Clinical nurse specialist CNS
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The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of implementation of evidence-based alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) guideline using the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale--Revised scale on care and outcomes of burn patients with comorbid alcohol use and on physician and nurse documentation of alcohol screening, education, and referral. ⋯ Greater efforts should be directed at managing alcohol withdrawal. An advance practice nurse can make an important contribution.
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Delirium is the most frequent complication associated with hospitalization of older adults, responsible for 17.5 million additional hospital days in the United States each year; yet, nurses fail to recognize it more than 30% of the time. ⋯ Findings provide further support for the significance of nurses' underrecognition of delirium in the hospitalized older adult when using the CAM. Additional research is warranted regarding the clinical decision-making processes that nurses use in assessing acute cognitive changes and in identifying strategies to improve delirium recognition.
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Despite many efforts on the local and national levels to improve compliance with hand hygiene practices such as hand washing, compliance among healthcare workers remains low. This article will discuss the clinical nurse specialists' use of a collaborative governance structure to provide peer-to-peer education and accountability for hand hygiene compliance in the medical intensive care unit.