Employee Management
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Not If, But When: Preparing a Proper Defense After Medication Mistakes
ED nurses should not hesitate to contact a defense attorney if a patient is harmed by a medication error. The interest of the hospital often is different from the healthcare provider. Do not assume the hospital will provide a defense for taking a shortcut. More likely, administrators will testify protocols were put into place, and place blame on the ED nurse for taking the shortcut.
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Medication Overrides Pose Much Higher Level of Risk
Automated dispensing cabinets allow ED medications to be stored and issued electronically at the point of care, leading to a reduction in time from prescribing to medication administration, which is particularly advantageous in the ED setting.
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Healthcare Leaders Discuss How to Elevate Safety Science
As if dealing with a raging pandemic was not enough punishment, frontline caregivers now worry any mistake could land them in jail. This, after a former nurse at Vanderbilt Medical Center was recently charged and convicted in connection with a medical error that led to the death of a patient.
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Efforts to Improve Ethics Education for Nurses
Nurses probably have heard of the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. However, these principles might not be discussed in terms of how they apply to nursing practice and patient care.
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COVID-19 Vaccine Protects Mothers, Newborns
COVID-19 vaccination and pregnancy issues have been clouded by misinformation, leading women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant to decline immunization. The accumulating evidence strongly suggests not only does vaccination safeguard pregnant women against severe infection, it confers protective immunity to the newborn baby. -
OSHA Finalizing COVID-19 Rule in Healthcare Settings
OSHA has briefly reopened comments and slated a public hearing for April 27 as it moves to finalize its Emergency Temporary Standard to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19. -
CDC Paring Down Patient Isolation Guidelines to User-Friendly Format
The CDC is revising its 2007 patient isolation guidelines, going from a ponderous 206-page “textbook” to a simplified “lean” document that healthcare workers can easily access and understand, according to recent discussions at a CDC advisory committee meeting. -
Pandemic Violence: HCWs Report Patients Spitting, Coughing on Them
Violent incidents have increased in healthcare facilities since the beginning of the pandemic. Among 833 study respondents, those with the highest rates of physical assault in the prior six months were ED security staff, nurses, and clinicians. -
Occupational Health Departments Hit Hard by Pandemic
In 2020, many individual clinical departments were overwhelmed when a series of COVID-19 surges began to inundate hospitals with infected patients. Suddenly, healthcare workers were imperiled. It fell to employee health professionals to work with colleagues and protect the workforce in a situation not seen in a century.
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Consider Risk Implications if Department Is Staffed with Travel Nurses
Nursing shortages are acute, fueled in part by surging wages for travel ED nurses. Unfortunately, travel nurses will not know the nuances of the EDs in which they are working. This hinders teamwork and communication. Thus, staffing EDs with travel nurses carries some potential risk management implications.