ORCID Profile
0000-0003-2613-4114
Current Organisations
Bond University
,
Griffith University
,
Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service
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Publications
Developing a Suite of Resources to Improve Patient Adherence to Compression Stockings: Application of Behavior Change Theory
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2023
DOI: 10.2147/PPA.S390123
The Allied Health BONE Team: An interdisciplinary approach to orthopaedic early discharge and admission prevention
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 1998
DOI: 10.1071/AH980211
Abstract: This paper presents the conceptual framework, activities and outcomes of the AlliedHealth BONE (Best Orthopaedic New Enterprise) Team, an early discharge incentiveat the Gold Coast Hospital. The clinical team of a physiotherapist, occupationaltherapist and social worker provided services within an interdisciplinary model of carewith the aim of reducing the length of stay of acute adult orthopaedic patients. Theteam provided intervention in the community, the accident and emergencydepartment, pre-admission clinic and orthopaedic wards to patients with hip andknee replacements, back pain and upper femoral fractures. This paper reports datafrom the first six months of the project, demonstrating success in improving thecontinuity of care provided to orthopaedic patients and reducing the length of stayin target groups by 24%.
Invited Commentary-Exploring patterns of personal alarm system use and impacts on outcomes
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-08-2021
DOI: 10.1111/AJAG.12989
A group education program reduced falls among community-dwelling older people at risk of falling: Commentary
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-08-2006
“Pixie dust”: The moderating effect of reflexivity on patient safety culture and quality patient care
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 08-08-2019
DOI: 10.1108/JHOM-03-2018-0092
Abstract: Creating a culture of patient safety and developing a skilled workforce are major challenges for health managers. However, there is limited information to guide managers as to how patient safety culture can be improved. The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of reflexivity and develop a model for magnifying the effect of patient safety culture and demonstrating a link to improved perceptions of quality of care. This research employed a correlational case study design with empirical hypothesis testing of quantitative scores derived from validated survey items. Staff perceptions of patient safety, reflexivity and quality of patient care were obtained via a survey in 2015 and analysed using inferential statistics. The final s le included 227 health service staff from clinical and non-clinical designations working in a large Australian tertiary hospital and health service delivering acute and sub-acute health care. Both patient safety culture and reflexivity are positively correlated with perceived quality of patient care at the p .01 level. The moderating role of reflexivity on the relationship between patient safety culture and quality of care outcomes was significant and positive at the p .005 level. Improving reflexivity in a health workforce positively moderates the effect of patient safety culture on perceptions of patient quality of care. The role of reflexivity therefore has implications for future pre-professional curriculum content and post-graduate licencing and registration requirements. Much has been published on reflection. This paper considers the role of reflexivity, a much less understood but equally important construct in the field of patient safety.
Development and pilot testing of a patient-participatory pressure ulcer prevention care bundle
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 2014
Letter to the editor (multiple letters) [1]
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-1999
Casemix and rehabilitation evaluation of an early discharge scheme
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2000
DOI: 10.1071/AH000154
Abstract: This paper presents a case study of an early discharge scheme funded by casemix incentives and discusses limitationsof a casemix model of funding whereby hospital inpatient care is funded separately from care in other settings. ThePOSITIVE Rehabilitation program received 151 patients discharged early from hospital in a twelve-month period.Program evaluation demonstrates a 40.9% drop in the average length of stay of rehabilitation patients and a 42.6%drop in average length of stay for patients with stroke. Other benefits of the program include a high level of patientsatisfaction, improved carer support and increased continuity of care. The challenge under the Australianinterpretation of a casemix model of funding is ensuring the viability of services that extend across acute hospital, non-acutecare, and community and home settings.
Improving Adherence to Wearing Compression Stockings for Chronic Venous Insufficiency and Venous Leg Ulcers: A Scoping Review
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2021
DOI: 10.2147/PPA.S323766
The emergence of new kinds of professional work within the health sector
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Date: 29-01-2016
Caring for the older person with cognitive impairment in hospital: Qualitative analysis of nursing personnel reflections on fall events
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-01-2019
DOI: 10.1111/JOCN.14724
Abstract: To explore nurse and nursing assistant reflections on the care of older patients with cognitive impairment who have experienced a fall. While there are evidence-based clinical guidelines for the prevention and management of falls and for the care of older people with cognitive impairment, the falls rates for older people with cognitive impairment are three times as high as those without. Critical incident technique. Eleven registered and two enrolled nurses and four assistants in nursing working in one subacute and two acute wards within two hospitals of a tertiary level health service in south-east Queensland. In idual semistructured interviews focused on two past events when a patient with cognitive impairment had fallen in hospital: one when there was minimal harm and the second when there was significant harm. Thematic analysis was undertaken. The COREQ checklist was followed. Three themes emerged from 23 reflective accounts of fall events: "direct observation is confounded by multiple observers" and "knowing the person has cognitive impairment is not enough," and "want to rely on the guideline but unsure how to enact it." While participants were aware of the falls prevention policy and techniques available to prevent falls, the implementation of these was challenging due to the complexity of care required by the older person with cognitive impairment. Falls prevention for older people with cognitive impairment is complex and belies the simple application of policy. To reduce falls, nurses can involve the family to support "knowing the patient" to enable prediction of impulsive actions shift the focus of in-service from lectures to specific case presentations, with collaborative analysis on person-focused strategies to prevent falls in older people with cognitive impairment and reconsider the sitter role from simple observer to assistant, focused on ambulation and supporting independence in activities of daily living.
