-
In a recent Sentinel Event Alert, the Joint Commission accrediting organization offered suggestions for health care employers to "mitigate the risks of fatigue that result from extended work hours and, therefore, protect patients from preventable adverse outcomes."
-
A new Washington state rule requires employers to minimize or eliminate exposure to hazardous drugs. The hazardous drugs control program must include:
-
A federal advisory panel gave a boost to policies that require health care workers to receive the flu vaccine but stopped short of endorsing the strongest mandates. If health care employers can't achieve an influenza vaccination goal of 90% "in an efficient and timely manner," then they should "strongly consider an employer requirement," a subgroup of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) said.
-
The housekeeper had always done a thorough job cleaning patient rooms, but lately her work was haphazard. When a supervisor pointed out things she'd missed, she said, "Oh, I must have forgotten." Forgotten? How could you forget how to do a job you'd done every day for 30 years?
-
Hospitals have been put on alert to recognize fatigue among health care workers as a risk to patient safety. But for now, hospitals won't face any regulatory consequences for failing to address it.
-
Despite the progress toward safe patient handling, about eight in 10 nurses still suffer from frequent musculoskeletal pain and six in 10 worry about having a disabling musculoskeletal injury, according to a 2011 online survey by the American Nurses Association in Silver Spring, MD.
-
Case management follows a process, not unlike the clinical nursing process or social work process. By following a process, case managers can function more effectively and efficiently.
-
With the increase in uninsured and underinsured patients, hospitals face the challenge of finding post-acute care for unfunded or underfunded patients, or keeping them in a bed when they no longer need the acute level of care.
-
In its efforts to ensure that the uninsured and homeless receive the healthcare services they need, Carondelet Health Network in Tucson, AZ, has developed a list of community resources and partnered with community agencies to provide care for patients underserved patients.
-
In order to provide consistent post-acute care for uninsured or under insured patients, hospitals need to think like payers and develop a payment assistance policy so that at admission or registration, a financial counselor can do a quick assessment and determine who qualifies and who doesn't, according to Matt Boettcher, LSW, MSW, vice president for continuum of care for Scott and White Healthcare, with headquarters in Temple, TX, and consultant for the Center for Case Management, a patient care management consulting firm based in Wellesley, MA.
