O município de Ribeirão Preto - SP, disponibiliza atenção pré-hospitalar pública através do Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência (SAMU) e de forma pioneira realiza teletriagem dos chamados de urgência em sua Central de Regulação. Assim, considerando que a teletriagem primária é um complexo método utilizado para garantir segurança, agilidade e eficácia às solicitações de socorro, apresentou-se esta proposta de investigação cujo objetivo foi verificar a aplicação da avaliação multifatorial do grau de urgência, através do mapeamento das teletriagens realizadas pela Central de Regulação do SAMU na cidade de Ribeirão Preto - SP em 2014. Neste sentido, o presente estudo se caracteriza como de abordagem quantitativa, modelo não experimental, retrospectivo, correlacional descritivo e de corte transversal, onde foram analisadas teletriagens primárias(n =2100) realizadas pela Central de Regulação do SAMU em 2014 e foi desenvolvido em quatro etapas: a primeira com uma revisão integrativa da literatura com 21 estudos primários e as demais com o interesse de descrever através do geoprocessamento a análise relacional entre as teletriagens pré-hospitalares da amostra e os fatores etiológicos, que justificam seu arranjo espacial, os casos selecionados foram submetidos a avaliação multifatorial do grau de urgência para posteriormente comparar com as distribuições espaciais encontradas, apresentando coeficiente Kappa = -0,0538. Ao final, houve comparação entre as diferentes configurações espaciais disponíveis e comprovou-se que não há evidencias da utilização da avaliação multifatorial do grau de urgência, nas amostras selecionadas para esta investigação, de teletriagens primárias do SAMU de Ribeirão Preto - SP em 2014, com base no raciocínio estatístico adotado e sob a ótica do geoprocessamento. Com isso, este estudo contribui para o monitoramento das triagens e, consequentemente, favorece o raciocínio dos fluxos do sistema, propondo o realojamento de unidades móveis de atendimento, a criação de mais equipes de suporte avançado, o engajamento em pesquisas de delineamento metodológico para desenvolver protocolos específicos para teletriagem pré-hospitalar no Brasil e tecnologias que apoiem e facilitem todo o processo / The city of Ribeirão Preto in SP, offers public pre-hospital care through the Mobile Emergency Service (SAMU) and a pioneer performs teletriage of so-called urgency in his Central regulation. Thus, considering that the primary teletriaging is a complex method to ensure safety, speed and efficiency to rescue requests, we presented this research proposal aimed to verify the application of multifactorial assessment of the degree of urgency, by mapping the teletriage made by SAMU Regulation Center in Ribeirão Preto - SP in 2014. in this sense, the present study is characterized as a quantitative approach, not experimental, retrospective design, descriptive correlational and cross-sectional, where primary teletriage were analyzed (n = 2100) conducted by the SAMU Regulation Center in 2014 and was developed in four stages: the first with an integrative literature review 21 primary studies and the other in the interest of describing through geoprocessing relational analysis between pre teletriage pre-hospital sample and etiological factors which justify their spatial arrangement; the selected cases were submitted to multifactorial assessment of the degree of urgency to later compare the spatial distributions found, with Kappa = - 0.0538 coefficient. At the end, there was a comparison between the different spatial configurations available and it was shown that there is no evidence of use of the multifactorial assessment of the degree of urgency, in the samples selected for this research, primary teletriagens SAMU of Ribeirão Preto - SP in 2014, with adopted based on statistical reasoning and from the perspective of geoprocessing. Therefore, this study contributes to the monitoring of trials and consequently favors the reasoning of system flows, proposing the relocation of mobile service units, the creation of more advanced support teams, engaging in methodological design of research to develop specific protocols for pre-hospital telescreening in Brazil and technologies that support and facilitate the process

