Tag: hospital readmissions

Pressure Ulcer Prevention Tools Presented At ASHRM Conference

At a recent meeting of the New Jersey chapter of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM), health experts presented on how to prevent readmissions for pressure ulcers.

Pressure ulcers are a common hospital-acquired condition with far-reaching implications for patient safety.  It is estimated that 2.5 million patients are affected by pressure ulcers annually in the U.S.; about 60,000 patients will die nationwide directly from pressure ulcers.  The condition is extremely painful, costly (up to $11 billion each year in the U.S. alone), and largely preventable. Continue reading “Pressure Ulcer Prevention Tools Presented At ASHRM Conference”

Death After Surgery – Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Dec 11, 2015)

A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine concludes that there are too many patient deaths within 30 days of major surgery and many of these are preventable.

Dr. P.J. Devereaux, principal investigator, observes:

Almost no one now dies in the operating room or recovery room, but after surgery there is still an appreciable death rate.

Continue reading “Death After Surgery – Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Dec 11, 2015)”

Happier Nurses = Better Patient Care

A recent report by Press Gainey, “Nursing Special Report: The Influence of Nurse Work Environment on Patient, Payment and Nurse Outcomes in Acute Care Settings” suggests that happier nurses lead to better patient care. The report examines the impact of nurses’ work environment on key performance measures.

The Press Gainey report found that hospitals with better nurse staffing and work environments tend to have fewer readmissions for heart failure, pneumonia and myocardial infarction. Says the Press Gainey report:

Continue reading “Happier Nurses = Better Patient Care”

Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Oct 31, 2014)

Good news and bad news.

Yes, there have been other things going on in healthcare other than Ebola-mania … thanks @sacbee_news for this illustration putting Ebola in perspective:

ebola comic

The Good News

First, we’ll start with the good news, because most people love a celebration. Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Oct 31, 2014)”

Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Aug 29, 2014)

With two articles driving most of the discussion social media this week—a Forbes article on alarm fatigue and an announcement of FDA approval for a new treatment for deep vein thrombosis (DVT)—we wanted to highlight a few articles readers might not have seen yet.

Have a good long weekend! Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Aug 29, 2014)”