Table 1.
Themes and illustrative quotes
| Theme | Illustrative quotes |
|---|---|
| Impact on patient well-being | So the hospitalist is able to look at [patients] in a big-picture kind of way, not just their orthopedic injury but whatever they’ve had from their trauma, from the infection, etc. (Number 5; Anesthetist) |
| Impact on clinical well-being of staff | [The hospitalist] has a pretty good list of contacts now … he knows who to call to talk to so that transfers can happen a bit quicker … So that certainly is a little more peace of mind for us. (Number 6; Nurse) |
| Impact on staff work practices | Knowing that he has the ability and the willingness to educate staff on the spot … frees up my time to some degree. (Number 1; Nurse) That’s no different than what I did before, except before I would ask the medicine doctors versus [hospitalist]. So my practice hasn’t changed at all. (Number 8; Surgeon) Sometimes he’ll say, ‘I’m not at the hospital, can you go write the order?’… I call it a make-work. (Number 7; Pharmacist) |
| Perceived benefits to other professions | The nurses, I think, find it easier contacting [hospitalist] than they would getting hold of the internist on call. (Number 12; Internist) The surgeons are very good surgeons, technically, and they can put in joints, but they’re not very good sort of general internal medicine type of people. (Number 5; Anesthetist) |
| Importance of interprofessional collaboration to implementation of hospitalist role | He also provides a really good link with the family physicians, which I don’t think we had all that much before. (Number 9; Administrator) He can call about my patients, and he’s happy for me to call him at any time about my patients as well. (Number 11; Surgeon) [The hospitalist] consults us frequently, like on a daily basis. (Number 10; Pharmacist) |
| Potential for conflict | I think that one of the reasons why the hospitalist works well here is because the surgeons recognize that they’re orthopedic surgeons, they aren’t the experts in medical fields, and the other medical internists are also busy enough with their patients … that they don’t get in a flap or in a snit and feel like someone’s stepping on their toes with someone else writing orders. (Number 6; Nurse) |