O objetivo deste estudo foi construir uma variável para representar a qualidade da assistência ao recém-nascido em estudos populacionais a partir da definição de critérios para as etapas assistenciais visando elaboração de um algoritmo para categorização de condição clínica e identificação de cuidados assistenciais mínimos ou básicos para aquela condição. Realizada revisão da literatura sobre diretrizes para atenção ao recém-nascido foram definidas condições clínicas que se diferenciam pelos procedimentos assistenciais básicos que necessitam receber e foi elaborado um tutorial para a composição da variável assistência ao recém-nascido e que permitisse a aplicação de um algoritmo. Foram criados critérios para definição de quatro etapas assistenciais e verificação da adequação/inadequação em cada uma delas, assim como o peso entre elas para composição da variável síntese. O algoritmo foi aplicado aos dados coletados em prontuários médicos em dois estudos de mortalidade neonatal precoce, um de tipo caso controle e outro uma coorte de recém-nascidos com peso < 1500 g, parte de projeto de pesquisa de mortalidade perinatal, desenvolvido na Região Sul do Município de São Paulo, referente ao período de agosto 2000 a fevereiro 2001. Na primeira etapa assistencial denominada manejo e reanimação na sala de parto encontrou-se para a coorte percentual de adequação para os óbitos e para os sobreviventes acima de 75%. No estudo caso-controle o percentual de adequação ficou próximo a 80% entre os casos e entre os controles foi de 98,7%. Na segunda etapa, denominada berçário utilizado, o percentual de adequação entre os óbitos na coorte foi de 66%. e de 78% para os sobreviventes, sendo que em 17% dos eventos não foi possível obter classificação. No estudo caso-controle, entre os casos o percentual de adequação foi de 67%, o percentual de \"sem classificação\" foi superior a 18% e cerca de 10% dos recém-nascidos morreram na sala de parto. Para os controles o percentual de adequação foi de 97%. Na terceira etapa, denominada procedimentos diagnósticos, o percentual de adequação na coorte atingiu pouco mais de 50% nos óbitos e o percentual de \"não classificados\" foi 26%, e nos sobreviventes a adequação chegou a 73% e os \"sem classificação foi de 20%. No estudo caso-controle, entre os casos , o percentual de adequação foi de 60% e 1 em 4 não puderam ser classificados e nos controles em quase 80% os procedimentos foram adequados e em menos de 15% não foi possível obter classificação. Na quarta etapa, denominada procedimentos terapêuticos, encontrou-se para a coorte percentual de adequação para os óbitos de quase 50% e em mais de 20% deles não foi possível classificar e entre os sobreviventes a adequação foi de 42% e os \"sem classificação\" somaram mais de 20%. No estudo caso-controle, entre os casos o percentual de adequação foi de 49% e os \"sem classificação\" perfizeram 23% e nos controles a adequação foi de 76% e menos de 5% ficou sem classificação. Na coorte o percentual de adequação da variável composta assistência ao recém-nascido foi de 65% para os óbitos e 81% para os sobreviventes e 16% dos eventos não puderam ser classificados. No estudo caso-controle, o percentual de adequação da variável composta entre os casos foi de 70% e 97% para os controles Não foi possível classificar 17% dos casos e 2,2% dos controles. Os resultados encontrados apontam para a viabilidade de aplicação do algoritmo em estudos epidemiológicos e plausibilidade clínica na aplicação e revelaram percentuais menores de adequação para os recém-nascidos mais graves, que têm risco de morrer mais elevado, necessitando de uma assistência diferenciada que procure atuar sobre as condições que levam a esse risco aumentado, exigindo dos serviços de saúde a presença de recursos materiais e humanos mais especializados, nem sempre disponíveis nos serviços. / The objective of this study was to develop a variable to measure the quality of newborn care in population studies, with the definition care phases, in order to develop an algorithm capable of categorizing clinical conditions and corresponding minimal or basic care needs. Literature review identified guidelines for neonatal care and the identification of essential clinical conditions and their basic care needs and a tutorial was developed with the definitions that permitted the application of an algorithm to clinical information registered in hospital records. Criteria for the definition of adequacy of care for 4 phases were created, and their corresponding weight in total adequacy of care. The algorithm was applied to data obtained from medical hospital records in two studies of early neonatal mortality, a case-control and a cohort of newborns weighing < than 1500 g, part of a research project of perinatal mortality, developed in the South Region of the City of São Paulo, with data from august 2000 to February 2001. For the initial phase of care, of management and resuscitation after birth, the proportions of adequacy of care in the cohort was > 75% for both deaths and survivors. In the case-control study the proportion of adequacy of care was near 80% for the cases and 98% for the controls. In the second phase of care, type of neonatal care unit, for the cohort the proportion of adequacy of care was 66% for deaths and 78% for the survivors, and 17% of the events could not be classified. In the case-control study, for the cases the proportion of adequacy was 67%, nearly 10% died before removal from the labor room, and 18% of the events could not be classified. For the controls the proportion of adequacy was 97%. In the third phase of care, called diagnostic procedures, the proportion of adequacy for the cohort was 50% for the deaths, with 