MEDICAL ENGLISH / MEDICINSK ENGELSKA

EN2011, 7.5 ECTS credits

Spring 2010, Högskolan i Halmstad
Assignment No. 6 1 -
Research Article Summary
Carl Manlio Hjelm Giordano
June 7, 20102, Malmö

ARTICLE SUMMARY* ** ,

In an article from 1997 in MD Computing, Dr. Bourie et al of

the Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, describe
how the implementation of a computer program that they
have developed – using the MAGIC programming language
and graphic user interface – has made previously hand-
written nursing assessments obsolete in all the hospital’s
inpatient units and in surgical pre-admission. Prior to this
immediate switch, in July 1994, to computerised
management of assessments (shortly after evaluating a pilot
study involving only two of the units), nurses were required
to attend 45-minute instruction sessions on the use of the
software.

A broad account of the context for implementation of the

software is provided, with hospital staffing, care delivery
model (primary nursing), computer availability, etc. being
detailed in the article. It is further described how the
computer program was developed in collaboration between
nurses and programmers, adopting the Gordon Health
Pattern Model (in use since 1981 at the hospital) as the

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framework for obtaining a holistic data set describing each
patient. The article explains in some detail how the program
is to be used (screen samples, examples of required
keystrokes, etc.), with the assessment being organised into
four main sections: Pre-Admission, General Summary,
Functional Health Pattern Areas, and Discharge Planning.

The stated goals for developing the program were all

attained and include increased compliance with obtaining
required information about patients (increase from 47% to
76% in 6 months; 94% after 18 months), reducing the time
spent on assessment (reduction from 60 minutes to 30
minutes in 6 months; 27 minutes after 18 months), and
online availability of patient data to authorised clinicians.
Further, a high degree of uniformity in the kind of data
obtained by the nurses is at least potentially (bypass to free
text allowed at several levels) afforded by the flowchart
appearance.

[299 words]

*
Bourie, R. et al (1997) An Automated Nursing Assessment for a
Teaching Hospital MD Computing Vol. 14 No.1
Written as if (1) the article had been published recently, and (2) for a
**

professional audience with appropriate knowledge.

■
Comment

The article was reprinted in the required textbook3 for this course:

Legl, Elisabeth. Kommunikationsträning för vårdpersonal. 2nd edition

(2002), 7th printing (2009). Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur. 105-112.

That reprint was used for the present summary.

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1
Excerpt (“copied and pasted”) from the written instructions (there were also
complementing video instructions) for this assignment:

This assignment is a more specifically research-orientated task. The task involves

you reading a nursing research article and summarising its main contents /
findings in concise (kortfattad) English. The article for summary is

Bourie, R. et al (1997) An Automated Nursing Assessment for a Teaching Hospital

MD Computing Vol. 14 No.1 reprinted in Legl, Unit 10, pp 105-112.

Begin by reading the article slowly and carefully. Use the questions listed under
Advanced Reading (p 105) to help you grasp the essential points of the study.

Summarise the study in 200-300 words (this is a rough guide only).

2
The due date was extended to June 11, 2010, in an e-mail sent to all
course participants.

3
The formatting of this reference (i.e. to the required textbook for this
course) is consistent with that of the example provided on p. 259 of the
required textbook for the course “Uppsats och uttal”, this spring (except for
including, here, information also on (i) country, (ii) edition number, (iii)
printing number, and (iv) year of first printing of that edition; it is not
explained how any of these data should be incorporated with the MLA style,
which I have chosen to use):

Björn, Lennart & Räisänen, Christine. Academic Writing. 3rd edition (2003), 9th
printing (2010). Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur.

Here, an ampersand (&) was used to separate the names of the authors. How
this should be done in the MLA style is not described (either) in that
textbook. (The ampersand is used in this rôle, however, in the example of
the LSA style provided on p. 277 of that same book.)

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