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Verbal abuse, threats, assaults from combative or disoriented patients or emotionally distraught family members — those occurrences are so common in hospitals that many nurses seem to feel it's just "part of the job."
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Moving patients safely isn't just a way to protect workers. It also improves the mobility of patients while preventing falls — core components of patient safety and satisfaction.
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The moment a nurse tries to help a heavy-set, medically fragile patient stand and walk is fraught with risk. With one miscalculation, the patient can fall, and the nurse or the patient — or both — may be seriously injured. If the patient falls, the hospital could have a lawsuit on its hands for failing to use mechanical assist devices that are readily available.
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The life of a home health nurse is filled with variety, independence, flexibility — and all too often, back pain. While hospitals are implementing safe lifting programs in their facilities, the home health nurse or aide travels from home to home and faces hazards the floor nurse couldn't imagine.
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No new confirmed cases of occupationally acquired HIV have been reported since 2000. The hepatitis B vaccine has led to a dramatic reduction in new occupationally related cases. But the risk of transmission of disease from bloodborne pathogens to health care workers remains very real — a risk that isn't limited to hepatitis and HIV.
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In response to concerns voiced by staff members about their own safety and that of their patients, and a desire for greater patient privacy, the treatment area of the ED at Central Vermont Medical Center (CVH) in Berlin has, in essence, been put on a full-time modified "lockdown."
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The leadership at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston has used "Lean" methodology to significantly improve performance in the ED, reducing median length of stay, frequency of diversions, and the percentage of patient who left before treatment was complete (LBTC).
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When it comes to transferring seriously injured patients, there has not been a significant difference in how Level I and Level II trauma centers have traditionally been viewed, according to Sue Slone, MD, FACS, director of trauma surgery at Swedish Medical Center in Denver.
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In the face of findings at Swedish Medical Center in Denver, that upgrading from a Level II trauma designation to a Level I significantly improves mortality rates, should an ED manager at a Level II facility advocate such an upgrade?