26% of the events not classified, and for the survivors adequacy was 73% and no classification was 20%. For the case-control, the proportion of adequacy of cases was 60%, with 1 in 4 of the events not classified, and for controls adequacy was nearly 80% and 15% not classified. In the fourth phase of care, called therapeutic procedures, the proportion of adequacy for the cohort was nearly 50% for the deaths, 20% of the events not classified, and 42% for the survivors, with 20% not classified. For the case-control, in cases adequacy was 49%, not classified 23%, and in controls adequacy was 76%, and less than 5% not classified. For the composite variable adequacy of care, in the cohort, care was classified as adequate for 65% of deaths and 81% of the survivors, and 16% could not be classified. In the case-control, care was classified as adequate for 70% of the cases and 97% of the controls, and 17% and 1% respectively could not be classified. The results indicate that the algorithm is viable for use in epidemiological studies and has clinical plausibility, and revealed lower proportions of adequacy for the sicker newborns, with higher death risk, who need more specialized care, in order to be able to intervene on those conditions that lead to this higher risk, thereby demanding more human and material resources, not always available in these services.

Trata-se de um estudo de abordagem qualitativa sob a perspectiva da antropologia da saúde, que teve como objetivo interpretar a experiência de ser acompanhante de paciente cirúrgico oncológico em unidade de internação terciária. Utilizou-se o referencial teórico da antropologia interpretativa e o método etnográfico para apreender a experiência de nove acompanhantes de pacientes em tratamento cirúrgico por câncer, que foram entrevistados durante a permanência na unidade de internação. A coleta de dados ocorreu no período de fevereiro a setembro de 2012, por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas gravadas em áudio, observações participantes e anotações em um diário de campo, cujos dados foram analisados por meio da análise de conteúdo indutiva. Os dados organizados foram decodificados em três núcleos de sentidos, denominados de \"Da história pregressa ao tratamento oncológico\", \"Organização da família para o tratamento cirúrgico oncológico\" e \"Descobrindo a unidade de internação como acompanhante\". A partir destes, construímos três núcleos temáticos: \"Acompanhante de paciente cirúrgico oncológico: da necessidade à definição pessoal\"; \"Estabelecendo-se como acompanhante no hospital terciário\"; e \"Os desafios de ser acompanhante de paciente cirúrgico oncológico\". No primeiro núcleo temático interpretamos a relação prévia de cuidado com o familiar adoecido, as dificuldades na busca pelo diagnóstico e tratamento oncológico, bem como a organização familiar e as expectativas para o tratamento cirúrgico oncológico. No segundo tema apreendemos os desafios do cotidiano do acompanhante no contexto terciário em relação ao ambiente hospitalar, os conflitos durante esta permanência, o relacionamento com os profissionais da saúde e com adoecido, a dedicação pessoal para fazer parte da unidade de internação terciária, nas situações de cuidado do paciente cirúrgico oncológico. No terceiro tema abordamos as expectativas sobre o tratamento cirúrgico e suas consequências e a definição do seu papel como acompanhante neste contexto de cuidado. Com a interpretação da experiência destes acompanhantes, o significado construído foi \"ser acompanhante é meu compromisso pessoal\", que traz a superação de todas as dificuldades e aquisição de novos conhecimentos pelo acompanhante no contexto de cuidado terciário e a definição deste como o cuidador do adoecido, após a alta hospitalar. Acreditamos que este estudo poderá subsidiar a melhoria da inserção do acompanhante de paciente cirúrgico oncológico no contexto terciário, principalmente no que se refere ao acolhimento para que este possa se tornar um coparticipante e potencializar a sua permanência para o preparo como cuidador no domicílio, após a alta hospitalar / This is a qualitative study from the perspective of anthropology of health, which aimed to interpret the experience of being a companion of the oncological surgical patient in the tertiary unit. Theoretical framework of interpretive anthropology has been used and ethnographic method to capture the experience of nine companions of patients in the surgical treatment of cancer, who were interviewed during their stay at the hospital. Data collection occurred in the period from February to September 2012, through semi-structured interviews recorded on audio, participant observation and notes in a diary, and data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. The decoded data were organized into three groups of meaning, called \"From past history to chemotherapy\", \"Family Organization for surgical oncology\" and \"Discovering the inpatient unit as a companion.