Occupational therapy curriculum and the cultural interface
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2023
Using behaviour change theory to develop occupational therapy resources for improving compression-stocking adherence
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2023
Perspectives and experiences of early career rural allied health professionals undertaking the rural generalist training pathway
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2021
Oral Presentations ‐ Thursday 24 June 2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2021
Use of contract occupational therapy services to facilitate early discharge from hospital
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-1998
The smart-home study: A feasibility study to pilot the use of smartphone technology to identify environmental falls risk factors in the home
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 07-02-2023
DOI: 10.1177/15691861231155994
Abstract: While occupational therapy home assessments are effective to identify environmental falls risk factors, patients may not receive these services due to workforce distribution and geographical distances. Technology may offer a new way for occupational therapists to conduct home assessments to identify environmental fall risks. To (i) explore the feasability of identifying environmental risk factors using smartphone technology, (ii) develop and pilot a suite of procedures for taking smartphone images and (iii) examine the inter-rater reliability and content validity between occupational therapists when assessing smartphone images using a standardised assessment tool. Following ethical approval a procedure was developed and participants recruited to submit smartphone images of their bedroom, bathroom and toilet. Two independent occupational therapists then assessed these images using a home safety checklist. Findings were analysed using inferential and descriptive statistics. Of 100 volunteers screened, 20 in iduals participated. A guideline for instructing patients to take home images was developed and tested. Participants averaged 9.00 minutes (SD 4.401) to complete the task, whilst occupational therapists took approximately 8 minutes to review the images. The inter-rater reliability between the two therapists was 0.740 (95% CI: 0.452–0.888). The study found that use of smartphones was to a large extent feasible and conclude that the use of smartphone technologies is a potential complimentary service to traditional home visits. The effective prescription of equipment in this trial was identified as a challenge. The impact on costs and potential falls incidents remains uncertain and more research is warranted in representative populations.
The Australian Health Care Agreement 1998-2003: Implications and strategic directions for occupational therapists
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2000
Dynamic workplace interactions for improving patient safety climate
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 20-03-2017
DOI: 10.1108/JHOM-09-2016-0185
Abstract: Employee engagement (EE), supervisor support (SS) and interprofessional collaboration (IPC) are important contributors to patient safety climate (PSC). The purpose of this paper is to propose and empirically test a model that suggests the presence of a three-way interaction effect between EE, IPC and SS in creating a stronger PSC. Using validated tools to measure EE, SS, IPC and PSC data were collected from a questionnaire of 250 clinical and support staff in an Australian health service. Using a statistical package (SPSS) an exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Bivariate correlations between the derived variables were calculated and a hierarchical ordinary least squares analysis was used to examine the interaction between the variables. This research finds that PSC emerges from synergies between EE, IPC and SS. Modelling demonstrates that the effect of IPC with PSC is the strongest when staff are highly engaged. While the authors expected SS to be an important predictor of PSC EE has a stronger relationship to PSC. These findings have important implications for the development of patient safety programmes that focus on developing excellent supervisors and enabling IPC. The authors provide quantitative evidence relating to three of the often mentioned constructs in the typology of patient safety and how they work together to improve PSC. The authors believe this to be the first empirically based study that confirms the importance of IPC as a lead marker for improved patient safety.
Implementing Evidence-Based Guidelines for Falls Prevention: Observations of Nursing Activities During the Care of Older People With Cognitive Impairment
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-06-2019
DOI: 10.1111/WVN.12376
Abstract: Evidence-based guidelines assist clinicians in practice, but how the guidelines are implemented is less established. To describe the nurses' implementation of activities recommended in evidence-based guidelines for falls prevention and care of older people with cognitive impairment. Structured observation with a categorical checklist was used. Nursing personnel were recruited from one subacute and two acute wards in two hospitals in one tertiary-level health service in south-eastern Queensland, Australia. The data collection instrument identified 31 activities drawn directly from the evidence-based guidelines, which were categorized into six domains of nursing practice: clinical care, comfort, elimination, mobility, nutrition and hydration, and social engagement. Four-hour observation periods, timed to occur across the morning and evening shifts, were conducted over 2 months. Nineteen registered nurses, six enrolled nurses, and 16 assistants in nursing (N = 41) were observed for 155 hr of observation. There was variability in adherence with specific activities, ranging from 21% to 100% adherence. Three categories with the highest adherence were nutrition and hydration, mobilization safety, and social engagement. The clinical care, comfort, and elimination categories had lower adherence, with lowest adherence in activities of education provision about falls risk, pain assessment, using a clock or calendar to reorient to time and place, and bowel care. Nursing care is delivered within an interdisciplinary team. Therefore, responsibility for the everyday fundamental care activities known to prevent falls in older people with cognitive impairment requires localized negotiation. A practical guide for preventing in-hospital falls in older people with cognitive impairment addressing the interdisciplinary context of practice is required. Interdisciplinary teams should develop strategies to enhance the implementation of pain assessment and prevention of constipation in the context of regularly implemented hydration, nutrition, and mobilization care strategies.
