Life Long Learning and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) are the
processes by which professionals, such as nurses, develop and improve their
practice.
There are many ways to address CPD: formally, through attending courses,
study days and workshops; or informally, through private study and reflection.
Reading articles in professional journals is a good way of keeping up-to-date
with what is going on in the field of practice, but reflecting and identifying
what you have learnt is not always easy. These questions are designed to help
you to identify what you have learnt from studying the article. They will also
help you to clarify what you can apply to practice, what you did not understand
and what you need to explore further.
1 What is essential for a quality OH service?
a) clinical audit
b) clinical effectiveness
c) clinical governance
d) clinical supervision
2 Which four factors are necessary for continuous improvement
a) adequate resources, a willingness to improve, measurements and a product
b) adequate resources, awareness of need to improve, measurements and a product
c) awareness of need to improve, a willingness to improve, measurements and a
product
d) awareness of need to improve, a willingness to improve, measurements and
adequate resources
3 Clinical effectiveness means using the best available
a) clinical audit tools
b) modern technology
c) knowledge and experience
d) research-based knowledge
4 Audit benefits
a) OH nurses
b) The business
c) The customers
d) All of the above
5 What four examples of OH audit are given in the text?
a) First, quantitative, qualitative, financial
b) First, baseline, customer satisfaction, cost
c) First, Health and Safety, OH processes, clinical
d) First, baseline, customer satisfaction, professional
6 Audit provides ways of measuringhow effective actions are against
a) a set standard
b) processes
c) outcomes
d) all of the above
7 Audit will determine whether
a) standards set meet the process
b) process meets the standard
c) process meets the outcomes
d) outcomes meet the standards
8 In case study Assessment following restructure how long had the
organisation benefited from an OH service?
a) <20 years
b) >20 years
c) <10 years
d) >10 years
9 In this case study the historic culture of the company was
a) materialistic
b) autocratic
c) bureaucratic
d) paternalistic
10 In this case study the four key performance indicators were
a) review the OH services, sickness absence, accident rates, employee claims
b) health screening, smoking policies, stress management, sickness absence
c) sickness absence, health screening, employee claims, stress management
d) review of OH services, health screening, accident rates, employee claims
Feedback
1b is the correct answer, although a and d are also essential. Audit
is part of clinical effectiveness and clinical supervision is essential for
improving nursing practice. Clinical governance encompasses all three items and
is a framework to share best practice as stated in the RCN Occupational Health
Audit.
2c Obtain copy of the reference MacDonald (1992) and read this research
3d Clinical effectiveness is making sure that the care you offer is
based on sound research evidence, in combination with clinical expertise and
client preference. Doing the Right Thing, Clinical Effectiveness for Nurses RCN
1999
4b, 5b, 6a, 7b, 8b, 9d, 10a
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Draw together the information in this article then write notes on how you
would locate up-to-date evidence in best practice on an area of your work, eg
taking blood pressure, then write some standards. Discuss these with a
colleague or manager.
Correction: The "Remote Control" article on travel health
in the December 1999 issue of OH gave an incorrect answer to question 7. It
should have read c This is the only answer in which both items are included in
the bullet pointed list under Travel health policy.
