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Top 10 care essentials for ventilator patients
In a wide variety of settings, nurses are increasingly likely to care for patients on mechanical ventilators. Let’s assume you’re one of them. What do you need to know to plan your shift? Which patien...
The most expensive one percent: A case study
There is a lot of talk today about the cost of Medicare and Medicaid—and about reducing the benefit. Policymakers and caregivers alike undoubtedly would find it helpful to examine the patterns of spen...
Maximize your reprocessing program
The healthcare industry is at a critical juncture. The quest to find solutions that deliver better care for less money is imperative. To address this challenge, there is much talk these days about ...
Building a compelling business case for nursing and quality indicators
In the past few years, several events have highlighted the value of the nursing profession in helping to achieve higher-quality, lower-cost patient care. For example, in 2011, the U.S. Department of H...
The five P's spell positive outcomes for ARDS patients
In the United States, patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) occupy 1 in 10 critical care beds. Each year, ARDS kills 150,000 Americans. Most of the deaths are triggered by an event,...
Preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia: A nursing-intervention bundle
Implementing three autonomous nursing interventions together helps avert the processes known to cause VAP.
Reducing hospital-acquired pneumonia continues to pose a challenge for healthcare provider...
Preparing nurses for tomorrow's healthcare system
In the last few years, major healthcare and nursing initiatives have sparked important changes in nursing education. The Carnegie Foundation's 2010 report "Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Tra...
From our readers: ABC’s of evidence-based practice
Evidence-based practice (EBP) combines science, the nurse’s expertise in the art of nursing, and patient considerations to create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. Barriers inhibiting...
Weaning patients from the mechanical ventilator: The nurse's role
Mechanical ventilation can save lives, but most patients should be weaned from the ventilator as early as possible, without causing patient fatigue, to avoid ventilator-associated complications. The a...
Virtual visiting: The next best thing to being there
Virtual visiting brings the world to the patient’s bedside. Built-in computer cameras, text messaging, e-cards, social networking sites, and other high-tech methods allow hospital patients to stay con...
Understanding core measures for heart-failure treatment
Heart failure (HF) occurs when the heart can’t pump enough oxygenated blood to perfuse body organs. This condition is the primary cause of more than 55,000 deaths each year in the United States. The m...
Patient-centeredness as algorithm
Patient-centeredness. It’s one of the aims of care put forth more than a decade ago by the Institute of Medicine in Crossing the Quality Chasm to ensure safer, high-quality care. It’s a watchword for ...
Nursing quality: Strength in numbers
All of us want to be the best of the best. But how do we know if we’re providing the best-quality care? By measuring our baseline performance and arming ourselves with information about other similar ...
Noninvasive ventilation makes a comeback
LEARNING OBJECTIVESIdentify the indications for noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation (NPPV).Discuss the use of NPPV, including modes and settings, patient-ventilator interface, and complications....
SWAT nursing: A unique specialty
What does SWAT stand for?
So Where Are They?
Smart, Witty, and Talented?
Smiling, Willing, Able, Technical?
At the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS), SWAT stands for a Specialized Workfo...
Dodging a trach tragedy
When you arrive for your shift at the intensive care unit, the off-going nurse gives report: Your first patient, Jeff Ridley, age 65, was admitted 2 weeks ago with an exacerbation of chronic obstructi...
Daily sedation breaks and breathing trials help wean patients from ventilators safely
The authors give advice on developing a nurse-implemented sedation protocol.
Nurses who care for patients on mechanical ventilators must walk a tightrope, ensuring patients get the precise amount o...
National poll- Nurses should have more influence
From reducing medical errors to increasing the quality of care to promoting wellness to improving efficiency and reducing costs, a new survey finds that an overwhelming majority of opinion leaders say...
Quantifying the benefits of staff participation in shared governance
Structures, in the form of councils and committees, provide forums where nurses participate and engage in work.
Processes are the bylaws and policies that define
how the work and decisions will be...
So you want to get a doctorate. . .
You've decided to pursue a doctoral degree in nursing. But which one? Do you want to focus on research and scholarship or on clinical practice? Do you want a traditional classroom setting or a
virtu...
Caring for older lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults
Current discussions on the unique health issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations have prompted the healthcare professions to reexamine their mission and values. The Americ...
Weaning patients from the mechanical ventilator: The nurse's role selected references
Cason C, Tyner T, Saunders S, et al. Nurses’ implementation of guidelines for ventilator-associated pneumonia from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Am J Crit Care. 2007;16:28-36.
Coh...
Post-intensive care syndrome: What it is and how to help prevent it
My family and I have needed counseling for psychological trauma stemming from my ICU experience. It wasn't the car accident itself (which I don't remember) that caused my post-intensive care syndrome ...
The essential components of worksite wellness
ANA defines a healthy nurse as one who takes care of his or her personal health, safety, and wellness and lives life to its fullest capacity – physically, mentally, spiritually, and professionally. A ...
Challenging nursing's sacred cows
Until recently, healthcare practitioners have answered questions about clinical practices with their best guesses, intuition, and tradition. But evidence-based practice (EBP) compels us to use solid s...