Jen Bichel-Findlay - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Jen Bichel-Findlay

Studies in health technology and informatics, Jan 25, 2024

The Certified Health Informatician Australasian (CHIA) is an assessment of a candidate's capabili... more The Certified Health Informatician Australasian (CHIA) is an assessment of a candidate's capabilities measured using a core set of health informatics competencies. The aim of this paper is to describe the outcomes of the first eight years since the program's launch. This paper contributes to the competency framework and certification discourse, and knowledge of the increasing importance and recognition of health informaticians through certification. An analysis of results and possible contributing factors is discussed.

Journal of Nursing Management, Jul 14, 2016

Does nurses' health affect their intention to remain in their current position? Aim To investigat... more Does nurses' health affect their intention to remain in their current position? Aim To investigate and describe nurses' and midwives' physical health, rates of symptoms and disease, and to determine if these factors contribute to intention to leave. Background The nursing and midwifery workforce is ageing yet little is known about their physical health or its relationship to intention to leave. Methods An online survey of health and work-related assessments was distributed through the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association and professional contacts. Results Nurses and midwives (n = 5041) reported good-very good health overall. With 22.2% intending to leave in the next 12 months, older age, better perceived health and job satisfaction, regional residence and not working shifts predicted no intention to leave while breathing problems predicted intention to leave. Conclusions Study findings flag the importance of health as an influence on intention to leave. Alongside job satisfaction and shift-working, health presents opportunities for workplace initiatives to maintain nurses in the workforce. Implications for nursing management Educators, managers and policy makers should heed the significant influence of health for retention of staff and consider what strategies may mitigate health risks for this workforce.

Journal of Clinical Nursing, Dec 19, 2014

Aims and objectives. To identify factors that motivate older nurses to leave the workforce. Backg... more Aims and objectives. To identify factors that motivate older nurses to leave the workforce. Background. As many older nurses are now reaching retirement age and will be eligible for government-funded pensions, governments are concerned about the impending financial burden. To prepare for this scenario, many are looking at increasing the age of retirement to 67 or 70 years. Little is known about how this will affect the continuing employment of older nurses and the consequences for employers and the nurses themselves if they remain longer in the workforce. Design. Prospective randomised quantitative survey study. Methods. The Mature Age Workers Questionnaire, Job Descriptive Index and Job in General Scale were used to measure job satisfaction, intention to retire and factors encouraging retirement in registered nurses aged 45 years and over (n = 352) in Australia (July-August 2007). Results. There were 319 respondents. The mean age proposed for leaving the workforce was 61Á7 years. Key motivators were: financial considerations (40Á1%), primarily financial security; nurse health (17Á4%) and retirement age of partner (13Á3%). Conclusions. Older nurses are leaving the workforce prior to retirement or pension age, primarily for financial, social and health reasons, taking with them significant experience and knowledge. As financial considerations are important in older nurses decisions to continue to work, increasing the age of retirement may retain them. However, consideration will need to be given to ensure that they continue to experience job satisfaction and are physically and mentally able to undertake demanding work. Relevance to clinical practice. Increasing retirement age may retain older nurses in the workforce, however, the impact on the health of older nurses is not known, nor is the impact for employers of older nurses continuing to work known. Employers must facilitate workplace changes to accommodate older nurses. What does this article contribute to the wider global clinical community? • This study demonstrates that older nurses factor in financial security, social relationships and overall health, when making decisions about early retirement. • The study emphasises the role of accessing government-funded pensions and/or self-funded superannuation savings in retirement decisions of older nurses.

Churchill Livingstone eBooks, 2014

The delivery of optimal treatment to cancer patients requires clinicians to have a comprehensive ... more The delivery of optimal treatment to cancer patients requires clinicians to have a comprehensive understanding of contemporary literature, key evidence, and internationally acceptable standards. The rapid increase each year in the number of new treatment regimens and their complexity places additional demands on the already time-poor clinicians providing cancer treatments. A lack of currency will result in the clinician not being aware of positive and negative changes in their field, and potentially ordering ineffective or even hazardous treatments. There has been an enormous growth recently in the availability of new information in health care, and this is no more evident than in the area of cancer treatment. CI-SCaT (www.treatment.cancerinstitute.org.au), a web based information repository designed by a medical oncologist, provides comprehensive, peer reviewed, evidence based cancer treatment information at the point of care incurring no cost to the user. This assessment of CI-SCaT concludes that it is a unique innovative resource providing evidence based peer reviewed treatment protocols for use at the point of care, and has become the default source of information amongst cancer clinicians in the majority of cancer services facilities in Australia. Its clinical governance demonstrates that an information technology platform can be used successfully to deliver standardised information to clinicians, and improve their access to current and accurate treatment recommendations.

The author overviews the Cancer Institute NSW Standard Cancer Treatments (CI-SCaT) website includ... more The author overviews the Cancer Institute NSW Standard Cancer Treatments (CI-SCaT) website including access, clinician benefits and the approval process of the protocols. (non-author abstract)

Delivering health care in the current and future environment requires clinicians to have a compre... more Delivering health care in the current and future environment requires clinicians to have a comprehensive understanding of classification. This will assist care to be patient focussed and meet safety and quality standards

Methods of information in medicine, 2010

Objective: The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) agreed on revising the existi... more Objective: The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) agreed on revising the existing international recommendations in health informatics/medical informatics education. These should help to establish courses, course tracks or even complete programs in this field, to further develop existing educational activities in the various nations and to support international initiatives concerning education in biomedical and health informatics (BMHI), particularly international activities in educating BMHI specialists and the sharing of courseware. Method: An IMIA task force, nominated in 2006, worked on updating the recommendations' first version. These updates have been broadly discussed and refined by members of IMIA's National Member Societies, IMIA's Academic Institutional Members and by members of IMIA's Working Group on Health and Medical Informatics Education. Results and Conclusions: The IMIA recommendations center on educational needs for health care...

