Staff at Canada-based Windsor Regional Hospital are participating in a voluntary anti-complaining, anti-negativity campaign. Workers noticed an improvement in staff morale within a few days and said the program helped ease tension, made the hospital more peaceful and united workers. “We try to be positive and take care of patients and sometimes we don’t take care of each other,” one RN said…
Suzy Scott, a nurse at the Memphis Veterans Medical Center, has received attention for her research into preventing bedsores, in advance of Medicare’s decision not to reimburse hospitals for treating preventable problems.
A survey of health information technology (IT) adoption among nurses suggests that security policies designed to protect patients may actually impede care delivery and nurse productivity, Healthcare IT News reports To evaluate nurses’ opinions on health IT at the point of care, market research firm Spyglass Consulting Group conducted in-depth phone interviews with more than 100 nurses working in various clinical settings nationwide. Respondents reported logging on to patient data systems more than 80 times per day on average, a process that they say is prolonged by the rigorous IT security procedures necessary to access the systems.
A first ever national survey of nurses’ exposures to chemicals, pharmaceuticals and radiation on the job suggests there are links between serious health problems such as cancer, asthma, miscarriages and children’s birth defects and the duration and intensity of these exposures. The survey included 1,500 nurses from all 50 states.
A study published December 1 in the journal Sleep suggests that nurses who work extended shifts, are tired on the job and obtain less sleep are more likely to drive drowsy, increasing their risk for motor vehicle accidents, United Press International reports.
The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel updated the staging system of a pressure ulcer – intended for those occurring over bony prominences – and added two categories to create a total of six. The goal of the revision was to clarify each stage and reduce the number of incorrectly staged ulcers or other types of wounds and skin lesions.
Physical barriers, such as regular handwashing and wearing masks, gloves and gowns, may be more effective than drugs to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS, a study has found.
Like UV rays and diesel exhaust fumes, working the graveyard shift will soon be listed as a ”probable” cause of cancer. It is a surprising step validating a concept once considered wacky. And it is based on research that finds higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and men whose work day starts after dark.
Seventy-three-year-old Ed had smoked three packs of cigarettes a day for 54 years. Although he had often thought about stopping, he was not able to quit in spite of many attempts. When his wife was diagnosed with “a little emphysema,” he decided it was time to try to quit smoking. He enrolled in a free community smoking class run by nurses, where he received counseling and pharmacotherapy to assist him in his attempt to stop smoking. Using nicotine patches, the nicotine inhaler, and nicotine lozenges, he was successful, and has been smoke-free for more than four years.