Nurse practitioners' perceptions and participation in pharmaceutical marketing

Title.  Nurse practitioners' perceptions and participation in pharmaceutical marketing.
Aim.  This paper reports on a study conducted to describe family nurse practitioners' perceptions towards and participation in pharmaceutical marketing and to explore the relationships among related variables.
Background.  The pharmaceutical industry's intense global marketing strategies have resulted in widespread concern in healthcare professionals and professional groups, sectors of the public in many countries, and in the World Health Organization. Research on healthcare providers' participation in pharmaceutical marketing indicates that these relationships are conflicts of interests and compromise healthcare providers' prescribing practices and trust. Nursing, as a discipline, appears to be slow to address the impact of pharmaceutical marketing on nursing practice.
Method.  Questionnaires about perceptions and participation in pharmaceutical marketing were completed by a random sample of 84 licensed family nurse practitioners in the United States of America in 2007.
Findings.  Family nurse practitioners viewed pharmaceutical company marketing uncritically as educational and beneficial. They also perceived other providers but not themselves as influenced by pharmaceutical marketing. The findings supported those found in previous research with nurses and physicians.
Conclusion.  Lack of education, participation in marketing and psychological and social responses may impede family nurse practitioners' ability to respond critically and appropriately to marketing strategies and the conflict of interest it creates.     

The impact of pharmaceutical services in community and ambulatory care settings: evidence and recommendations for future research

OBJECTIVE: To review and evaluate research on pharmaceutical services in community and ambulatory care pharmacy settings, specifically study designs and patient outcome measures, and to provide recommendations to improve future research on pharmaceutical services in community and ambulatory care pharmacy settings. DATA SOURCE: English-language articles were identified by searching MEDLINE (1966-December 1998) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970-December 1998), using a combination of search terms: pharmacist services, pharmacist interventions, community pharmacy, ambulatory care, primary care, and patient outcomes. Relevant studies were selected based on article abstracts. DATA EXTRACTION: From each relevant study, we extracted the study objectives, sample size, study period, study design, major tasks performed by pharmacists, and economic, clinical, and humanistic outcomes (ECHO). Results were tabulated separately for research on community pharmacy and ambulatory care pharmacy settings. RESULTS: We identified 95 relevant studies. Of these, 21 studies were conducted in community pharmacy settings and 74 in ambulatory care settings. Ten community pharmacy studies used prospective, single group, pretest/posttest, or posttest only designs; seven used prospective two or more group comparison designs; and four used randomized, controlled designs. Nine studies on community pharmacies measured clinical outcomes, two measured humanistic outcomes, and five measured economic outcomes. Four studies measured both clinical and humanistic outcomes and one measured humanistic and economic outcomes. No study measured all three ECHO variables. Twenty-three studies in ambulatory care settings used prospective or retrospective, single group, pretest/posttest or posttest only designs; 21 used prospective or retrospective two-or-more group comparison designs; and 30 used randomized, controlled designs. Thirty-six measured clinical outcomes, five measured humanistic outcomes, and 15 measured economic outcomes. Fifteen studies measured clinical and economic outcomes and three measured clinical and humanistic outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Only 21 of 95 selected studies were conducted in community pharmacy settings and measured the impact of pharmaceutical services on patient outcomes. Few studies employed adequate research designs to control threats to internal and external validity. In order to obtain a comprehensive and accurate picture of the impact of pharmaceutical services on patient outcomes, an attempt must be made to measure all three ECHO variables while employing adequate research design.     

Families' perceptions of services in assisted living residences

Assisted living residences (ALRs) are increasingly used to deliver services to older adults. Proposed policies for ALRs are gradually evolving. Although families are partners in this process, little is known about their understanding of nursing services available, compared with services needed and desired. A survey was conducted to better inform the inclusion of ALRs in Michigan's regulatory process. A total of 46 respondents reported assistance with activities of daily living as the most frequently offered ALR service. Respondents found all 13 nursing services asked about in the survey highly desirable and, for each category, the current need exceeds the availability of the service.     

