The Western Australian Audit of Surgical Mortality (WAASM) is an external, peer-reviewed audit of all deaths that occur in hospital of patients under the care of a surgeon. We conducted a retrospective analysis of prospective audit data collected from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2011. The annual number of deaths peaked in 2006, then fell 22% by 2011. After correcting for population growth, th...

BACKGROUND Detecting novel healthcare-associated infections (HCAI) as early as possible is an important public health priority. However, there is currently no evidence base to guide the design of efficient and reliable surveillance systems. Here we address this issue in the context of a novel pathogen spreading primarily between hospitals through the movement of patients. METHODS Using a math...

BACKGROUND Evidence suggests that full implementation of the WHO surgical safety checklist across NHS operating theatres is still proving a challenge for many surgical teams. The aim of the current study was to assess patients' views of the checklist, which have yet to be considered and could inform its appropriate use, and influence clinical buy-in. METHOD Postoperative patients were sampled...

BACKGROUND Interruptions have been implicated as a cause of clinical errors, yet, to our knowledge, no empirical studies of this relationship exist. We tested the hypothesis that interruptions during medication administration increase errors. METHODS We performed an observational study of nurses preparing and administering medications in 6 wards at 2 major teaching hospitals in Sydney, Austra...

Food in Hospitals, a report published by the Nuffield Provincial Hospital Trust, described the results of a study of the nutritive value of food in a survey of 152 provincial non-teaching hospitals. The hospitals were selected at random, and in each hospital the food taken by one patient on a full normal diet, also selected at random, was measured over a period of 24 h. The methods of sampling ...

Physicians are drawn into diverse leadership roles in academic medicine, but little in our education and training prepares us for these responsibilities. Fortunately, there is growing convergence in the literature on the attributes of successful leaders for knowledge-based organisations. Top-performing leaders seem to be self-effacing team-builders who eschew rapid-cycle strategic planning and ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The purpose of this work was to investigate how stroke rehabilitation professionals understand the concept of motivation and the ways that they use this concept in their clinical practice. METHODS This qualitative study used semistructured, in-depth interviews with the professionals working in the stroke unit of an inner-city teaching hospital in the UK. RESULTS Motiv...

Assessing, managing, and treating suicidal patients, particularly those with chronic suicidality, challenge clinical decision making and emotional self-management in trainees and seasoned practitioners. Educators and trainees have noted needs for additional teaching materials in these areas. This article assists in addressing these gaps. We reviewed diagnostic and phenomenological characteristi...

BACKGROUND When hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing was made available to diabetic patients in the nation of Eritrea, the majority of values were markedly increased. As a result, a multidisciplinary clinical education program was instituted in Eritrea and the rate of HbA1c testing was increased to monitor progress. METHODS In February 2003, a cooperative diabetes project was initiated in Eritrea t...

BACKGROUND Teaching sessions for medical students during ward rounds are an essential component of bedside teaching, providing students with the opportunity to regard patients as actual people, and to observe their physical conditions directly, allowing a better understanding of illnesses to be developed. We aim to explore medical students' perceptions regarding medical and surgical ward rounds...