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Showing results for tags 'USA'.
Found 653 results
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Content ArticleCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center believes all patients and their families have a right to receive medical information in their preferred language. Andy Schwieter from Cincinnati Children’s shares how his organisation supports the diverse languages of the community they serve through improved communication.
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Content ArticleThis article by Katherine Virkstis, Managing Director of the US health thinktank Advisory Board, looks at the growing problem of a nursing 'skills gap' in the US. She argues that this area is often overlooked, but needs to be tackled to ensure patients are safe. A recent boom in new nurses graduating means that the balance of the nursing workforce is now less experienced than it has previously been. The growing complexity of patients and care approaches in healthcare systems also means that the demand for highly-trained nurses with specific skills has increased. The author explains this as a widening 'experience-complexity gap' and suggests four strategies to close the gap: Bolster emotional support and show staff your own vulnerability as a leader Dramatically scope the first year of practise Differentiate practice for experienced nurses Reinforce experienced nurses' identity as system citizens
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Content ArticleThis document by the Joint Commission provides an overview of the issues faced by healthcare workers who are negatively affected by their involvement in a patient safety incident—second victims. It highlights the prevalence of second victims, summarises the key problems they face and outlines recommendations to ensure staff receive adequate support from healthcare organisations when they are involved in an incident.
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Content ArticleThe Operating Room Black Box, a system of sensors and software, is being used in operating rooms in 24 hospitals in the US, Canada and Western Europe. The device captures video, audio, patient vital signs and data from surgical devices in an effort to improve patient safety. This article in the Wall Street Journal looks at how Black Box technology at Duke University Hospital has identified several areas for improvement, including that the hospital needed a better system for sending and tracking specimens. The article also highlights some concerns raised by healthcare professionals about the use of Black Boxes, including fear that data collected might be used to punish staff, or that it may be used as evidence in medicolegal cases outside of hospitals' control.
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Content ArticleSecond victims are healthcare workers who experience emotional distress following patient adverse events. This mixed method study in BMJ Open looks at how the RISE (Resilience In Stressful Events) programme was developed at the Johns Hopkins Hospital to provide this support. It examined: developing the RISE programme recruiting and training peer responders pilot launch in the Department of Paediatrics hospital-wide implementation.
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Content ArticleThe National Patient Safety Board (NPSB) is a proposed independent federal agency modelled in part after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) that would identify and anticipate significant harm in health care; provide expertise to study the context and causes of harm and solutions; and create solutions to prevent patient safety events from occurring. Watch this video from the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative.
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Content ArticleSome medical mistakes have been stubbornly hard to eliminate. Now, hospitals hope technology can make a difference. This Washington Post article highlights are some of the biggest problems that caregivers are trying to address with technology.
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Content ArticleEvery day, healthcare professionals face the risk of traumatic events — such as an unexpected death, a medical error, or an unplanned transfer to the ICU. Yet few hospitals have programmes to support “second victims.” Too often, these employees experience self-doubt, burnout and other problems that cause personal anguish and hinder their ability to deliver safe, compassionate care. The Caring for the Caregiver programme from John Hopkins Medicine in the USA guides hospitals to set up peer-responder programmes that deliver “psychological first aid and emotional support” to health care professionals following difficult events. Modelled on the Resilience in Stressful Events (RISE) team at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, the programme prepares employees to provide skilled, nonjudgmental and confidential support to individuals and groups.
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Content ArticleMonthly publications from the Joint Commission that outlines an incident, topic or trend in healthcare that could compromise patient safety.
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Content ArticleIn the US, patients receiving cancer treatment via Medicare or Medicaid—two federal health insurance programmes—can face barriers to accessing treatment when insurers use the Prior Authorization Process to deny access. In this letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) outlines its concerns that prior authorizations are acting as "roadblocks to Americans with cancer getting the optimal treatment on a timely basis." Referring to proposed rule changes that aim to reduce the burden that prior authorization processes place on providers, the COA calls for the inclusion of medications to ensure that American's with cancer are not denied the treatment they need.
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Content ArticleSleep deprivation and fatigue lead to a wide range of performance issues that may pose risks to workers and others in the work environment. This review in Frontiers in Neuroscience discusses relevant literature on the topic of fatigue-related performance effects, with a special emphasis physiological and behavioural response variables that have shown to be sensitive to changes in fatigue. It also looks at methods for mitigating these performance effects and discusses their usefulness in regulating them.
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Content Article
Guiding principles for determining work shift duration and addressing the effects of work shift duration on performance, safety, and health: guidance from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society (1 November 2021)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Workforce and resources
Regulators, organisations, communities and workers often struggle with how to manage shift duration and address associated risks from fatigue and sleepiness, while continuing to meet the societal demands for work. This article in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine proposes a series of guiding principles help design a shift duration decision-making process that effectively balances the need to meet operational demands with the need to manage fatigue-related risks. -
Content ArticleECRI’s Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns 2023 list identifies potential sources of danger for patients and staff. ECRI believe these risks require the greatest focus for the coming year and offer actionable recommendations for reducing these risks. ECRI conducts independent medical device evaluations, annually compiles scientific literature and patient safety events, concerns reported to or investigated by the organization, and other data sources to create its top 10 list.
