JAMA: Nurses Key to Surviving Surgery
A study released in The Journal of the American Medical Association has found that surgical patients in hospitals with better nursing environments receive better care without drastically increasing costs. Researchers found the rate of 30-day mortality rates for postoperative patients was 4.8% at hospitals with more than 1.5 nurses per bed (NPB), while facilities with … Continued
Nominations Open for Sherman Award for Excellence in Patient Engagement
EngagingPatients.org, an online community dedicated to sharing best practices in patient and family engagement, is now accepting nominations for the 2016 John Q. Sherman Award for Excellence in Patient Engagement. Established in 2014, the Sherman Award is dedicated to recognizing innovative work that has resulted in better, safer care and improved outcomes by engaging patients … Continued
Olympus Recalls Duodenoscopes, FDA Approves New Model
Olympus Corp., the largest seller of duodenoscopes in the U.S., last week recalled all of its TJF-Q180V model scopes. The move came just one day after a Senate committee report linked Olympus products to 142 antibiotic-resistant infection (ARI) cases. Duodenoscopes are flexible cameras inserted into a patient’s mouth or digestive tract to diagnose a number … Continued
FDA Releases Cybersecurity Recommendations for Medical Device Manufacturers
Cybersecurity threats to medical devices are a growing concern. The FDA took a proactive step last week and released draft guidance last week encouraging medical device manufacturers to address certain cybersecurity risks to keep patients safe. Manufacturers should look beyond the initial security measures implemented in a medical device and consider additional safety measures throughout … Continued
C.diff Infection Raises Hospital Costs by 40% per Case
By Alexandra Pecci, for HealthLeaders Media
Treating Clostridium difficile adds about $7,285 in hospital costs per patient, not including readmissions, research finds.
It can be difficult to quantify the exact economic burden of C. diff on hospitals and the health system as a whole. But a recent study puts a dollar amount on the cost of C. diff, that number is not only big, but also likely underestimated.
Published in the November issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the study found that C. diff-associated diarrhea (CDAD) increases hospital costs by 40% per case and puts those infected at high risk for longer hospital stays and readmissions.
FDA validates revised reprocessing instructions for Model ED-530XT duodenoscopes
FUJIFILM Medical Systems issued revised reprocessing instructions late last month for Model ED-530XT duodenoscopes, according to a safety communication issued by the FDA. The instructions require exacting pre-cleaning, manual cleaning, and high-level disinfection procedures. While these revised reprocessing instructions are for Model ED-530XT duodenoscopes, the FDA is encouraging healthcare facilities that use Fuji’s 250 and … Continued
Study: Discharge notes are often written grades above patient reading levels
A study published in The American Journal of Surgery found that low literacy rates can drive up the number of hospital readmissions. Of the 497 patients studied, researchers found that only 24% had the reading skills necessary to understand their discharge instructions, with 65% reading a lower grade level than what their notes were written … Continued
Massachusetts medical board proposes rules on simultaneous surgeries
Surgeons in the state of Massachusetts will have to document each time they enter and leave the operating room according to a new regulation approved by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, according to a recent report in The Boston Globe. Patients rarely know if they are sharing their surgeon with another patient, and … Continued
Nursing has once again been named the most trustworthy profession in America
Trust your nurses, everyone else does Nursing has once again been named the most trustworthy profession in America. In its annual Honesty and Ethics rankings, Gallup Polls found that 85% of Americans rated nurses’ honesty and trustworthiness “very high,” or “high.” The runner-up, pharmacists, only received a “highly trusted” score of 68%. As a manager, … Continued
The Hidden Patient Experience
Alexandra Wilson Pecci, for HealthLeaders Media How well-meaning and clinically important actions can make or break the patient experience, and how leaders at Cleveland Clinic and Mount Sinai Health System are refocusing efforts. During her hospital’s monthly executive leadership rounds, Cleveland Clinic’s executive chief nursing officer, K. Kelly Hancock, MSN, RN, NE-BC, met a patient … Continued