Development of a Quality Indicator Framework for occupational therapy
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 27-12-2018
A collaborative occupational therapy and nursing approach to falls prevention in hospital inpatients
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-1999
DOI: 10.1046/J.1440-1762.1999.00337.X
Abstract: A retrospective audit of inpatient falls at the Gold Coast Hospital was conducted in August 1996. This collaborative approach of occupational therapy and nursing staff aimed to reduce the number of patients falling while they were hospital inpatients. From the first audit a number of high risk patient groups, activities and ward environments were identified and a falls prevention program implemented. A second audit conducted 2 years later demonstrated a decrease in falls and related injuries. This paper discusses the findings of the falls audit and presents the 'Fall STOP' falls prevention program that was initiated.
Falls prevention: partnering occupational therapy and general practitioners.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2001
DOI: 10.1071/AH010037
Abstract: The Falls STOP project was a partnership between general practitioners (GPs) and occupational therapists with thecommon goal to reduce accidental falls in the elderly. A home visiting service was implemented that included theorganisation of home modifications, education on falls prevention strategies and referral to other community services.The pilot demonstrated some valuable benefits to sixty-eight clients referred to the program by twenty GPs. A numberof resources were developed such as a falls risk questionnaire completed by patients while waiting to see the doctor, anda falls prevention educational booklet. A significant challenge for future preventative programs is rousing the interestof a larger group of referring doctors, and promoting the benefits of shared care arrangements with occupationaltherapists that target specific health issues such as falls in the elderly.
Bricks-and-mortar and patient safety culture
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 19-06-2017
DOI: 10.1108/JHOM-04-2017-0072
Abstract: Building a new hospital requires a major investment in capital infrastructure. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of bricks-and-mortar on patient safety culture before and two years after the move of a large tertiary hospital to a greenfield site. The difference in patient safety perceptions between clinical and non-clinical staff is also explored. This research uses data collected from the same workforce across two time periods (2013 and 2015) in a large Australian healthcare service. Validated surveys of patient safety culture ( n =306 and 246) were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Using two-way analysis of variance, the authors found that perceived patient safety culture remains unchanged for staff despite a major relocation and upgrade of services and different perceptions of patient safety culture between staff groups remains the same throughout change. A dramatic change in physical context, such as moving an entire hospital, made no measurable impact on perceived patient safety culture by major groups of staff. Improving patient safety culture requires more than investment in buildings and infrastructure. Understanding differences in professional perspectives of patient safety culture may inform organisational management approaches, and enhance the targeting of specific strategies. The authors believe this to be the first empirically based paper that investigates the impact of a large investment into hospital capital and a subsequent relocation of services on clinical and non-clinical staff perceptions of patient safety culture.
A call for a fragility fractures centralised care pathway in Australia: A qualitative study among healthcare professionals
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 07-08-2023
DOI: 10.1177/20534345231193082
Abstract: Osteoporosis remains unrecognised and untreated in patients with fragility fractures, which leads to higher mortality rate, increasing social and economic burden related to subsequent fractures. However, the presence of a coordinated and centralised care pathway for fragility fractures is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to explore the perspectives of health professionals regarding the current management for distal radius fragility fractures, how the care pathway can be optimised for patients with distal radius fragility fractures, and where occupational therapists can contribute. This paper uses a phenomenological qualitative methodology with selective and purposeful s ling, consisting of health professionals from an Australian Health Service ( N = 20). Online surveys ( N = 18) and semi-structured interviews ( N = 16) were conducted. Content analysis was applied, followed by thematic analysis to identify emerging themes. Eighteen health professionals participated in the presurvey of which 16 were interviewed. The identified themes presented the gaps in the knowledge and awareness of fragility fractures and osteoporosis, as well as a lack of coordination in the system, especially the referral process. These findings are consistent with previous studies which also highlight the importance of communication, coordination, collaboration, cooperation, responsibility, and a population approach in achieving integrated care. This study contributes to the global call for a centralised and coordinated care pathway for fragility fractures. The study explores personal experiences of health professionals who expressed interest in fragility fractures management. Exploring patients’ perspectives on their journey of fragility fractures management provides opportunity for future research.
Related Organisations
Related Funding Activities
No related grants have been discovered for Susan Brandis.