Journal of nursing care quality
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The importance of assessing and managing pain has become paramount in today's hospital environment. Poor pain management is associated with impaired health, decreased patient satisfaction, and increased healthcare costs. This quality improvement project on an internal medicine unit at an urban teaching hospital examined the impact of pain education on patient satisfaction with pain management. Although pain scores did not improve, there were improvements made with respect to patient assessment, patient satisfaction, and nursing knowledge.
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Nosocomial pneumonia is the second most costly infection occurring in US hospitals. It is associated with high mortality and morbidity and is considered one of the most difficult infections to diagnose and prevent. In 1999, St Joseph Hospital formed a multidisciplinary Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia Performance Improvement Team to tackle the myriad of issues involved in the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia and the care of this high-risk patient population. The accomplishments of the team were significant, with a 95% reduction in ventilator-associated pneumonia.
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This study examined what relationships or differences exist between patient and nurse characteristics, satisfaction with triage nurse caring behaviors, general satisfaction with the triage nurse, and intent to return to a rural hospital emergency department (ED). The ED, located at a 401-bed teaching hospital in a small southern city, averages 28,000 visits annually. ⋯ The patient's perception of condition, patient satisfaction, and caring satisfaction were predictors of intent to return. When patients perceived themselves as seriously ill or injured, they expressed less intent to return to that ED.