ANZ Journal of Surgery, 2012

Background: A set of clinical measures (indicators), developed by an Australian Council on Health... more Background: A set of clinical measures (indicators), developed by an Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) and Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) working party, was introduced into the accreditation programme in 1997. Although early qualitative and quantitative reporting by health-care organizations (HCOs) reflected their value in stimulating change, the number of HCOs reporting data on this set of clinical indicators (CIs) has declined, despite an increase in the number of HCOs reporting data on the CIs programme overall. Possible reasons for this decline were sought. Methods: A retrospective review of prospectively collected surgical CI data was performed, a national survey of stakeholders in the ACHS programme was conducted and a comparison was made with published international data. Results: From a maximum of 247 HCOs reporting data in 2002, the number fell to 168 by 2011. While favourable trends were evident with some CIs, for example, a decline in the rate of negative histology in childhood appendicectomy and in the rate of in-hospital infection in total hip joint replacement, there was minimal change with many of the CIs, suggesting limited responsiveness as measures of care. In the national survey, stakeholder's response was positive overall, but there was a requirement for regular review of CIs. Although some colleges viewed the CIs as simplistic and not reliable, comparisons with similar measures available in the international literature were favourable. Conclusions: Possible reasons for the declining number of HCOs reporting surgical CI data are a lack of a recent revision of the CIs and a lack of engagement of clinicians from the RACS. Revision of the surgical CI set is required.

Quality Management in Health Care, 2020

Background and Objectives: Defining quality in the health care context has proven difficult, with... more Background and Objectives: Defining quality in the health care context has proven difficult, with many organizations not able to clearly articulate their use of this term in a manner that is easily understood by their clinical staff. This review seeks to investigate the literature to explore clinician engagement in quality including where engagement has been problematic, and if the reasons for this have been identified. Methods: An integrative review of the literature was undertaken to determine whether evidence within the literature supports a hypothesis that there is a lack of understanding of and engagement in quality at an organizational level by health professionals. A search of the literature was conducted using EBSCO Academic Complete, CINAHL, and MEDLINE databases. Results: This article identified 18 studies where the understanding of quality by clinicians and their level of engagement with the process are investigated. We found that there has been no comprehensive study tha...

International Nursing Review, 2017

Aim To explore the primary health care needs and health service use of homeless men in inner Sydn... more Aim To explore the primary health care needs and health service use of homeless men in inner Sydney. Background People experiencing homelessness have greater health needs than the general population and place high demands on tertiary care, which is expensive and may not be the optimum service for their needs. Accessible, approachable, and affordable primary health care services could improve the health of homeless persons and potentially decrease costs to the healthcare system. Methods A multi-method design using a cross-sectional survey (n=40) and administrative data (n=2707 daily summaries) collected from a nurse-led primary health care clinic for homeless men in Sydney. Findings Survey respondents were aged 27-76 years. Health problems reflected multi-morbidity, with mental health issues present in almost all respondents. The majority had attended the clinic more than 20 times in the past year and said the services, treatments and referrals helped them avoid the emergency department. Administrative data indicated that medication administration was the most frequent service provided. Referrals to other health services doubled over the 7-year period. Discussion Multiple morbidities, particularly mental health issues, are associated with homelessness. A proactive approach by nurses including preventative services appeared to overcome barriers to health service use. Conclusion This nurse-led primary health care clinic highlights the importance of providing services to homeless men with multiple comorbidities. Respect and trust in addition to easy access to health services appear to be important facilitators of health service use. Implications for Nursing, and Implications for Health Policy A greater number of primary health services that collaborate with specialist services, including nurse-led clinics, may facilitate healthcare for persons who are homeless, reducing the burden on acute services.

Journal of Nursing Management, 2016

Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 2016

Objectives: This research investigates the instruments currently available to measure the cancer ... more Objectives: This research investigates the instruments currently available to measure the cancer patient experience of health care. An investigation of the number of instruments, the domains covered by the instruments, and the structure and psychometric performance of instruments is undertaken. Methods: A narrative synthesis approach is used to gather evidence from multiple studies and explain the findings. Purposely broad search terms and strategy are used to capture studies with cancer patients at all stages of disease and across a range of cancer types and health care settings. Results: The majority of identified instruments were originally designed for the oncology field. Twelve of the studies developed new cancer patient measures; eight studies adapted existing or utilised items from existing instruments, seven studies assessed the psychometric properties of existing instruments or assessed validated tools under different conditions (e.g. cross cultural adaptation). The number of instruments assessing cancer patient experience that have sound psychometric properties across items was found to be low. The properties least tested are test

Australian nursing & midwifery journal, 2015

Persistent shortages of nurses internationally, particularly those with many years of experience,... more Persistent shortages of nurses internationally, particularly those with many years of experience, have focused on the need to retain older nurses. The potential loss of corporate knowledge and human capital cannot be understated.