The global healthcare delivery paradigm shift calls for enhanced strategies to engage patients in delivering safer and high-quality healthcare. There still exists a gap area in a globally accepted measure for the person-centered care. Recent tri-institutional global quality reports from National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAESM), World Bank Group, and Lancet Global Health Commission attempted to report the patient engagement measures used globally. We aim to understand the variation in these globally reported patient-centered care measures and highlight the recent proactive strategies to enhance patient engagement to improve patient safety.

There is a misconception that urinary incontinence (UI) in older adults, usually above the age of 65 is a part of aging. More than 50% of residents in long-term care (LTC) settings are affected by UI and it is associated in many cases with markedly reduced quality of life. It has become evident that incontinence can be cured or successfully managed. However, many nurses lack sufficient knowledge to intervene appropriately. The purpose of this review is to share how the collaborative efforts of nurses at all levels may lead to increased assessment and interventions of UI in this population.

A paradigm shift towards enhanced strategies to effectively engage patients and families in delivering safe and high-quality healthcare services was observed during recent times, particularly in the last decade. Immediately prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the tri-institutional global healthcare quality reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, World Bank Group, and Lancet Global Health Commission reported the patient and family engagement measures used globally, highlighting the variations across the regions of the world. Through a pandemic for more than a year now, we aim to present the key lessons learned from practices and strategies to proactively engage patients and families. These strategies may continue to be implemented in the post-Covid-19 pandemic era to improve patient and family-centered care.

SUMMARYWe report a case of a 33-year-old Sri Lankan man who presented with flaccid quadriparesis with brainstem signs and acute motor axonal polyneuropathy. MRI of the brain showed multiple abscesses with ring enhancement seen predominantly in the brainstem and upper cervical cord. The patient was initially treated with intravenous immunoglobulin, considering this to be a form of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Cerebrospinal fluid, however, showed lymphocytic pleocytosis with raised protein. Tests for Brucella, tuberculosis, toxoplasmosis, syphilis and HIV were negative. Chest X-ray revealed a cavity in the left lung, which, on bronchoscopy, showed a collection of purulent secretions. Culture of these secretions grew Burkholderia pseudomallei. The patient was treated with two courses of intravenous antibiotics, with resultant radiological improvement; however, with significant morbidity. BACKGROUND

Background Communication with clinicians is an important component of a hospitalized patient’s experience. Objective To test the impact of standardized hospitalist information cards on the patient experience. Design Quasi-experimental study in a U.S. tertiary-care center. Participants All-comer medicine inpatients. Interventions Standardized hospitalist information cards containing name and information on a hospitalist’s role and availability vs. usual care. Main Measures Patients’ rating of the overall communication as excellent (“top-box” score); qualitative feedback summarized via inductive coding. Key Results Five hundred sixty-six surveys from 418 patients were collected for analysis. In a multivariate regression model, standardized hospitalist information cards significantly improved the odds of a “top-box” score on overall communication (odds ratio: 2.32; 95% confidence intervals: 1.07–5.06). Other statistically significant covariates were patient age (0.98, 0.97–0.99), hospitalist role (physician vs. advanced practice provider, 0.56; 0.38–0.81), and hospitalist-patient gender combination (female-female vs. male-male, 2.14; 1.35–3.40). Eighty-seven percent of patients found the standardized hospitalist information cards useful, the perceived most useful information being how to contact the hospitalist and knowing their schedule. Conclusions Hospitalized patients’ experience of their communication with hospitalists may be improved by using standardized hospitalist information cards. Younger patients cared for by a team with an advanced practice provider, as well as female patients paired with female providers, were more likely to be satisfied with the overall communication. Assessing the impact of information cards should be studied in other settings to confirm generalizability.