Issues in community care services

In the first part of this series on issues in ward management facing charge nurses, Helen Evers addresses the problem of communication between hospital and community on patient discharges. Recent years have seen the development of liaison and co-ordinator posts whose incumbents aim to facilitate planned and organised discharge procedures, but the appointment of such personnel may not provide a complete answer to the problem. The ultimate arbiter of effective transition from hospital to home is more likely to be the quality of communication between charge and district nurse.     

澳大利亚、英国社区卫生服务机构对我国社区卫生服务的借鉴意义

综述了我国社区卫生服务工作的现状,介绍了澳大利亚、英国社区卫生服务机构的情况以及对我国社区卫生服务机构的借鉴意义.     

澳大利亚、英国社区卫生服务机构对我国社区卫生服务的借鉴意义

综述了我国社区卫生服务工作的现状,介绍了澳大利亚、英国社区卫生服务机构的情况以及对我国社区卫生服务机构的借鉴意义。     

Mental health consumers' perceptions of receiving recovery-focused services

Rationale, aims and objectives  This study examines the experiences of mental health service consumers engaged in various recovery-focused support practices as well as examining consumer valuing of these activities.
Method  A self-report questionnaire was developed drawing on key aspects of the Collaborative Recovery Model (CRM) (responsibility, collaboration, autonomy, motivation, needs, goals, homework). Ninety-two adult consumers from metropolitan, regional and rural non-government organizations and public mental health services in eastern Australian states completed the questionnaire.
Results  Consumers using services provided by CRM-trained workers identified significant changes to service delivery in relation to frequency with which they were encouraged to take responsibility for their recovery, degree to which they collaborated with staff and the extent to which they were encouraged to complete homework activities to assist them to achieve their goals, when compared with consumers using traditional services. The key aspects of the CRM were valued by consumers. No differences were found in terms of overall ratings of clinician helpfulness in assisting recovery between the two groups.
Conclusions  Consumers are able to perceive recovery-focused service changes. Although preliminary, this is a significant step towards assessing the operationalization of recovery principles from the consumer's perspective.     

EMS systems in Malta

This article describes how emergency medicine, a new and growing speciality in Malta, has developed and the way emergency care, including pre-hospital care, is delivered in a small island state. The training programme for Emergency Medicine Specialists is highlighted. The author also comments on the future development of emergency care in Malta.     

Staff perceptions of community learning disability nurses' role

AIM: This study examines the views of health and social care staff in relation to their perception of the role of community learning disability nurses. METHOD: A total of 40 staff completed a questionnaire to identify the role and rate the effectiveness of community learning disability nurses. Inter-rater reliability was assessed and themes were identified. FINDINGS: Staff see community learning disability nurses as having service development, liaison and consultancy roles. However, respondents also continued to emphasise nurses' direct clinical role, with over 40 per cent identifying assessment and treatment. The perceived effectiveness of the community learning disability nurse was 4.09, SD = 0.71, indicating that staff generally perceived the service to be effective. CONCLUSION: Community learning disability nurses are viewed by their multidisciplinary colleagues as having a broad and varied role, which is consistent with the role, identified by nurses themselves. They may need to consider how to further develop their services in relation to clients' physical health. Overall, all participants rated the nursing service as effective.     

Nurse role in Malta

The tiny island of Malta has health challenges to tackle. But next week (April 4-8) it plays host to the Commonwealth Nurses Federation.     

African and African Caribbean users' perceptions of inpatient services

It has been suggested that well-documented differences in African and African Caribbean people's contact with mental health services may stem from the organization, processes and practices of services themselves. This article presents the findings of a qualitative study which explored the inpatient experiences of a sample of African and African Caribbean people. Although some positive experiences were described, in the main, participants' accounts revolved around a sense of loss of control and around experiences of overt and implicit racism. Underpinning these experiences were relationships with staff that were perceived to be unhelpful. On the basis of both the positive and negative experiences described, we draw conclusions about the changes required to ensure that inpatient services more effectively meet the needs of this group.