ABSTRACT
Today's health care environment is forcing health care providers to find ways to provide more effective and efficient care. This article describes a collaborative benchmark project that examined acute care for coronary artery bypass graft surgery patients and reduced costs and improved patient outcomes.
Subject(s)
Benchmarking/organization & administration , Coronary Artery Bypass/nursing , Critical Care/economics , Critical Care/standards , Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care/organization & administration , Total Quality Management/organization & administration , Clinical Protocols , Coronary Artery Bypass/adverse effects , Coronary Artery Bypass/economics , Cost Control , Early Ambulation/nursing , Humans , Ventilator Weaning/nursingABSTRACT
A successful telemetry placement system moves into five medical/surgical areas and two step-down units. The updated equipment included an alarm gateway with an arrhythmia detection system. Telemetry signals are transmitted to a pager worn by nurses; remote display monitors allow nurses to eyeball arrhythmias and reset their alarm without going to a central station.
Subject(s)
Hospital Units/organization & administration , Remote Consultation , Telemetry/nursing , Equipment Failure , Humans , Patient SelectionABSTRACT
A pilot program followed patients who were recovering from coronary artery bypass graft procedures. A cardiac surgery nurse visits patients in their homes to provide physical assessments, reinforce discharge teaching and answer questions. Because of the pilot's success, the program was integrated with the transitional open heart unit.
Subject(s)
Aftercare/organization & administration , Continuity of Patient Care , Coronary Artery Bypass/nursing , Home Care Services/organization & administration , Humans , Patient Discharge , Patient Education as Topic , Pilot ProjectsABSTRACT
Availability of telemetry beds was increased cost-effectively by providing telemetry on medical/surgical units with remote monitoring at designated critical care areas. Guidelines were developed for patient selection, education, clinical policy and procedure. A two-hour inservice was completed by all medical/surgical nurses and after a pilot study the system was implemented on three medical/surgical units.
Subject(s)
Nursing Staff, Hospital/education , Telemetry/nursing , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Hospital Units/organization & administration , Humans , Pilot ProjectsABSTRACT
The economic future of our healthcare system has motivated many administrators and clinicians to focus on quality outcomes and costs. Though there is an obvious need to restructure delivery of health care, implementation of changes often is under less than ideal circumstances. Strategies are presented for implementing clinical pathways, with a focus on global, organizational issues encountered in the real world.
Subject(s)
Patient Care Planning , Quality Assurance, Health Care , Job Description , Nurse CliniciansABSTRACT
One-hundred medical/surgical nurses from two hospitals participated in a study designed to determine which defining characteristics professional nurses working in acute-care settings associated with each of the three respiratory nursing diagnoses identified by the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA). All NANDA defining characteristics for impaired gas exchange and ineffective airway clearance were selected by at least 63% and 67% of the study participants, respectively. Thirteen of the 15 NANDA defining characteristics for ineffective breathing pattern were selected by at least 68% of the study participants. Two characteristics of ineffective breathing pattern identified by NANDA, cough and fremitus, were selected by only 47% and 45% of respondents. This study was the first in a series of studies intended to validate the respiratory nursing diagnoses.
