An Institute of Medicine report estimates that medical errors cost the nation 17 billion dollars in preventable medical errors each year (“A Guide,” 2011). In addition, these errors rob the medical community of the trust and confidence of its patients. This paper will explore: why the Joint Commission goals are important, examples of problems that have been experienced, potential hindrances to meeting these goals, and strategies to help maintain adherence to these goals. It goes without saying that it is of paramount importance to the safety and well-being of a patient to be correctly identified and to have medications administered safely. There are hundreds of patients in a hospital; and at any given time there may be several with the same last name.
The Board of Directors recommended Robert Barry who has been the CEO of the hospital for 11 years that he consider laying off up to 10% of the hospital’s employees. The CEO asked Sharon Osgood, the HR director to prepare both a short-term plan to save $3 million over the next year through staff layoffs, as well as a long-term plan to avoid layoffs in the future. Osgood is preparing to submit her alternatives to Barry and has come to me for advice. I am describing the background in detail with the chart below. Factors | Context | Stakeholders | * B.O.D.
Family and Medical Leave Act The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is one of the broadest civil rights laws as it requires private, state, and local employers who has more than 50 employees in a given calendar year whether current or preceding, no more than 12 weeks of leave without pay for medical purposes without fear of job loss (Henderson, 2006). Hence, in the past, employees have been labeled, counseled, put on probation, and terminated for taking too much time off away from the job. FMLA was created to help employees to balance the needs and demands of the workplace and their family obligations thereby promoting economic security as well as family stability and integrity. This law allows employees to take reasonable time off to take care of family obligations such as serious health conditions without a negative impact to their careers or future development in the organization. For instance, my grandmother raised me and when she was sick with kidney disease, she needed me to take her back and forth to her dialysis appointments three times a week.
Martha C. Beary Situation Two of the five prestigious teaching hospitals, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), were looking into merging due to the affected changes in the U. S. Healthcare System. Their main intention was to reduce operating costs through the integration of clinical training programs. Areas of cost reductions included payment systems, healthcare network development, research, and at the same time, preserve the quality of their teaching programs and patient care. Problems The declining of bed utilization rates and the threat of primary and secondary services triggered drift to competing hospitals in the community. The changes in government programs such as Medicare caused a reduction of gross patient service revenue.
It is estimated that ten percent of intensive care unit beds comprise of septic patients. 18 million new cases of severe sepsis are diagnosed each year worldwide with an estimated increase of one percent yearly. Given the alarming numbers of sepsis patients and the subtle changes that may indicate sepsis it is clear that a nurse with constant contact with the patient has a responsibility to aid in the reduction of sepsis by recognizing potential sepsis. Care can then be coordinated and actions implemented aimed at promoting the prevention of this syndrome as well as improving the prognosis. Purpose and Research Questions: Sepsis is a condition that could potentially be prevented if a nurse was equipped with the knowledge and science in order to recognize and prevent its development, and addressing the condition appropriately upon the first signs of symptoms of sepsis.
Bioethics in Nursing: Understanding Ethical Practice Bioethics is the study of ethical questions regarding controversial medical practices that healthcare professionals face on a daily basis. In the scenario provided an unconscious patient was brought to the emergency room suspected for heroin overdose. After being intubated and placed under artificial ventilations, the patient was stabilized and moved to the intensive care unit. Within an hour his heart stop beating, he was resuscitated, stabilized but still without the ability to breathe. His heart stopped, and he was resuscitated two more times in the span of three hours.
(2011), describes Ventilator-associated-pneumonia as the pneumonia that develops within 48 hours or longer after mechanical ventilation by either endotracheal tube or by tracheostomy. The early diagnosis of VAP for timely intervention is a major problem and the implementation of this project is aimed at improving the situation. According to Rea-Neto et al. (2008), VAP is a common disease in the intensive care unit (ICU) of many hospitals affecting 8% to 20% of ICU patients and up to 27% of mechanically ventilated patients. According to a study conducted by Fàbregas et al.
Also that the staff keep track of the patients coming onto the unit with respiratory illnesses and plot over the next five to ten years the amount of other patients who come down with an illness during the stay of the originally infected. This way they can track the progress of infection control and implement more measures to stop the spread. A short-term goal for the unit would be that the staff starts to address what occurs when someone has a respiratory illness and how it should be treated while on the unit. Whether the person be transferred to another setting until they are free of the illness or if they are not in the best state of mind to be transferred without close monitoring of there mental health. Another short-term goal would be to add foam hand sanitizer dispensers to the walls out in the common area so it can be monitored but also giving patients the option to use when in contact with ill
Universal Health Care: A necessity or a hindrance. Imagine having a weekly regiment of running a few blocks almost every day to stay healthy; after a week of running imagine feeling back pain. After having back pain for more than a month, imagine going to the doctor’s office for a regular check-up and after doing an x-ray because of the back pain, the doctor then explains that he found stage 4 neurofibrosarcoma (a malignant tumor) located on the spine, and to have at least a 50% chance of survival, extreme chemotherapy must be completed. Finally imagine receiving a letter from the insurance company saying that the chemotherapy will not be covered by the company and must be paid out of pocket. This is a problem that, as of the year 2010, more than 49.9 million Americans are experiencing due to lack of proper health coverage.
When a new nurse is employed in an acute care setting, many challenges are encountered both by the new nurse and the facility. New nurse employment may take as long as three months, and another six months for the newly hired nurse to be able to perform the job independently. The investment, cost and time, into the hiring of a new graduate nurse is intense, therefore, every possible effort should be made to retain them. To replace or hire a new graduate nurse is expansive. “The cost associated with replacing a registered nurse range from $ 10,000 to $ 60,000 per RN, depending on the specialty”.