Employee Management
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MSU Expands Risk Management, Adds Additional Safeguards
Michigan State University has expanded its risk management program after the arrest and conviction of Larry Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics national team doctor and osteopathic physician at the university, for the sexual abuse of minor patients. The university recently signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to make further improvements.
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Oncology Unit Improves Safety and Culture With Focus on Relationships
An oncology unit at a Washington, DC, hospital has improved patient safety by focusing on “relationship-based care,” a model that aims to help nurses focus more on caring for and connecting with other people. The 5E Medical Oncology/Hematology Unit at MedStar Washington Hospital Center recently received AMSN Premier Recognition In the Specialty of Med-Surg (PRISM) Award. The unit had made strides in recent years in improving quality and safety on the unit as well as the overall culture.
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Hospital Addresses Stress With Healthy Healer Program
A Colorado hospital is addressing stress by reminding clinicians that it is OK to take a moment for themselves and focus only on the patient care at hand. Craig Hospital created its Healthy Healer program two years ago to help nurses address their stress in a positive way, encouraging them to be more at ease during patient interactions and better able to focus on providing proper care. The program has been expanded to include physicians and other clinicians.
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Stress Decreases Ability to Focus, Increases Errors
Stress can lead to two distinct types of attention problems with clinicians. When under a great deal of stress, some people will focus intently on the one task viewed as primary, such as a surgeon who concentrates so much on the surgical activity that the bigger picture of the patient’s status is neglected. Others may go in the opposite direction and try to divide their attention among so many tasks that none receive adequate attention.
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Provider Stress Can Trickle Down to Affect Patient Safety
The healthcare industry can be stressful for everyone involved, with clinicians sometimes suffering greatly from the workload, time demands, bureaucracy, and the emotional nature of their work. Minimizing stress is important for the health of the caregivers, but also to maintain patient safety. When staff are exhausted, experiencing depersonalization from their work and feeling less effective, they are more likely to fail to follow practices that support high-quality, safer care.
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1914 Case Established Informed Consent Principles
A 1914 case from the New York Court of Appeals established some of the foundation for what the healthcare community now thinks of as the informed consent process.
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Informed Consent Must Be More Than a Clerical Task
Informed consent is a fundamental part of the healthcare process. Risk managers know the risks that can come with failing to adequately educate patients and document their consent. But the procedure is so common and performed so often that there is potential for it to become routine and less thorough.
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Patient Watches Solve Safety Issue With Better Use of Resources
Hospitals often struggle with the need to provide close watch over a potentially dangerous patient without relying on skilled nurses or security officers who are needed elsewhere. Some hospitals are finding that a “patient watch” program is the right solution.
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Clinicians Need the Right Tools to Care for Older Patients With Cognitive Deficits
As the U.S. population ages, hospital providers are confronting the complicated challenge of meeting the needs of more patients with dementia, delirium, and other cognitive deficits. To get ahead of this demographic trend, some health systems have developed initiatives aimed at equipping their workforce with the knowledge and tools to recognize and manage this population better while also offering a more compassionate and welcoming face to patients and families.
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Workers’ Comp Case Managers Juggle Many Skills for Clients
For nurse case managers who enjoy a challenge, workers’ compensation offers the opportunity to use every organizational and creative skill to make things happen for people whose lives are in crisis. Workers’ compensation case managers must be highly skilled in communicating with a variety of stakeholders, including providers, insurance companies, patients, and others. They must ensure everyone understands that the patient should receive the right treatment at the right time to return to work as soon, efficiently, and timely as possible.