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According to Joint Commission standards, patients should be educated about drug-nutrient interactions. Because nurses are well-suited to educating patients, this paper aims to assess their knowledge of ACE inhibitor drugs, nutrient interactions and high- and low-potassium foods.

Licensed nurses from a teaching hospital in the US south eastern Atlantic region completed a self-administered questionnaire (n=83). Means, standard deviations and 95 percent confidence intervals were calculated for continuous data and frequency and percentage distribution for discrete data. Student's t-test was used to evaluate responses by ACE inhibitor patient load and nursing education.

Mean nurse knowledge of ACE inhibitors and potassium was 62±16 percent and identifying high- and low-potassium foods was 32±23 percent. Most identified five from 12 high-potassium foods and did not know the designation of six, one from 14 low-potassium foods and did not know the designation of 11. Knowledge scores and identifying high- and low-potassium foods were similar regardless of ACE inhibitor patient load and nursing education.

ACE inhibitors are the fourth most commonly used drug class in the USA. Nurses are well positioned to recognize potential drug-nutrient interactions owing to changing or adding a drug, dose delivery method, dietary change or a patient's physical or clinical status that may indicate nutrient deficiency. The findings suggest that the nurses surveyed were proficient in identifying ACE inhibitors pharmacology, but that most were unable to identify foods that increase drug-nutrient interaction risk, and thus this is an area in which additional training might be beneficial.

Case menus were used to portray real-life scenarios in which healthcare practitioners can provide patient education about ACE inhibitor drug and dietary potassium interactions.

The adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID) will create a revolutionary change in the management of a supply chain, particularly in the retail sector. The aim of this paper is to study the views of fashion retailers on RFID applications and, in turn, to analyze the added value to be gained by adopting this technology.

A two‐stage methodological approach was adopted. The first involved a multi‐case study of five large, highly representative fashion retailers in Hong Kong, in which in‐depth interviews were conducted with ten senior staff members. The second involved the design of a framework with four propositions for examining the values generated for fashion retailers upon the RFID implementation.

The findings show that RFID could be implemented in the fashion retailing in the customer relationship management, shop floor management, marketing and promotion, and logistics and inventory management. Improved operational efficiency and effectiveness, and increased sales and profits, are the major perceived benefits, while implementation cost, compatibility with current systems, data accuracy, top management attitude, and staff acceptance are the key challenges.

The results give fashion retailers a better understanding of the potential benefits and challenges of adopting RFID. The retailers will, therefore, be able to make more informed decisions in operational planning and resource allocation. Moreover, the results may inspire more fashion retailers to use this technology.

By integrating the views of the potential users, the RFID‐based business value‐added framework supports a research agenda for further investigation of the use of RFID in commercial sectors and contributes to the understanding of technology transfer in a less technologically advanced fashion retailing industry.

The purpose of this article is to look at method study, as devised by the Gilbreths at the beginning of the twentieth century, which found early application in hospital quality assurance and surgical “best practice”. It has since become a core activity in all modern methods, as applied to healthcare delivery improvement programmes.

The article traces the origin of what is now currently and variously called “business process re‐engineering”, “business process improvement” and “lean healthcare” etc., by different management gurus back to the century‐old pioneering work of Frank Gilbreth. The outcome is a consistent framework involving “width”, “length” and “depth” dimensions within which healthcare delivery systems can be analysed, designed and successfully implemented to achieve better and more consistent performance.

Healthcare method (saving time plus saving motion) study is best practised as co‐joint action learning activity “owned” by all “players” involved in the re‐engineering process. However, although process mapping is a key step forward, in itself it is no guarantee of effective re‐engineering. It is not even the beginning of the end of the change challenge, although it should be the end of the beginning. What is needed is innovative exploitation of method study within a healthcare organisational learning culture accelerated via the Gilbreth Knowledge Flywheel.

It is shown that effective healthcare delivery pipeline improvement is anchored into a team approach involving all “players” in the system especially physicians. A comprehensive process study, constructive dialogue, proper and highly professional re‐engineering plus managed implementation are essential components. Experience suggests “learning” is thereby achieved via “natural groups” actively involved in healthcare processes.

The article provides a proven method for exploiting Gilbreths' outputs and their many successors in enabling more productive evidence‐based healthcare delivery as summarised in the “learn‐do‐learn‐do” feedback loop in the Gilbreth Knowledge Flywheel.

The purpose of this paper is to determine a baseline level of the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL 5) in emergency dispatchers in the state of Florida, as well as to examine the how it is associated with psychological resilience, perceived coworker support, different types of debriefing, and perceived organizational support.

This was done through a cross-sectional administration of surveys to emergency telecommunicators and dispatchers in the state of Florida.

In total, 186 surveys were completed by active emergency dispatch personnel across the state of Florida. The study found that psychological resilience, education, and perceived organizational support were statistically related to professional quality of life in Florida Dispatchers.

There are limitations due to the nature of cross-sectional survey design and due to the sample size. There are also possible issues with the accuracy of self-reported survey answers. The lack of participation from all agencies also hinders generalizability.

This study serves as a reference point for a very under studied emergency service population. There are also implications that psychological resilience development in dispatch personnel would assist in multiple aspects of their professional quality of life.

This is the first study to use the ProQOL 5 on dispatch personnel in Florida. It also displays statistical relationships between factors which dispatch agencies could use to increase employee job satisfaction and potentially reduce turnover.