Over the last years, the use of guidelines is becoming a norm in the clinical practice. Generally, guidelines, such as the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), are considered as universal standards that recommend adequate and appropriate care for health care practice. Even though a guideline may have the potential for making a positive contribution, this does not mean that the same guideline can be applied in each local context. Translation is an adequate and comprehensive approach capable of captivating all the required elements in order to improve the fit between a guideline and local context. Therefore this thesis addresses how the translation process of the ATLS guideline is shaped into the local context of a clinical practice. This research provides the response to the question as to how the actors of the St. Elisabeth Hospital shaped their translation process of the ATLS into their own trauma protocol. In order to do this a qualitative research was chosen that combined document analysis and semi-structured interviews. The respondents were asked about their translation phases, coordination aspects and challenges that may have been presented in the process. Afterwards the data analysis was conducted according to the coding methodology. The research showed that the translation process of the ATLS guideline is an interactive process of negotiations and deliberation. Herein actors reach agreements and consensus on how to make the guideline as practical as possible. The guideline serves as a basis for initiating the process, but is not seen as a standard. This research suggests that considerations have to be made between the knowledge endorsed, the practical circumstances and the input of the stakeholders. By consolidating these aspects the ATLS guideline is translated into a vividly trauma protocol that is reliable and feasible for the St. Elisabeth Hospital. Coordination of the knowledge complexity, the practical usefulness and the internal consensus proved to improve social interaction, commitment and acceptance of the protocol. It can be concluded, that the translation of the ATLS into the trauma protocol was formed by combining the guideline with the practical circumstances in the St. Elisabeth Hospital and the input from the stakeholders.

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Adams,S.
hdl.handle.net/131402, hdl.handle.net/2105/16457
Bachelor scripties (ESHPM)
Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management

Francisca, T.C.D. (2014, March 28). A comprehensive description of the translation process of Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) into the St. Elisabeth Hospital trauma protocol. Bachelor scripties (ESHPM). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/16457