified participants' cardiovascular risk factors, assessed BP with a validated automated device and implemented a management algorithm. Participants with BP higher than 159/99 mmHg were directed to their pharmacists and FPs. All participants with elevated BP at the initial A-CHAMP session were invited to return to a follow-up session four to six months later. RESULTS: Thirty VPHEs were recruited and trained. All 15 FPs and all six pharmacies in Airdrie participated. VPHEs assessed 406 seniors (approximately 40% of Airdrie seniors) during the three-month program. One hundred forty-eight participants (36.5%) had elevated BP at their first session. Of these, 71% returned for the follow-up session four to six months later. The mean (± SD) systolic BP decreased by 16.9±17.2 mmHg (P<0.05, n=105) compared with their first visit, and 56% of participants (59 of 105) reached Canadian targets for BP. CONCLUSIONS: A-CHAMP raised awareness, and identified and managed seniors with hypertension. At follow-up, BP showed statistically and clinically significant and sustained improvement. Participating health care providers and VPHEs indicated that A-CHAMP was effective and feasible in improving awareness and control of hypertension.

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Emergency department (ED) wait times, length of stay, and overcrowding are common issues in developed health care systems in many countries. These ED issues are multifactorial in nature and require further evaluation in an attempt to provide consistent, adequate health care to each patient. Authors in countries, such as Australia and the United Kingdom, have attempted to address the concerns of increasing wait times, length of stay, and overcrowding by establishing nurse practitioners (NPs) into the ED who practice in domains traditionally dominated by physicians. Unfortunately, Canadian health care system leaders lack experience in implementing the unique role of the NP in the ED. In addition, emergency department fast track (FT) models have been studied and operationalized in Australia and the United States to streamline care for less acute patients. However, it is evident from review of the literature that NPs, in the Canadian health care system, are underutilized within FT units. Despite the fact that NPs have been practicing since the 1960s, there remains confusion by the public and even health care professionals about their role, scope of practice, and capabilities. The purpose of this article is to provide a greater understanding of the NP role in Canada with the intent to elucidate current barriers and facilitators to having NPs practice in the ED setting through appraisal of national and international literature sources. The article also illustrates how FT units streamline patient care and are suitable areas for NP practice within the ED. In addition, the authors describe how assessment, implementation, and evaluation of the role of NPs in the ED might be facilitated through the use of a Participatory Evidence-informed Patient-focused Process for Advanced practice nursing role development, implementation, and evaluation (PEPPA framework).