\" From these, three central themes were created: \"Companion of an oncological surgical patient: the need for personal definition\"; \"Establishing yourself as a companion in a tertiary hospital,\" and \"The challenges of being companion of oncological surgical patient.\" In the first thematic nucleus previous relation of care with the sick member were interpreted, difficulties in the search for cancer diagnosis and oncological treatment, as well as the family structure and expectations for the oncological surgical treatment. The second topic the everyday challenges are learned in the context of the accompanying tertiary hospital related to the conflicts during this stay, the relationship between the health professionals and the patient , the personal dedication is part of the tertiary unit, in situations of care of the oncological surgical patient. The third issue we approach the expectations about the surgery and its consequences and the definitions of the role of the companion care in this context. With the interpretation of the experience of these companions, the meaning found was \"to be companion is my personal commitment,\" which overcomes all difficulties and acquisition of new knowledge by the companion in the context of tertiary care and setting this person as the caregiver, after discharge. We believe that this study may support the improvement of the insertion of the oncological surgical patient companion in the tertiary context, especially regarding to the reception of the patient so that they can become a co-participant and enhance their stay, to the preparation as a caregiver in the home, after discharge

Background: A large percentage of the world's population suffers from mental illness. Comorbid patients experience inferior treatment when seeking help within somatic hospital care. Negative attitudes and stigmas towards patients with mental illness exist within somatic hostpital care and may affect the patient's well-being from several perspectives. Aim: The purpose is to describe attitudes and experiences of nurses in connection with treating mentally ill patients within somatic hospital care. Method: A literature review has been completed using surveys of exisitng knowledge. Literature searches were conducted with the databases PubMed and Cinahl Complete. Eight qualitative and four quantitative surveys were employed to achieve these results. The surveys were reviewed and analyzed by the authors of the literature review, the outcome of which is reflected in the four resulting themes. Results: The authors recognize a significant lack of nursing knowledge within somatic hospital care in connection with the treatment of patients who suffer from mental illness. The authors of this literature review present the results using four themes: Positive and Negative attitudes, Holistic care, Difficulties in caregiving, and Lack of knowledge and experience. Discussion: The discussion is based on Barker's Tidal Model and holistic care. Nursing experiences and attitudes have been analyzed using this model, the utcome of which has illustrated difficulties in the treatment of mentally ill patients by nursing professionals within somatic hospital care.

O município de Ribeirão Preto - SP, disponibiliza atenção pré-hospitalar pública através do Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência (SAMU) e de forma pioneira realiza teletriagem dos chamados de urgência em sua Central de Regulação. Assim, considerando que a teletriagem primária é um complexo método utilizado para garantir segurança, agilidade e eficácia às solicitações de socorro, apresentou-se esta proposta de investigação cujo objetivo foi verificar a aplicação da avaliação multifatorial do grau de urgência, através do mapeamento das teletriagens realizadas pela Central de Regulação do SAMU na cidade de Ribeirão Preto - SP em 2014. Neste sentido, o presente estudo se caracteriza como de abordagem quantitativa, modelo não experimental, retrospectivo, correlacional descritivo e de corte transversal, onde foram analisadas teletriagens primárias(n =2100) realizadas pela Central de Regulação do SAMU em 2014 e foi desenvolvido em quatro etapas: a primeira com uma revisão integrativa da literatura com 21 estudos primários e as demais com o interesse de descrever através do geoprocessamento a análise relacional entre as teletriagens pré-hospitalares da amostra e os fatores etiológicos, que justificam seu arranjo espacial, os casos selecionados foram submetidos a avaliação multifatorial do grau de urgência para posteriormente comparar com as distribuições espaciais encontradas, apresentando coeficiente Kappa = -0,0538. Ao final, houve comparação entre as diferentes configurações espaciais disponíveis e comprovou-se que não há evidencias da utilização da avaliação multifatorial do grau de urgência, nas amostras selecionadas para esta investigação, de teletriagens primárias do SAMU de Ribeirão Preto - SP em 2014, com base no raciocínio estatístico adotado e sob a ótica do geoprocessamento. Com