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Content ArticleThis article in the American Journal of Nursing provides basic information about the assessment of dark skin tone and calls for action in academia and professional practice to ensure the performance of effective skin assessments in all patients.
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Content ArticleHealthcare is a $4 trillion component of the US economy, and the well-being of the clinician workforce is a major factor determining its effectiveness. Extensive evidence indicates that inefficiency, poorly designed workflows and processes, suboptimal teamwork, work overload, isolation, problems with work-life integration, and a professional culture that expects perfection and discourages help-seeking are currently contributing to high levels of occupational distress among clinicians. Although the problem and its impact on the health care delivery system are well defined, there is minimal evidence regarding effective interventions to drive progress. This knowledge gap is, in large part, due to the near-complete absence of federal funding for research to address one of the critical challenges facing the US health care delivery system.
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Content ArticleIn this video, William Pileggi, a registered nurse anaesthetist, discusses the implementation of the Golden Eagle Project at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System to improve outcomes for veterans who may be prone to experiencing post-operative emergent delirium. Through assessments to prescreen for PTSD, staff training and using alternative drug therapies, his hospital has had zero injury events related to emergent delirium since 2018. With minor modifications, the program is replicable at civilian hospitals.
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Content ArticleThis article in Nurse Leader examines mounting evidence for nurse and patient safety associated with registered nurse (RN) fatigue. What changes driven by strong evidence are nursing leaders enacting to reduce the impact of RN fatigue on patient and nurse safety?
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Content ArticleThis systematic review in the Western Journal of Nursing Research examined the relationship between hospital nurse fatigue and outcomes. The authors found that fatigue was consistently associated with mental health problems, decreased nursing performance and sickness absence. Many studies confirmed that nurse fatigue is negatively associated with nurse, patient-safety and organisational outcomes. The review also highlighted gaps in current knowledge and the need for future research using a longitudinal design and measuring additional outcomes to better understand the consequences of nurse fatigue.
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Content ArticleThis Patient Safety Advisory from the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority provides an overview of the issues associated with healthcare worker fatigue. It outlines fatigue risk mitigation practices that are being used in healthcare and other industries, including comprehensive fatigue risk management programs.
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Content ArticleWhen healthcare workers are fatigued, the safety of both patients and staff is compromised. This short article in the American Journal of Nursing reports on a recent webinar in which the Joint Commission distilled current research on fatigue, discussing its causes and symptoms and the various means of addressing the issue. Ann Scott Blouin, a nurse and Executive Vice President of Customer Relations at the Joint Commission, led the discussion and highlighted that factors contributing to staff fatigue fall into three categories: organisation and management issues, the nature of the work and personal challenges. Fatigue has emotional, physical, and behavioural consequences, including lapses in attention, diminished reaction time, and reduced motivation.
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Content ArticleHospitals and other medical organisations are being hit by a rising number of cyberattacks; ransomware strikes on healthcare doubled annually between 2016 and 2021, according to a study published in December in the Journal of the American Medical Association. After a cyberattack, hospitals are forced to cancel procedures, reroute patients to other facilities and resort to pen-and-paper record-keeping. In this article, Wall Street Journal reporter James Rundle looks at how cyberattacks and a regulatory push are increasing the pressure on medical device manufacturers to improve the security of their products.
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Content ArticleNurses work long hours and play a critical role in keeping patients healthy. Many nurses feel that fatigue “comes with the territory” of such a high-stress, high-impact job. But what’s really at risk when a nurse is fatigued? This blog by US insurance company Nurses Service Organization (NSO) looks at the impact of nurse fatigue on patient and staff safety. It suggests several strategies to address the issue: Designing schedules and organising work to reduce nurse fatigue Developing a fatigue management plan Educating staff on sleep hygiene and the effects of fatigue on nurse health and patient safety Providing opportunities for staff to express concerns about fatigue and taking action to address those concerns Making sure extended shifts have adequate staff support and rest periods
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Content ArticleSentinel Event Alerts from the Joint Commission identify specific types of sentinel event (a patient safety event that results in death, permanent harm or severe temporary harm), describe their common underlying causes and suggest steps to prevent them occurring in the future. This Sentinel Event Alert looks at the well-documented link between health care worker fatigue and adverse events. It looks at: The impact of fatigue Contributing factors to fatigue and risks to patients Actions suggested by The Joint Commission for healthcare organisations
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Content ArticleFatigue in anaesthesia practice is often ignored or accepted as the norm due to persistent, high-intensity work demands and expectations. This document produced by the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) aims to provide guidance to healthcare professionals, healthcare facilities and nurse anaesthesia programs regarding sleep deprivation and fatigue. It provides evidence-based information that promotes fatigue management and work-life balance.
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Content ArticleFatigue is a workplace hazard that affects the health and safety of patients, health care providers and the community. This blog from health tech company Cerner looks at the importance of managing fatigue in healthcare staff. The author suggests a three-step approach to lessen fatigue: Shift the culture of safety to include recognising and dealing with fatigue. Operationalise fatigue reduction measures within the organisation. Promote fatigue self-management through preventative strategies.
