Authors (including presenting author) :
Chan PN (1)(2), Chung LH (1)(2), Fu PC (1)(2), Yeo MF (1)(2), Lui TZ (1)(2)
Affiliation :
(1) Community Geriatric Assessment Service, Kowloon Hospital (2) Community Nursing Services, Kowloon Hospital
Introduction :
Introduction:
According to Miller and colleagues (2010), improper organizational culture can act as a barrier to implementing appropriate nursing care practices in old age homes. Organizational culture plays a crucial role in shaping attitudes, behaviors, and practices within a healthcare setting. A negative or unsupportive culture can hinder efforts to provide high-quality care to residents.
Objectives :
Aim: The key goal of the program is to improve support care by offering staff training on care processes, safety climate, and preventing avoidable harms to residents in old age homes. By
enhancing the skills and knowledge of care home staff, there is potential to positively impact working practices and attitudes toward resident safety and quality of care provided. This, in turn, can lead to notable reductions in the rates of avoidable harms within old age homes.
Methodology :
Method：
Goal: The main objective of the program is to enhance the skills of staff members and foster a culture of continuous quality improvement to minimize avoidable harms to residents in old age homes.
Location: The program is implemented across 25 old age homes.
Provider: The program is being provided by Kowloon Hospital CGAT.
Recipients: The intervention is targeted towards senior and junior nursing and care staff working in the 25 old age homes.
Methodology: the program includes a combination of face-to-face meetings, training sessions, and knowledge-sharing activities.
It would be beneficial to continue monitoring the participants to see if the improvements are sustained over time and if there are any specific areas that may require further attention or reinforcement. Regular evaluations and feedback mechanisms can help in ensuring the long-term success and impact of the training program.
Pre and post-test evaluations are conducted to assess the effectiveness of the intervention.
Duration: The program is schedule to run for a period of 3 months, from 01/11/2023 to 31/01/2024.
Education and training: Training is delivered by facilitators or specialist teams through small groups or larger workshops that involve staff from multiple old age homes. The training focuses on areas such as safety culture, skill development, and strategies to minimize the risk of errors and harm to residents.
Result & Outcome :
Result: The training program had a positive impact on the participants, as evidenced by the increase in both the total score and the average score from pre-test to the post-test.
The significant improvement in the average total score from 63.3% to 90.4% indicated that the training was effective in enhancing the knowledge or skills of the staff in the old age homes.
Conclusion：
The flexible approach to program implementation seems to have been effective in bringing about positive changes and reducing avoidable harms, despite the challenge like high staff turnover and complex health needs of residents. The fact that the changes seem to have become embedded within the care homes is a good sign of the program’s success. However, it will be important to conduct further evaluations to assess how sustainable these changes are in the long term. Continued monitoring and evaluation can help to determine if the positive trends observed during the program are maintained over time or if there
is a need for additional support or interventions to ensure long-term success.