isso, este estudo contribui para o monitoramento das triagens e, consequentemente, favorece o raciocínio dos fluxos do sistema, propondo o realojamento de unidades móveis de atendimento, a criação de mais equipes de suporte avançado, o engajamento em pesquisas de delineamento metodológico para desenvolver protocolos específicos para teletriagem pré-hospitalar no Brasil e tecnologias que apoiem e facilitem todo o processo / The city of Ribeirão Preto in SP, offers public pre-hospital care through the Mobile Emergency Service (SAMU) and a pioneer performs teletriage of so-called urgency in his Central regulation. Thus, considering that the primary teletriaging is a complex method to ensure safety, speed and efficiency to rescue requests, we presented this research proposal aimed to verify the application of multifactorial assessment of the degree of urgency, by mapping the teletriage made by SAMU Regulation Center in Ribeirão Preto - SP in 2014. in this sense, the present study is characterized as a quantitative approach, not experimental, retrospective design, descriptive correlational and cross-sectional, where primary teletriage were analyzed (n = 2100) conducted by the SAMU Regulation Center in 2014 and was developed in four stages: the first with an integrative literature review 21 primary studies and the other in the interest of describing through geoprocessing relational analysis between pre teletriage pre-hospital sample and etiological factors which justify their spatial arrangement; the selected cases were submitted to multifactorial assessment of the degree of urgency to later compare the spatial distributions found, with Kappa = - 0.0538 coefficient. At the end, there was a comparison between the different spatial configurations available and it was shown that there is no evidence of use of the multifactorial assessment of the degree of urgency, in the samples selected for this research, primary teletriagens SAMU of Ribeirão Preto - SP in 2014, with adopted based on statistical reasoning and from the perspective of geoprocessing. Therefore, this study contributes to the monitoring of trials and consequently favors the reasoning of system flows, proposing the relocation of mobile service units, the creation of more advanced support teams, engaging in methodological design of research to develop specific protocols for pre-hospital telescreening in Brazil and technologies that support and facilitate the process

This thesis addresses questions of how to incorporate quality of care, represented by disutility-bearing effects such as mortality, morbidity and re-admission, in measuring relative performance of public hospitals. Currently, case-mix funding and performance, measured with costs per case-mix adjusted separation, hold hospitals accountable for costs, but not effects, of care, creating economic incentives for quality of care minimising cost per admission. To allow an appropriate trade-off between the value and cost of quality of care a correspondence is demonstrated between maximising net benefit and minimising costs plus decision makers??? value of disutility events, where effects of care can be represented by disutility events and hospitals face a common comparator. Applying this correspondence to performance measurement, frontier methods specifying disutility events as inputs are illustrated to have distinct advantages over output specifications, allowing estimation of: 1. economic efficiency conditional on the value of avoiding disutility events. 2. technical, scale and congestion sources of net benefit efficiency; 3. best practice peers over potential decision makers??? value of quality; and 4. industry shadow price of avoiding disutility events. The accountability this performance measurement framework provides for effects and cost of quality of care are also illustrated as the basis for moving from case-mix funding towards a funding mechanism based on maximising net benefit. Links to evidence-based medicine in health technology assessment are emphasised in illustrating application of the correspondence to comparison of multiple strategies in the cost-disutility plane, where radial properties as shown to provide distinct advantages over comparison in the cost-effectiveness plane. The identified performance measurement and funding framework allows policy makers to create economic incentives consistent with evidence-based medicine in practice, while avoiding incentives for cream-skimming and cost-shifting. The linear nature of the net benefit correspondence theorem allows simple inclusion of multiple effects of quality, whether expressed as not meeting a standard, functional limitation or disutility directly. In applying the net benefit correspondence theorem to hospitals a clinical activity level is suggested, to allow correspondence conditions to be robustly satisfied in identification of effects with decision analytic methods, adjustment for within DRG risk factors and data linkage to effects beyond separation.

