I llegal immigrants form a large and disputed group in many countries. Indeed, even the name is in dispute. People in this group are referred to as illegal immigrants, illegal aliens, irregular migrants, undocumented workers, or, in French, as sans papiers. Whatever they are called, their existence raises an important ethical question: Do societies have an ethical responsibility to provide heal...

Long term care for elderly people in the United Kingdom is increasingly provided by nursing homes in the independent sector. Between 1983 and 1994 the number of National Health Service (NHS) continuing care beds fell from 55 600 to 37 500 and the number of nursing home beds rose from 18 200 to 148 500.' With an estimated one in four people over 85 currently receiving institutional care' and pro...

Patient care, like other technically complex and high risk fields, is an interdependent process carried out by teams of individuals with advanced technical training who have varying roles and decision-making responsibilities. While technical training assures proficiency at specific tasks, it does not address the potential for errors created by communicating and decision making in dynamic enviro...

INTRODUCTION Process-supporting information technology holds the potential to increase efficiency, reduce errors, and alter professional roles and responsibilities in a manner which allows improvement in the delivery of patient care. However, clashes between the model of health care work inscribed in these tools with the actual nature of work has resulted in staff resistance and decreased organ...

External mandates for medical error disclosure are often justified by potential cost savings, the belief in individual moral obligations in health care, and the concept that patients have rights and providers have responsibilities. Such an approach does not recognise the systems nature of error and outcomes and the important quality role disclosure can play in a system of medical error disclosu...

The ability to work with professionals from other disciplines to deliver collaborative, patient-centred care is considered a critical element of professional practice requiring a specific set of competencies. However, a generally accepted framework for collaborative competencies is missing, which makes consistent preparation of students and staff challenging. Some authors have argued that there...

what is a medical librarian? he provides information about new medical treatments, clinical trials and standard trials procedures, tests and equipment. where do medical librarians work? they work anywhere health information is needed. what kinds of jobs are available? web managers, medical informatics experts, chief information officers, cat a logers, instructors and reference librarians. who a...

With improved health care, increasing numbers of children and adolescents with chronic illness and disability now live into adulthood. With this change, the health care community needs to address problems related to the transition from parents caring for their young children's needs to increasing health care responsibility being required of adolescents and young adults (AYA). The current articl...

Currently, we are experiencing a paradigm shift in relation to how we understand health and care. The biomedical model has been replaced by a vision of an integral being, and care emphasis is being placed on health promotion and disease prevention. However, the discourse of personal responsibility for health can generate in patients feelings of guilt, shame, fear and paranoia, while in professi...

background: the main objective of nursing is to provide comprehensive nursing care that is appropriate to patients’ needs. however, the incidence of missed nursing care compromises the provision of comprehensive and safe care and threatens patients’ lives. thus, this in-depth qualitative study aimed to explore nurses’ experiences of missed care and factors affecting it. the aim of this study wa...