Journal of nursing care quality
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This novel study used a human factor engineering approach to improve patient safety and prevent patient falls. We compared the safety levels of 2 task designs to help patients get out of hospital beds: the traditional sitting-standing position and the prone position. It is assumed that when patients' conditions are comparable, using the prone position is safer. When the prone position is used, if patients lose their balance, they will fall back to the surface of beds.
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Adverse events in hospitalized patients are preceded by clinical signs of decline. Thus, early recognition and intervention should improve patient outcomes. ⋯ On the basis of the outcomes at our hospital, we conclude that there is benefit to having an RRT. The following article outlines processes for RRT implementation and our outcomes to date.
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Ventilator-associated pneumonia is one of the most frequent complications among critically ill patients. Growth of pathogenic bacteria in dental plaque may serve as the source of these infections. This performance improvement initiative evaluated an aggressive oral care approach to prevent the accumulation of plaque containing bacteria. Our data support the use of these oral care measures and deep oral-pharyngeal suctioning for the prevention of aspiration of oral contents.
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Adverse event reporting is a key element for improving patient safety. This study describes a new voluntary, anonymous reporting system that facilitates reporting of near-miss and patient harm events and an assessment of patient harm by the bedside care provider in a pediatric intensive care unit. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the Patient Safety Report as a method to capture near-miss and patient harm events.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Evaluating an educational approach to improve pain assessment in hospitalized patients.
Pain assessment is a multifaceted process. A common assumption is that all nurses have the same baseline knowledge about pain, a potentially erroneous assumption that influences clinical practice. Nurses have varied experiences in education and pain management. This article describes a research project conducted by the hospital's clinical nurse specialist group to evaluate the effects of a nursing education program on pain assessment and pain management of hospitalized patients in an 841-bed academic medical center.