Guided Reflection: A Strategy to Reduce Patient Falls and Fall-Related Injuries
Our center, the 206-bed Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, was still experiencing falls despite having a comprehensive fall prevention program in place. Prior to implementing the AHRQ (2013) fall prevention toolkit the same year of the toolkit’s release, we recorded 160 patient falls. After our nursing division implemented the toolkit, we recorded 143 patient falls.
Could Legally Mandated Racial Bias Training Reduce Maternal Mortality Rates for Black Women?
A 2016 analysis of data published in Obstetrics & Gynecology showed a dramatic worsening in U.S. maternal mortality rates, increasing from 18.8 per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 23.8 in 2014. The researchers pointed out that this increase of nearly 27% took place in the United States while global rates fell by a third around that same time period. The data becomes even more pronounced when examining maternal mortality rates for black women.
Report Finds Radiologists to Blame for Missed Diagnoses
The Red Signal Radiology Report reviews five years of Coverys’ closed claims to identify major risk factors, illuminate warning signals and safety vulnerabilities within radiology practices, and provide evidence-based recommendations to help radiologists proactively avoid patient harm.
A Health IT Soothsayer
With 2019 on the horizon, it makes sense to offer up some health IT (HIT) predictions. What’s the harm? If I am correct, the HIT community will praise my ability to critically think and predict the future. If I am miserably wrong, no one will care. So here goes.
Who Is the Patient Advocate?
A fast-growing solution is the rise of private patient advocates. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement defines a patient advocate as a “supporter, believer, sponsor, promoter, campaigner, backer, or spokesperson.” This can be a family member or close friend, but it’s increasingly an independent professional who specializes in helping patients and families make sense of their healthcare options.
Time to Deprescribe? Protect Patients From Inappropriate Medications
Pharmacists can play a key role in helping physicians discontinue inappropriate medications among older adults, researchers wrote recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Review Policies, Environment as Assaults Against ER Staff Rise
In a survey conducted for the American College of Emergency Physicians, a majority of the 3,539 doctors polled said they had been the victims of workplace violence recently.
Improved Hand Hygiene Can Help Prevent Spread of Post-Surgical Infections
The researchers from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics identified and characterized the epidemiology of particularly pathogenic S. aureus sequence types in the OR.
Is Your Hospital Discharge Planning Failing Patients?
An estimated one in five hospitalized patients are discharged to post-acute care settings such as skilled nursing facilities or long-term care hospitals.
Nurse Stressors: It’s Not Just Patient Volume and Acuity
Researchers at The Ohio State University found that a nurse’s “subjective workload”—which could include everything from the mental pressures of the job to relentless time constraints—affects her or his ability to provide optimal care, no matter how many patients they’re attending.