Hospital Error Rate

"Just this month, The Journal Health Affairs released a study that found one out of every three patients admitted to a hospital suffered some kind of injury due to a medical error."

"The Obama administration is calling on hospitals and medical centers to meet two major goals by the end of 2013: to reduce medical mistakes by 40 percent and reduce preventable hospital readmission rates by 20 percent."

"Obama administration officials say the overall goal is to prevent nearly 2 million patient injuries and save more than 60,000 lives over the next three years. They also save the program could reduce health costs up to $35 billion, including $10 billion the Medicare program over that same time frame."

You can read the entire article over at MPR.org

National Nurses Week

National Nurses Week is May 6-12.

NursingWorld.org has some great ideas to promote nursing.

What are your plans?

Travel Nursing Myths

Image: © iStockphoto.com/MoniqueRodriguez

What have you heard about travel nursing?

“Ugh, I’d have to move every few months.” “The staff nurses will hate me!” “I’m too old for this.” Guess what? Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

Let’s clarify some misconceptions you may have had about travel nursing, and perhaps give you reason to evaluate whether travel nursing is a career for you


Myth #1: Traveling nurses have to move to a new city every 13 weeks.

Truth: Travel nursing assignments do normally last 13 weeks, but they can last longer, and a lot of times travel nurses can choose to extend their current assignment.


Myth #2: Being a travel nurse means I have to be away from my friends and family.

Truth: There are a lot of travel nurses who take assignments that are close to their homes and have shifts conducive to getting back home for three- to four-day stretches.


Myth #3: Travel nursing is only for young people/I’m too old to start travel nursing.

Truth: Many travel nurses are somewhere in their late 40s to late 50s and have plenty of nursing experience, which actually makes them perfect for travel nursing.

Myth #4: Only single people with no families can be travel nurses.

Truth: There are a lot of travel nurses who bring their spouses or significant others with them on travel nursing assignments, especially when the spouse is retired or has a job that allows some mobility, too.

Myth #5: Travel nurses can’t bring their pets with them on an assignment.

Truth: Taking Fido along on a travel nursing job is not only possible, but is a really good idea. Not only can a pet be a great travel buddy and make your travel nursing housing feel like home.

Myth #6: Travel nursing doesn’t provide a reliable income for me or my family.

Truth: In reality, travel nursing is a great way to provide a solid and steady income for you and your family. Even with the economy down from when travel nursing was at its peak, travel nursing jobs are still paying well and there are still plenty of them available.

Myth #7: The permanent nursing staff doesn’t like travel nurses.

Truth: Travel nurses are normally welcomed to the hospital by the perm staff. The staff members are generally excited to see a travel nurse arrive and happy for the help they will provide, since it gives them a break from working extra and/or long shifts.

Myth #8: Having too many travel nurse assignments on my résumé may look bad.

Truth: Actually, the broad range of experiences that travel nurses have can bolster their résumés. Since travel nurses are inherently exposed to and have to learn different nursing philosophies and methods.

Myth #9: I have to go where the travel nursing companies tell me to go.

Truth: This is probably one of the most confusing travel nursing myths out there. Recruiters always work to put travel nurses in assignments that the nurses want. They take the time to learn what the nurses desire in an assignment and for their careers, and try to find a match that meets their goals.

However, at smaller companies, recruiters may not have as many contracts as the larger companies and may suggest assignments that are similar to the one a nurse really wants. If that’s the case, the nurse may have to look at a few different companies at a time to find the assignment she really wants, but travel nurses are never forced to work somewhere they don’t want to. And if those companies can’t place a nurse in the location she wants, there are plenty of larger travel nursing companies out there that have contracts all over the country, so no travel nurse should have trouble finding a job where she wants to work.

Syndicated from Jeff Long and you can read his entire article over at Scrubsmag.com

S-CUT. Getting patients clothes off Pronto.

No, we were not paid to advertise this product. It is just super cool.

When you are met with a patient who needs to have their clothes removed as fast as possible, sometimes scissors don't "cut" it. Ha that's funny, scissors "cut."

Anyway, this S-CUT can make removing clothes a snap. No need to move the patient around.

According to their website:

S-CUT replaces scissors, knifes and similar tools. Ordinary fabrics as well as leather belts, zippers and heavy outerwear can be easily cut. All you need is a free edge of the clothes where you can start the cut.

S-CUT is designed for optimal ergonomics and provides an excellent grip. Using scissors in heavy materials will most often require a lot of effort. The S-CUT is used with a pulling action requiring minimal effort

Thoughts?

Can Nurses Refuse Doctors Orders?

Sydicated from Emergency Room Nurse by Girlvet on April 11,2011

Girlvet is an amazing ER nurse and she asks this question and tells her story:

Can a nurse refuse to carry out a doctors order?

I am getting to the point of no return on an issue. The issue is giving narcotics to people are know drug seekers. They are the people who come to the ER every one to two weeks with some pain complaint, have documented drug seeking behavior and are still given narcotics. This happened this past week with a patient of mine. I am beginning to feel really uncomfortable with it. To the point where I am going to make a stink about it.

Doctors hate these patients just like we do. Many times they will placate them so they will leave. They don't want to have a confrontation. They put the nurse in the position of having to carry out something that is unethical. We continue to enable the patient to keep coming back for more. I am tired of being put in this position. I'm going to bring it to the management. I'll let you know what happens.

Your thoughts on this issue? Have you ever refused a doctors order?

NHSC offers Loan Repayment Program

Syndicated from April 1st, 2011 By Scrubs Magazine

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) is accepting applications for its loan repayment program through May 26. Connecting practitioners with communities in areas that are most in need of primary health care services, the NHSC supports these services in the form of loan repayment and scholarships.

Numerous service options are available for the loan repayment program, including a full-time, five-year service commitment that would receive up to $170,000 in loan repayment. A full-time two-year service commitment would result in the practitioner receiving up to $60,000 in loan repayment. Other contracts accommodate half-time service.

Around the country, the NHSC is made up of 7,000 primary health professionals at more than 10,000 health care sites. Visit nhsc.hrsa.gov for more information, including an application that can be completed entirely online.

Great App for your Phone

This one of the best apps for your phone and it's free. It is called MedPage

• News from medical conferences. Their reporters are on-site covering over 60 meetings and symposia


• Their original news is peer-reviewed under the direction of the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Office of CME


• Free Continuing Medical Education (CME/CPE/CE) credits across 30+ specialty areas


• Action Points with each story can help answer patient questions


• Audio and video reports accompany most stories


• Articles can be saved and shared with colleagues via, email or twitter


• Full text search of our articles published in last 3 years