Shared attention, gaze and pointing gestures I hearing and deaf children

International audienceThis chapter illustrates the richness of pointing and gaze as integral elements of spontaneous oral interactions both in signing and speaking mother-child dyads. These attention-sharing behaviors help infants interpret their caregivers’ productions. The children will then use them as first communication tools.But they have a particular function for signing children since they are fully integrated into the formal linguistic system of sign language. A comparison between the use of pointing and gaze in the longitudinal data of one deaf signing and one deaf speaking little girl from eight months to two, shows that the deaf child uses gaze and pointing more frequently and with more diversified functions than the hearing child who combines visual and auditory means

SPECIMEN LABELING IMPROVEMENT PROJECT: SLIP

Blood specimens are labeled at the time of acquisition in order to identify and match the specimen, label, and order to the patient. While the labeling process is not new, it is frequently laden with errors (Brown, Smith, & Sherfy, 2011). Wrong blood in tube (WBIT) poses significant risk. Multiple factors contribute to mislabeling errors, including lax policies, limited technological solutions, decentralized labeling processes, multi-tasking, distraction from the clinician, and insufficient education and training of staff. To reduce blood specimen labeling errors, a large academic medical center implemented an innovative technological solution for specimen labeling that integrates patient identification, physician order, and laboratory specimen identification through barcode technology that interfaces with the electronic medical record at the point of care. A failure mode, effects and critical analysis (FMECA) were completed to assess for system failure points, and to design workflow prior to training staff. Four failure points were identified and eliminated through workflow adjustments with the new system. Staff training utilizing simulation highlighted system safety points. This quality improvement process applied across adult and pediatric acute and critical care units provided dramatic reductions in blood specimen labeling errors pre/post intervention