The question of gown use when entering patient isolation rooms is a recurrent one, so it is worth noting that this is the current thinking of The Joint Commission on the subject:
News: In one of the largest verdicts handed down in recent Florida history, a hospital was ordered to pay $178 million in damages for permanently disabling a 38-year-old patient during gastric bypass surgery.
Hospitals are taking a closer look at visitor access, especially in units such as obstetrics where visitors should be monitored closely, and one hospital is finding success with a key card similar to those used in hotels.
This is a portion of the Elective Delivery Policy use at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville to minimize unnecessary deliveries before 39 weeks gestation:
News: A 32-year-old woman presented to the hospital following a planned home delivery with the assistance of a midwife.
Providers are increasingly faced with the dilemma of whether to ban all personal electronic devices such as iPads and BlackBerrys in patient care areas or allow clinicians to use them.
