Enquiry Service

The ARCHI enquiry service is available to ARCHI members.

Through our national network and our database of health professionals, we can put you in touch with other people working in your area. We can identify organisations that may have already implemented programs that you wish to implement in your own organisation. We also use our newsletter to send out enquiries and gather responses to answer some of the more difficult questions.

If you are a member of ARCHI, and would like to take advantage of our Enquiry Service, contact the ARCHI National Office.

Below are examples of recent enquiries which ARCHI is working on or has responded to. We welcome your responses to these enquiries.

Enquiries

Safe Storage of Dressings
Looking for guidelines on the safe storage of dressings in mobile vehicles, and in patient homes.  Does anyone have material they have prepared for patients about the safe storage of dressings in their home?  So that health professionals can know these are safe to use when visiting patients at home.  And or guidelines about the storage of dressings in vehicles?

Case Load Midwifery - Please contact the ARCHI National Office for contact details of case load midwifery practioners in Australia.
We are looking for information on introducing a case load midwifery model to a small district hospital. We would like to hear from any hospitals that have set up a case load model in their hospital, so that we can learn from their experiences.

Clinical Practice Guidelines Systems
Could anyone recommend any medical clinical guideline/protocol management software and the vendor (if known)? This is for a project to standardise medical clinical practice guidelines, using a system controls the creation, editing and responsibilities of each guideline.

Infection Control
Does anyone have information about models of care pertaining to Infection Control services?

Modified Barium Swallow Procedure
Does anyone have a policy or procedure for safe radiation practices for speech pathologists during the Modified Barium Swallow Procedure?

Absconding Patients
Are there any organisations with an absconding policy/protocol e.g. for substance users (excluding the confused patient)?

Post mortem consent - Please contact the ARCHI National Office for responses to this enquiry.
We are looking for any hospitals in Australia that have a program that deal with the post mortem consent/information process. The NSW Health department in 2004 issued a directive to all public hospitals in NSW to appoint a post mortem coordinator or PMC with requisite bereavement skills to coordinate the seeking of consent for non-coronial post mortems. We are after information on how this has been implemented, or similar programs in other states.

Halo traction policy - Please contact the ARCHI National Office for copies of the resources received in relation to this enquiry.
We would like to know if other hospitals in Australia have a policy or procedure relating to the management of the patient in halo traction - particularly related to nursing.

M.A.P.U or E.M.U
Does anyone have any information on M.A.P.U (Medical Assessment Planning Unit) or E.M.U. (Emergency Medical Unit)?

Blood Culture Guidelines
Does anyone have guidelines for the taking of blood cultures?

Alcohol & mental health in the ED
I am currently looking at a project that focuses on intoxicated patients and those awaiting medical clearance in the emergency department, and how they contribute to mental health pts causing access block in the ED. Has anyone been involved in a similar project?

EN Cannulation in the ED
We are investigating Enrolled nurses and intravenous cannulation in the ED. I believe that it is becoming more common for EN's to do intravenous cannulation in hospitals around Australia, but it doesn't look like there is much in the way of things being written up.

Fluid intake and output in palliative care
Does anyone have guidelines for staff re administration and recording of fluid intake and output in palliative care patients?

Patient feedback
Does anyone have a brochure or leaflet for patients / family to provide clinical units with feedback on the service eg like a 'Let us Know Your Views' leaflet?

Pethidine in labour
Do people use pethidine in labour, and if so do you have a policy/standing drug order/some evidence to say this is contemporary
practice?

Acute pain management
Are there any organisations with specific protocols on managing acute pain in the substance user or methadone client?

Statements to police
Does anyone have a policy on staff making statements to the police?

Creating new hospital units
Does anyone have information from a nurse manager's perspective, to follow when a new hospital unit is commissioned? We are looking particularly for guidelines that are generic to new hospital units.

Peripheral Intravenous Cannulation
We are trying to put together an area policy on peripheral intravenous cannulation training, accreditation and ongoing management of the peripheral intravenous cannula.  Any existing policies would be greatly appreciated.

Community Health Governance
What models of community health governance are in place around the country (especially in rural areas)?  eg Part of an integrated health service with a single board, stand alone with a separate management structure and/or Board, etc.  What do people see are the pros and cons of different models?

CPR training and assessment practices
We are interested in finding information about CPR training and assessment practices at Australian hospitals.  We are specifically interested in:

• which categories of staff receive CPR training
• which categories of staff are assessed in CPR practice
• who undertakes the training &/or assessment
• how often are training &/or assessment undertaken for each category of staff
• approximately how many staff are employed at the Hospital
• how many beds does the Hospital have

Water births in hospitals
Does anyone have a policy on allowing water births in hospitals and a protocol to go with it?

Identification of babies
Does anyone have a policy on identification of babies eg. How do you identify them? Do you use armbands and leg bands or do you write on tape and then put it on their back? If a baby is found without any identification on how do you go about identifying the baby?

Audit evidence
Can anyone offer directions on creation of, using and collating evidence from audits (clinical and non clinical)?

Surgical protocols
Does anywhere have any surgical protocols that their surgeons use?

Biochemical corpses
Does anyone have guidelines for the preparation of corpses which have been exposed to biological or chemical contaminants?  Or suggestions as to where to find information about the appropriate precautions to take.

Discipline screening tool
Does anyone have a Screening tool that is used to identify which Disciplines need to be involved in seeing a particular client? Usually the CHIP Nurse sees all patients and identifies suitable patients, but I would be delighted to know if there is a specific tool which identifies that the patient needs a referral to Physiotherapy and/or Dietetics, etc.

Neurological observation tools
I am looking for info relating to neurological observation tools used for paediatric patients.  Does anyone have one that is used for all ages, instead of separate versions used for children of different ages ie - currently we use the Glasgow Coma Scale - one for children under the age of five, and another one for children over the age of five years?

Neonatal ICU medication errors
For research on incident rates or Neonatal ICU medication errors, specifically Gentamycin.  Does any NICU have specific protocols in relation to administration of the Gentamycin 36 hourly?

Can you help? Alternatives to mercury thermometers
Our aim initially is to find an appropriate alternative to mercury thermometers, and then work towards removing all mercury containing devices from our hospital.

Can you help? Fractured Neck of Femur
Does anyone have examples of clinical pathways for Fractured Neck of Femur in current use, which may be considered "best practice"?

Can you help? THR & TKR X-ray
What is current thinking on whether post op X-ray for THR and TKR is essential before getting up?

Can you help? THR & TKR pathways
Does anyone have examples of clinical pathways for Total Hip Replacement and Total Knee Replacement in current use, which may be considered "best practice"?

Can you help? Pressure Ulcer Prevention
Has anyone developed an educational brochure that explains "what pressure ulcers are and how to prevent them" to give to patients at pre-admission clinics or on admission to hospital, as a proactive measure to prevent pressure ulcers?

Can you help? Camera Phone policy
Does anyone have a policy regarding use of camera phones for staff/patients in hospitals?

Rural Scholarships
Does ARCHI have any grants or research scholarships, in particular for rural areas?