Physiotherapy practice and delegation policies in oxygen administration: a survey of ontario hospitals.
OBJECTIVE
As of 2008, the Regulated Health Professions Act in Ontario stipulates that administration of oxygen is a controlled act, which physiotherapists are not authorized to perform but which may be delegated to physiotherapists by another health professional authorized to perform this act. The aims of this study were (1) to survey physiotherapy practice of oxygen administration in Ontario hospitals and (2) to determine the proportion and characteristics of hospitals with delegation policies for physiotherapists to administer oxygen.


METHODS
Postal surveys were sent to 208 hospitals. Data were collected on hospital characteristics; the presence of delegation policies; and the practice and training of physiotherapists, physiotherapy assistants, and students in oxygen administration. Data were described by summative statistics. Fisher's exact test and Cramer's V statistic were used to examine associations. Potential prognostic factors were analyzed using logistic regression.


RESULTS
Response rate was 82.7%. Physiotherapists administered oxygen in 39% of hospitals, and 28% of hospitals had delegation policies. Larger, urban, or teaching hospitals and those with a matrix structure were most likely to have delegation policies and physiotherapists who administered oxygen. Rehabilitation hospitals were also likely to have such policies.


CONCLUSIONS
Physiotherapists administer oxygen in less than half of Ontario hospitals, very few of which have delegation policies.
Olivia Espiritu, MScPT: Graduate of the Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario.
Olivia
O
Espiritu
Erin
E
Schaeffer
Natasha
N
Bhesania
Sarah
S
Perera
Emma
E
Dickinson
Ethne
E
Nussbaum
Denise
D
Lai