Improving nursing documentation for surgical patients in a referral hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone : protocol for assessing feasibility of a pilot multifaceted quality improvement hybrid type project
Date
2021-01-27
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BioMed Central
Abstract
Background: There is an urgent need to improve quality of care to reduce avoidable mortality and
morbidity from surgical diseases in low- and middle-income countries. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge about
how evidence-based health system strengthening interventions can be implemented effectively to improve quality
of care in these settings. To address this gap, we have developed a multifaceted quality improvement intervention
to improve nursing documentation in a low-income country hospital setting. The aim of this pilot project is to test
the intervention within the surgical department of a national referral hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Methods: This project was co-developed and co-designed by in-country stakeholders and UK-based researchers,
after a multiple-methodology assessment of needs (qualitative, quantitative), guided by a participatory ‘Theory of
Change’ process. It has a mixed-method, quasi-experimental evaluation design underpinned by implementation
and improvement science theoretical approaches. It consists of three distinct phases—(1) preimplementation(
project set up and review of hospital relevant policies and forms), (2) intervention implementation
(awareness drive, training package, audit and feedback), and (3) evaluation of (a) the feasibility of delivering the
intervention and capturing implementation and process outcomes, (b) the impact of implementation strategies on
the adoption, integration, and uptake of the intervention using implementation outcomes, (c) the intervention’s
effectiveness For improving nursing in this pilot setting.
Discussion: We seek to test whether it is possible to deliver and assess a set of theory-driven interventions to
improve the quality of nursing documentation using quality improvement and implementation science methods
and frameworks in a single facility in Sierra Leone. The results of this study will inform the design of a large-scale
effectiveness-implementation study for improving nursing documentation practices for patients throughout
hospitals in Sierra Leone.
Description
CITATION: Brima, N., et al. 2021. Improving nursing documentation for surgical patients in a referral hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone : protocol for assessing feasibility of a pilot multifaceted quality improvement hybrid type project. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 7:33, doi:10.1186/s40814-021-00768-5.
The original publication is available at https://pilotfeasibilitystudies.biomedcentral.com
The original publication is available at https://pilotfeasibilitystudies.biomedcentral.com
Keywords
Surgical patient records, Nursing records --Developing countries, Surgical nursing -- Records and correspondence, Surgical diseases -- Documentation, Medical records -- Sierra Leone
Citation
Brima, N., et al. 2021. Improving nursing documentation for surgical patients in a referral hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone : protocol for assessing feasibility of a pilot multifaceted quality improvement hybrid type project. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 7:33, doi:10.1186/s40814-021-00768-5