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IPPL Clinical Practice and Policy December Round-up: Dynamic Health Updates + Archived Policy Documents + Focus DH Search Results + World AIDS Day + International Day of Persons with Disabilities + Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Dynamic Health round-up posts keep you informed about implementation and use of Dynamic Health at Nova Scotia Health. They highlight any new priority projects and events as well as updates to our Workplace Notes and Custom Workplace Skills.

Dynamic Health Updates

We receive feedback submissions on an ongoing basis through the Suggest an Edit form and through partnerships with departments and teams. This month, the following customizations have been added:

New Workplace Note

• Assessing Neurological Status in Adults
• Assessing Urinary Output
• Assisting With Voluntary Admission to a Psychiatric Unit
• Collecting a Urine Specimen From an Indwelling Urinary Catheter in Adults
• Collecting a Urine Specimen From an Intermittent Urinary Catheter
• Conducting a Post-Fall Assessment in Long-Term Care
• Inserting a Coudé Catheter in Adults With a Penile Urethra
• Inserting a Coudé Catheter in Adults With a Vulvar Urethra
• Inserting an Indwelling Urinary Catheter in Adults With a Vulvar Urethra
• Inserting Indwelling Urinary Catheters in Adults With a Penile Urethra
• Performing Negative Pressure Wound Therapy
• Performing Suprapubic Catheter Care
• Removing a Suprapubic Catheter

Revised Workplace Note

• Administering Oxygen Therapy: Respiratory Therapy
• Administering Pump-Assisted Enteral Nutrition to Adults
• Administering Subcutaneous Chemotherapy
• Assisting With Chest Tube Insertion in Infants to Adolescents
• Changing Chest Tube Dressing in Adults
• Inserting a Small-Bore Feeding Tube
• Inserting EZ-IO Intraosseous Infusion Systems
• Monitoring Pulmonary Artery Pressure in Adults
• Performing Urinary Catheter Care Following Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP)
• Providing Emergency Care of Open Fractures
• Removing EZ-IO Intraosseous Infusion Systems

Reviewed: No Workplace Note

• Identifying Postoperative Depression
• Managing Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting in Adults
• Providing Perineal Care for Postpartum Patients
• Removing Nasal Packing

Custom Workplace Skills

• Administering Allergy Patch Testing in Adults and Pediatrics
• Administering Allergy Skin Prick Testing in Adults
• Performing the Shower Technique for Peritoneal Dialysis Dressing Change

Archived Policy Documents

As of November 13, 2024, all outdated, former DHA policy and related documents listed in this memo have been archived. This change is the result of a consultative process involving IPPL leadership, the Policy Office, the IPPL Clinical Practice and Policy Program, and Clinical Nurse Educators with expertise in specific clinical areas where required.

As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting practice and learning, we are actively working to empower staff through a procedure-first approach to creating and managing clinical practice supports, pointing to current procedural guidance in Dynamic Health (when appropriate) or supporting clinical teams with custom solutions where gaps exist, or organizational alignment is required. If you have any questions about the recently archived documents and wish to provide a review with additional notes on any of the Dynamic Health skills that replace outdated guidance, please email the IPPL Clinical Practice and Policy team.

Focused Search Results in Dynamic Health

There’s a lot of evidence-based guidance summarized across Dynamic Health’s Topic Sections – from Diseases & Condition Summaries to Skills. The only content that can be annotated with a Workplace Note is labelled as a Skill. Understanding how to Filter Results can help you make the most of your time searching and ensure you have all the relevant information you need if you plan to adopt one or multiple skills from Dynamic Health.

Let’s say you are looking for skills about taking blood pressure in adults:

1. From the main page of Dynamic Health, enter “blood pressure” in the search box.
   Do not choose one of the autosuggestions that populate as you type.
   Click the spy glass to run the search.
2. To the left of the results page, note the Filter Results column. Under CONTENT TYPE check off Skills. Note the filter is applied immediately, resulting in fewer results.
3. Under PATIENT POPULATION, check off Adult. Note that results are reduced further and that the Skills and Adult filters are highlighted at the top.
4. Click the X on each filter at the top of the results page to remove them.

Health Promotion in December and Dynamic Health Topics

December 2024 marks the promotion of:

• World AIDS Day - December 1
• International Day of Persons with Disabilities- - December 3
• National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women - December 6

In recognition of these health promotion events, we encourage you to engage with the curated list of Dynamic Health content below.

If you spot any Skills below that you feel need a Workplace Note, consider being a reviewer! Fill out our Suggest an Edit form with your notes and we will get in touch!

World AIDS Day

• Disease & Condition Overviews
  • HIV/AIDS, Adult
  • HIV/AIDS/Pediatric
• Signs & Symptoms
  • Fatigue, Adult
  • Fever, Adult
  • Lymphadenopathy, Adult
• Skills
  • Promoting Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy Regimen
  • Educating About HIV Infection
• Patient Handouts
  • HIV Infection and AIDS
  • HIV Antibody

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

• Disease & Condition Overviews
  • Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome)
  • Intellectual Disability, Adult
  • Intellectual Disability, Pediatric
• Signs & Symptoms
  • Hemiplegia
  • Atonic Seizure, Adult
• Skills
  • Helping Patients Cope with Chronic Illness and Disability
  • Communicating With and Counseling Clients With Visual Impairment: Social Work
  • Communicating With and Counseling Clients who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Social Work
• Patient Handouts
  • Intellectual Disability

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

• Disease & Condition Overviews
  • Intimate Partner Violence
• Signs & Symptoms
  • Pelvic Pain, Female
  • Depression, Adult
• Skills
  • Screening for Intimate Partner Violence in Adults
  • Screening and Reporting Abuse for Adults in Ambulatory Care
  • Communicating With Patients Who Are Anxious
• Patient Handouts
  • Intimate Partner Violence - Recognizing Abuse

IPPL Clinical Practice and Policy

Gloria Connolly, RN, BScN, NCA, WOCC(c), GNC(c)
Clinical Nurse Educator
Interprofessional Practice and Learning

Leah MacDonald, RN, BSc, BScN
Professional Practice Leader
Interprofessional Practice and Learning, ERIN Network

Katie McLean
Librarian Educator
Interprofessional Practice and Learning, ERIN Network Hub, Library Services

Margaret Poitras
Policy Lead
Policy Office

Valorie Shaddick, BNRN, CCNP, CVAA (c)
Clinical Nurse Educator
Interprofessional Practice and Learning

Ann Slaunwhite
Library Technician
Interprofessional Practice and Learning, Library Services