Carmel Hughes

..Responses between nurse managers and registered nurses were also compared...

..Exemplars of innovative prescribing models, involving pharmacists and encouraging resident-centred care, may offer a more palatable approach to improving drug use in this vulnerable population...

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..To evaluate whether perceptions of patient safety in nursing homes vary by length of employment, type of employee, and shift worked...

..To determine the relation between organizational characteristics and medication technician (MT) use and quantify the impact of MTs on increasing the likelihood of using medications, employing the example of antiosteoporosis medications...

..It is also unclear if residents in nursing homes are involved in decision making about medication...

..Palliative services need to be developed to meet the requirements of some of the most vulnerable residents in this care setting...

..Good adherence should be seen as a means of achieving a satisfactory therapeutic result and not as an end in itself...

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..Monitoring of specific populations and products, in addition to data recording and educating and informing patients, may go some way towards promoting safe and effective self-medication...

..Consideration needs to be given to the structures and processes currently in place in order to promote better prescribing outcomes for this vulnerable population...

..There have been calls for greater collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists in primary care...

..Little is known about how community pharmacists make decisions about which over-the-counter (OTC) medication to supply to a patient and the role of clinical evidence in making those decisions...

..However, a series of prompt questions have been provided which may assist nursing home staff in deciding whether prescribing is optimal in a resident or if an intervention is required which may lead to an overall improvement in outcomes...

..We aimed to explore, using qualitative methods, the perspectives of patients with hypertension on issues relating to concordance in prescribing...

..There is no evidence in the literature of any surveillance studies having been specifically conducted in nursing homes (NHs) in Northern Ireland (NI)...

..The aim of this study was to investigate antimicrobial prescribing in residential homes in Northern Ireland (NI)...

..Further research is required on how interprofessional team working can be maximized in the context of pharmacist prescribing, particularly in relation to the management of multi-morbidity...

..Some of these problems may arise because of the difficulties encountered by staff or a breakdown in communication when residents move from one setting to another (e.g. hospital to nursing home or vice versa)...

..CONCLUSIONS: The management approach to UTIs varied greatly and was a more complex process than anticipated. Identification of the component steps will be used to perform an economic evaluation of UTIs in nursing homes...

..Choosing the best interventions to improve appropriate polypharmacy is a priority, hence there is growing interest in appropriate polypharmacy, where many medicines may be used to achieve better clinical outcomes for patients...

..This study aimed to assess the levels of adherence in a sample of hypertensive patients being cared for in primary care in Northern Ireland and to explore the impact of depressive symptoms and medication beliefs on medication adherence...

..A greater focus on resident-centred care may promote more empowerment and autonomy, both generally and with respect to compliance with medication in particular, in nursing home residents...

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..On-going developments in community pharmacy practice in the UK may facilitate the development of this role and may guide policy development for long-term care in other countries...

..To investigate the relationship between statin use and pancreatic cancer risk...

..Future pharmaceutical care studies may benefit from a more focussed selective approach to data collection and outcomes measurement...

..Evidence for NSAIDs preventing head and neck cancer (HNC) is conflicting. We conducted a systematic literature review to investigate the association between NSAID/aspirin use and risk of head and neck cancer (HNC)...

..It is recognised that infection prevention and control strategies are important in preventing and controlling MRSA transmission...

..The aim of this study was to investigate antimicrobial prescribing in nursing homes in countries across Europe...

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..The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of antimicrobial drug use and infection control practices on nosocomial MRSA incidence in a 426-bed general teaching hospital in Northern Ireland...

..To test the effect of an adapted U.S. model of pharmaceutical care on prescribing of inappropriate psychoactive (anxiolytic, hypnotic, and antipsychotic) medications and falls in nursing homes for older people in Northern Ireland (NI)...

..To assess the suitability of an American model of pharmaceutical care for nursing home residents (The Fleetwood model) for application in nursing homes in the United Kingdom...

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..This study sought to determine the influence of depression and psychosocial factors on medication adherence in cardiovascular disease...

..The aim of this study was to determine the levels of job satisfaction and stress in pharmacists in NI in the context of these changes...

..To investigate the provision of pharmaceutical care by community pharmacists across Europe and to examine the various factors that could affect its implementation...

..Using a self-reported work sampling methodology this study investigated how community pharmacists utilised their time, and quantified how much time pharmacists devoted to specific activities...

..The aim of this study was, through qualitative methodology, to explore the factors which contribute to job-related stress in community pharmacy in Northern Ireland...

..0% during the Tazocin arm. The low incidence rates within the unit demonstrated the importance of infection control in limiting the spread of MRSA despite the extensive use of antibiotics in a high-risk setting...

..There is universal agreement that organizational characteristics of nursing facilities can and do influence the quality of care and resident outcomes...

..A major cultural shift in the way society views and treats the elderly may be required in order to produce dramatic improvements in long term care for older people...

..To determine the impact of the prospective payment system (PPS) for skilled nursing facilities on the pharmacologic treatment of depression...

..This study tested an intervention model which sought to minimise over-the-counter (OTC) drug misuse and abuse in community pharmacies...

..To provide normative information regarding levels of job satisfaction and stress between consulting and dispensing pharmacists in the long-term care arena...

..To document job satisfaction and sources of stress among nursing staff working in nursing homes and to evaluate the extent to which the reasons of stress differ by type of nursing staff...

..To quantify the association between including specific medications deemed potentially inappropriate in the surveyors' interpretive guidelines for nursing homes and the prevalence of use...

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..The effectiveness of pharmaceutical care planning software for nursing homes and the extent to which the software assisted in the implementation of the Fleetwood Model are described...

..Concerns have been expressed that the PPS may affect the quality of care delivered to residents. This study evaluates the impact of the PPS on pharmacological secondary ischaemic stroke prevention in nursing homes...

..The Fleetwood Model incorporates prospective review, direct communication with the prescriber, and formalized pharmacotherapy planning in patients at highest risk for medication-related problems...

..To compare the pharmacist-reported adherence to Fleetwood model process components in intervention with control groups in the Fleetwood Phase III study...

..These findings indicate that pharmacists could be more proactive in the management of inappropriate OTC drug use...

..CONCLUSION: This study represents the first reported structured attempt by community pharmacists in the UK to address the abuse/misuse of OTC medication. Work is now ongoing to modify this model in light of the pilot study findings...