All Entries Tagged With: "professional development"
HHS develops new strategy to improve healthcare quality
The Health & Human Services Department has released the National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care, a strategy that was required under the Affordable Care Act, and one that promotes quality health care focused on the needs of patients.
The publication is the first step in the reform towards creating national goals and priorities to guide local, state, and national efforts to improve the quality of healthcare, and aims to make the health care system work better for physicians and other healthcare providers, through things like reducing administrative burdens and fostering collaboration to improve care.
The HHS strategy also calls for the increased use of electronic health records (EHR), which are a foundation for many of the projects that will realize HHS goals.
Click here to view the HHS strategy document.
Source: Government Health IT
AHAP Conference at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas
Save the date, and enter our contest, too!
HCPro’s Association for Healthcare Accreditation Professionals (AHAP) is hosting this year’s AHAP conference at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas on May 12-13th, 2011. Topics will include regulatory changes for 2011, core measures, risk assessments, and survey readiness, as well as a roundtable discussion where you can share your successes, challenges, and best practices about top accreditation and patient care issues.
Launched in September 2006, AHAP now has close to 500 members. The 2011 conference will be the association’s fifth annual conference, and you don’t have to be a member to attend. This year’s conference is one you won’t want to miss. It will feature sessions about preparing for both The Joint Commission and CMS surveys, restraint, high risk procedures outside of the OR, effectively presenting data, infection control, as well as patient care, quality improvement, and more!
AHAP is also hosting a contest for best survey preparation tool, policy, or activity. To enter, submit a sample tool, policy, or a brief write-up about a recent (2010-2011) accreditation survey by Friday, April 8th. Click here to read the full contest rules, and please send all of your entries directly to mphillion@hcpro.com. The tools can be any examples that have helped you do your job better. Visit the AHAP Blog to see contest entries that have already been submitted. These sample documents will be posted to the AHAP Blog throughout the remainder of the month.
You can’t teach with apathy: Why it’s important to support your preceptors
by Julie Harris, MSN, RN
I occasionally peruse online nursing forums to see what the hot topics are. Last night, I was on a highly popular forum and came across an interesting discussion. A new graduate was being oriented and her preceptors were not interested in training her. She perceived their behavior as intimidating and somewhat hostile and she didn’t know what her next step should be. Should she quit and look for a new job? Should she stick it out?
Responses to her post ranged from “This is part of orientation. Try not to take it personal,” to “Those nurses shouldn’t be preceptors. If this facility supports that kind of behavior, you need to leave and find a new job.”
I find myself agreeing more with the last response. Nobody should be forced to precept. Some nurses are wonderful caregivers with excellent clinical skills; however they do not possess the desire to train orientees. Other nurses have a strong craving to teach and pass on their knowledge to orientees. Both options are perfectly acceptable.
RWJF senior advisor for nursing honors 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s death
Susan Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior advisor for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is spending her summer vacation doing something extraordinary. She is not spending her days soaking up the sun, or taking a cruise to Alaska. Instead she is traveling in Europe, learning about the life and work of Florence Nightingale.
Throughout Hassmiller’s journey across Europe, she is blogging about her experience. Her trips marks the 100th anniversary of Nightingale’s death. [more]
Nursing reviews change across the country
Everyone has to undergo a performance review, including nurses. At some facilities, it can take place annually, maybe every six months, or even every other year. Nurses may be asked to fill out a 10-page form that helps their managers score qualities such as “leadership” or “respectfulness.” Or maybe the nurses don’t have to fill out a form, but rather have an electronic system tracking every project they do, and if a task is not completed on time, the information is logged into a performance system.
No matter the case, many organizations are changing the way performance reviews are conducted to separate top performers from underachievers. According to Hewitt Associates, 10% of managers and 11% of other employees are now judged solely on the results they achieve, as opposed to a combination of hard figures and additional behavioral characteristics. [more]
Charge Nurse Exemplary Roles: The Icing on the Cake
Charge nurse is a term that has been around since the early 1980s and has often been used interchangeably with other terms, such as unit supervisor or shift supervisor. Charge nurses are accountable to the organization, direct care providers, and patients. They must be sufficiently trained in regulatory requirements such as The Joint Commission’s standards, and they must be adequately familiar with and trained in organizational policies and procedures so that the delivery and coordination of patient care meet organizational expectations.
Aside from the traditional roles charge nurses hold, here is a list of a few of the exemplary roles they also take on:
Educators: The educator role is more than just acting as a resource for the patient care staff. Charge nurses who develop skills as an educator can help bring the patient care team to another level by assisting with staff orientation, equipment, and procedural in-services, updating team members about new clinical practice changes, and helping plan for new education programs based on needs assessments. [more]
Stressed out nurses are more likely to have heart attacks
The New York Times recently blogged about studies regarding the ill effects of workplace stress. However, when reading the article, one particular statistic caught my attention: Nurses struggling with excessive work pressure have DOUBLE the risk for a heart attack.
This statistic comes from a study conducted by Danish researchers (the full study can be found here) and was conducted over a 15-year period. In addition to this finding, a British study tracked 6,000 workers for 11 years and found those regularly working more than 10 hours per day had a 60% higher risk for heart disease than those who only worked seven hours daily.
Both these thoughts are frightening, as most nurses work more than seven hours per day, and can be even more prone to have a heart attack! [more]
Book clubs help nurses connect with patients
When the phrase “book club” comes up, one thinks of a group of people, meeting at a coffee shop or a member’s home, discussing the most recent best seller showcased on Oprah Winfrey’s daytime television show. However, the definition of a book club will now have to include nurses reading medical-themed literature to better connect with their patients.
The first hospital to institute the idea of a nurse/physician-based book club was in 1997, and over the past decade, similar ideas and book clubs have become more popular across 25 states, including California, Massachusetts, and New York. [more]
NCLEX passing standard raised due to sicker patients with longer life spans
The amount of care required by hospitalized patients seems to grow every year, and many nurses in the field question whether recently-graduated nurses are sufficiently prepared to take on the demanding task.
This is the issue considered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, (NCSBN), which recently raised the passing standard on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) to ensure new nurses are sufficiently ready to take on the growing needs of sicker patients. [more]
Sim Man 3G becoming more common in nursing education
Many facilities across the nation are investing in state-of-the art technology that allows students and staff members to gain real life experience without the fear of killing a patient.
The high-tech mannequin, Sim Man 3G, costs roughly $27,000, but can cost up to $60,000 with additional accessories and programs available for download onto the mannequin. Even though many facilities have been forced to cut back on their programs and spending, the price of Sim Man 3G has not deterred facilities from purchasing the state-of-the are technology. [more]