Despite a myriad of studies on fall prevention, patient falls continue to be a longterm problem experienced by health care organisations world-wide. Falls impose a heavy burden in terms of social, medical, and financial outcomes, and continue to pose a threat to patient safety. Because the potential for a fall is a constant clinical safety issue in every health care organisation, protecting the patient from falls and subsequent injuries, and ensuring that the patient care environment facilitates, are fundamental aspects in providing quality care. Moreover, the current international focus on creating a culture of quality care and patient safety requires the implementation of fall prevention programs that decrease the risk of falls. As with other international health care organisations, the National University Hospital (where the principal investigator is working), has been challenged with the issue of how to prioritise and implement quality initiatives across all disciplines. Faced with persistent patient falls that affect care outcomes, fall prevention has been a priority initiative at the hospital since 2003. In response, a nursing task force was established in an attempt to resolve this problem. A root cause analysis undertaken by this task force revealed that the hospital protocol on fall prevention was outdated and not evidence-based. Furthermore, many nurses did not understand the importance of fall prevention, while the administration of the fall prevention program was instituted on an ad hoc basis rather than as a standard of care for all patients. The challenge for this task force, as with other health care professionals, was not only in finding an intervention that was effective, but also identifying who would benefit from its implementation. Although the need to apply current best practices to reduce patient falls is clear from the task force results, evidence of the effectiveness of fall prevention interventions in acute care hospitals is lacking in literature. In addition, there are no published studies on fall prevention in Singapore to support changes in nursing practices. Thus, it becomes apparent that research on fall prevention is greatly needed in Singapore so that an evidence-based fall prevention program can be developed. This topic coincides with the Doctor of Nursing course, which requires the student to gain knowledge through scholarly research on contemporary issues in nursing by undertaking two separate projects related to a single area of interest. Undertaking the two research projects on fall prevention in an acute care inpatient hospital as part of the doctoral studies provided an opportunity to address this deficit in a way that could raise awareness of the importance of fall prevention in Singapore hospitals. This research also provides a platform for the first body of research into fall prevention to be conducted within the Singapore health care environment, which is essential, as international studies are not always necessarily applicable to the Singapore context due to differences in educational preparation, skills-mix, organisational culture and nursing practices. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1321300 / Thesis (D.Nurs.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, 2008

No description available.

Syfte:Syftet med litteraturstudien var att beskriva sjuksköterskors upplevelser av att vårda patienter i livets slutskede på sjukhusavdelningar. Metod:Beskrivande litteraturstudie som baserades på tretton vetenskapliga artiklar. Data inhämtades från databaserna Cinahl och Pubmed. Resultat:Att vårda patienter i livets slut på sjukhusavdelningar är en komplex situation. Sjuksköterskorna beskrev både upplevelser av tillfredsställelse och närhet samtidigt som de kunde känna sig otillräckliga. Relationer till patienter och närstående var betydelsefulla men en distansering var nödvändig för att behålla en professionell yrkesidentitet. Faktorer som påverkade upplevelserna var rädsla för den egna döden, tidigare erfarenheter, tidsbrist och den rumsliga miljön på avdelningarna. En betydande del av upplevelserna var av existentiell karaktär. Slutsats: Blivande sjuksköterskor och yrkesverksamma sjuksköterskor behöver vetskap om hur det kan påverka dem att vårda patienter i livets slutskede. Sjuksköterskor behöver få möjligheter att reflektera över sina upplevelser och sin attityd till döden för att kunna utveckla ett professionellt förhållningssätt. / Aim:The aim of this study was to describe the nurses’ experience of end of life care in a hospital setting. Method:The study was conducted as a descriptive literature study based on thirteen scientific articles retrieved from the databases Cinahl and PubMed. Resultat: End of life care in a hospital setting is a complex situation. Nurses described experiences of satisfaction and closeness at the same time as they had feelings of inadequacy. Relationship with patients and their relatives were meaningful but keeping a professional distance was necessary. Issues impacting on the experiences was nurses own fear of death, previous experiences, lack of time and the hospital environment. A significant part of the described experiences was of existential character. Conclusion: Future and working nurses need more knowledge of how caring for dying people can effect them. Nurses require opportunities to reflect on end of life care experiences and their own attitudes to death, in order to develop a professional approach.

Transformation of service delivery in the Westcoast winelands region's hospitals: challenges and prospects