A couple of items worth bringing to your attention: Behavior Affects Patient SafetyJCAHO recently issued a Sentinel Alert calling for all JCAHO accredited institutions to take note of findings hat patient safety is being undermined by inappropriate and unprofessional behavior exhibited by health care professionals. Nurses, physicians, pharmacists, therapists and support staff who demonstrate intimidating and disruptive behavior toward other health care professionals, patients and others will need to be dealt with if facilities wish to comply with JCAHO standards as of January 1, 2009. For far too long, inappropriate behavior has been ignored, unreported and never addressed for fear of reprisal or being labeled as a “whistle blower.” Research…
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Kaplan Publishing Needs Stories for Anthology
Kaplan Publishing has issued a call for nurse writers to contribute to an upcoming anthology entitled Kaplan Voices:Nurses series. For this portion of the anthology, entitled New Lives, the need is for nurses with experience working with babies in the first 28 days of their lives. These stories would most likely come from OB-GYN nurses, NICU nurses, labor and delivery or newborn nursery nurses, nurse midwives, family practice or women’s health NPs, nurse lactation or childbirth educators, pediatric nurses, and any other nurses who have had experience caring for newborn infants. Kaplan wants you to tell the story of your experience including “the babies you have cared for, the unique…
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Nurses are Calling for Change
The economy has quickly risen to the top of the list of issues facing the U.S. candidates running for office this year from local levels all the way to the Presidential candidates. No doubt that is a major issue on the minds of everyone regardless of their political party preferences. It is something that has to be addressed and fixed, and the sooner the better! But we can’t let the health care crisis be lost in the process of trying to remain afloat financially. In fact the economic downturn directly affects the health care crisis. If we thought Americans couldn’t afford health care before they started losing their homes and…
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Did You Feel That?
We were rolling and shaking this morning here in Southern CA. Fortunately it was just a “moderate” earthquake, and we have laws governing structures so that we don’t experience the level of damage a 5.4 quake could cause elsewhere in the world. At the same time, we are reminded that there is a 5% chance that this can be a pre-quake to a much larger one within 24 hours and that makes for some serious nerves. It is also always a “drill” for a much larger disaster. We know that the BIG one will come someday. As everyone jumped on their cell phones, we soon found the circuits jammed and…
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R.I.P. Randy Pausch
On July 25, 2008, Randy Pausch lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. But he left his family and the world a wonderful legacy in “The Last Lecture,” a beautiful piece about how to really live your life to the fullest everyday. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. Thank you Randy Pausch for such a great battle and for bringing attention to the battle too many people face each day with pancreatic and other cancers. Rest in Peace!