Tag: Nurses

The Benefits of Multidisciplinary Teams in Sepsis Care at the Healthcare Facility Level: The Role of the Nurse

This article discusses the role of nurses in improving sepsis care. Written by one of our nurse writers, Marsha Pope Harrison, it discusses the recent 4th World Sepsis Congress on the benefits of multidisciplinary teams in sepsis care.

By Marsha Pope Harrison, RN, BSN 

Sepsis is a medical emergency that needs prompt and coordinated care. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines sepsis as a life-threatening illness that occurs when the body’s response to an infection causes damage to its tissues and organs. The damage caused by sepsis can rapidly lead to organ failure and death.

Any infection can result in sepsis, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states nearly 87% of sepsis cases start before the patient gets to the hospital.  

Sepsis is a notable cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In America, 1.7 million adults develop sepsis, and 350,000 die during their hospitalization, according to the CDC. 

With that said, we must take an interdisciplinary approach to treat patients who arrive with signs and symptoms of this deadly condition. This is where multidisciplinary teams for sepsis care come into play. Multidisciplinary teams play a crucial role in providing comprehensive and effective sepsis care. 

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Nursing, Racism, and COVID

Nursing, Racism, and COVID

Nurses Face Twin Threats of Racism and COVID

If COVID did not pose a big enough threat, CNN interviewed a dozen Black nurses across the UK’s healthcare sector – they had varying degrees of experience (from students to practicing nurses with decades of experience) and worked in different roles and settings (from hospitals to care homes.

CNN found that these nurses “have experienced racism in the workplace — and that it has gotten worse amid the coronavirus outbreak.”

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Nursing the World to Health

Editor’s note: The theme for this year’s national nurses’ day could not be more appropriate given the current COVID-19 crisis “Nursing the World to Health.” The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety is proud that nurses are leading the virtual chat line that we launched to support cardiovascular and particularly patients with atrial fibrillation (Afib).

By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)

The theme for this year’s national nurses’ day could not be more appropriate given the current COVID-19 crisis “Nursing the World to Health.”

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How Nurses Can Fight The Opioid Epidemic

In this article published in the February 2018 issue of Hospital News, Michael Wong, JD (Founder and Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety) discusses how nurses can fight the opioid epidemic. Mr. Wong cites resources, such as the PCA Safety Checklist, and harm reduction principles set forth in the Canadian Nurses Association paper, “Harm Reduction & Illicit Substance Use: Implications for Nursing.”

The US and Canada are both battling the opioid epidemic. As Michael Wong, JD (Founder & Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety) writes in the article, “How Nurses Can Fight The Opioid Epidemic”:

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The Vital Role Nurses Play in Patient Care

Written by Michael Wong, JD, Founder & Executive Director of PPAHS

As founder and executive director PPAHS, when I speak at conferences about the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety support for continuous electronic monitoring of patients receiving opioids, I am often asked two questions:

  • Is PPAHS suggesting or recommending that technology replace nurses?
  • Why has continuous monitoring been so slow to be adopted by hospitals?

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PPAHS Presents at International Conference on Opioids

At the International Conference on Opioids (ICOO), which took place in Boston June 5-7, 2016, the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) presented a poster on the survey of nurses it conducted. The survey’s objective was to identify:

  • Practices and technologies that nurses believe are needed to reduce the occurrence of respiratory compromise and
  • Those areas of medical practice that would benefit most from improved intervention.

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Three Technologies Nurses Want: Preliminary Survey Results Presented at ACI Medical Liability Conference

Three technologies that nurses want will be presented at the ACI Medical Liability conference (October 26-27, 2015).

Preliminary survey results will be presented at the conference. These results are findings of a survey recently conducted by the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS). Survey respondents consisted of 73 nurses who are members of the American Hospital Association (AHA). The AHA leads, represents and serves hospitals, health systems and other related organizations that are accountable to the community and committed to health improvement.

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