Promoting health and safety virtually: key recommendations for occupational health nurses.

Nurses' use of the Internet and social media has surfaced as a critical concern requiring further exploration and consideration by all health care organizations and nursing associations. In an attempt to support this need, the American Nurses Association (2011) published six principles of social networking that offered guidance and direction for nurses. In addition, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (2011) published a nurse's guide to using social media. Surfing the Internet and using social media for professional and personal needs is extremely common among nurses. What is concerning is when nurses do not separate their professional and personal presence in the virtual world. This article presents an Institutional Review Board-approved pilot survey that explored nurses' use of social media personally and professionally and offers recommendations specifically directed to the occupational health nurse.

Nurses using futuristic technology in today's healthcare setting.

Human computer interaction (HCI) equates nurses using voice assisted technology within a clinical setting to document patient care real time, retrieve patient information from care plans, and complete routine tasks. This is a reality currently utilized by clinicians today in acute and long term care settings. Voice assisted documentation provides hands & eyes free accurate documentation while enabling effective communication and task management. The speech technology increases the accuracy of documentation, while interfacing directly into the electronic health record (EHR). Using technology consisting of a light weight headset and small fist size wireless computer, verbal responses to easy to follow cues are converted into a database systems allowing staff to obtain individualized care status reports on demand. To further assist staff in their daily process, this innovative technology allows staff to send and receive pages as needed. This paper will discuss how leading edge and award winning technology is being integrated within the United States. Collaborative efforts between clinicians and analyst will be discussed reflecting the interactive design and build functionality. Features such as the system's voice responses and directed cues will be shared and how easily data can be documented, viewed and retrieved. Outcome data will be presented on how the technology impacted organization's quality outcomes, financial reimbursement, and employee's level of satisfaction.

Clinical decision support. How CDS tools impact patient care outcomes.

Clinical decision support tools are important components of the electronic health record and can directly improve patient care outcomes and the performance of healthcare organizations. These tools can be used within order sets, electronic alerts, reference materials that are readily available, reports related to patient data, as well as clinical guidelines that were developed by regulatory agencies The development and use of CDS tools at the point of care offers clinicians the ability to analyze and work with patient data in real-time while making critical decisions. In the future, CDS tools will be important when changes in financial reimbursement related to patient care outcomes become the primary focus for many insurance-related organizations. This financial shift will have a tremendous impact on healthcare organizations bottom line. This article presents outcome data resulting from the implementation of several electronic CDS tools within a community hospital where all physicians enter orders electronically and clinical staff use electronic documentation.

Social support, personal control, and psychosocial recovery following heart transplantation.

To study the influence of psychosocial resources on psychological recovery after heart transplantation, 28 patients were surveyed during their hospitalization after transplant surgery and 6 months posttransplantation. Scales from the Coping With Serious Illness Battery were used to measure psychosocial resources (social support and personal control) and psychological and functional outcomes. Psychosocial resources assessed during hospitalization were associated with recovery outcomes at 6 months posttransplantation. Personal control was positively correlated with optimism, well-being, and satisfaction with life (r = .41 to .49) and negatively correlated with anger (r = -.57) and depression (r = -.52). Social support network helpfulness and attachment with others were correlated with psychological outcomes (r = .41 to .59) and functional outcome (r = .42 to .47). Efforts directed toward enhancing perceptions of personal control, social support network helpfulness, and attachment may be useful for promoting psychosocial recovery.