As patients move from the hospital to home hospice, the staff nurse suddenly is faced with more than simply one patient. Immediate and extended family members are suddenly in great need of reassurance, teaching and sometimes, mediation. With the goal of helping the patient transition as smoothly as...
Read more →A new study that is part of the RN Work Project has shown that state-mandated caps on mandatory nursing overtime has a positive effect on patient safety. The laws effectively reduce overtime hours, which have been shown to reduce fatigue and the problems that come along with it, such as increased mi...
Read more →A major strike took place in California yesterday, one of the largest in the history of Kaiser hospitals in the state. A total of about 22,000 people including about 4,000 mental and optical health care workers at Kaiser hospitals, plus thousands of registered Kaiser nurses in the California Nurses...
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Although the number of medical errors probably aren’t actually increasing, the number of reported errors has risen. In the past, clinicians, including nurses, could face an immediate suspension or firing for a medical error. After a 1999 study in which the Institute of Medicine reported that approxi...
Read more →In Dayton, Ohio, the nursing shortage has evaporated — at least for the time being. One hospital in Dayton recently has been telling nurses to stay home rather than come in for scheduled shifts. Some of the nurses at this hospital lost up to a third of their regularly scheduled hours during the holi...
Read more →Electronic Health Records are somewhat controversial — some people think they’re a great idea, some people really don’t. Evidence is starting to come in regarding whether they make a difference, and the news seems to be pretty good. Nurse.com has an article explaining a new study out of the Universi...
Read more →“The New Old Age,” a New York Times blog discusses a study that shows that staffers at non-profit nursing homes are happier than their counterparts at for-profit nursing homes. This is in keeping with many other studies that have shown that nonprofits do a better job of caring for patients. It makes...
Read more →The California strike that was discussed here did in fact happen yesterday. Today, the nurses who participated in the strike were locked out by hospitals, in a continuing dispute over health care costs, sick leave, and staffing levels. Official numbers on how many nurses went on strike on Thursday d...
Read more →Many hospitals are moving towards a policy of “walk the talk” when it comes to the health of their employees. Some will no longer hire smokers, and prospective employees can expect to be tested for tobacco products at the first interview with a mouth swab. Hospitals want their employees to set an ex...
Read more →A study has shown that home nursing visits for post-delivery well-baby check-ups are not only as effective as office-based care, they actually have a few extra benefits as well, from cost-effectiveness to the comfort level of the mothers: “Generally, moms and babies are discharged from the hospital...
Read more →A survey has found that one way to improve patient care is to improve the work environment for nurses. Staffing levels are also important, but this survey indicated that even just a single incremental increase in how nurses rated their physical work environment resulted in a nearly five times greate...
Read more →Making the workplace better for nurses turns out to not only benefit them, but their patients as well. United Press International reports: Dr. Jennifer Taylor of the Drexel University School of Public Health found the safety climate was associated with both patient and nurse injuries, suggesting pat...
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