The National Quality Forum (NQF), an advocacy group focused on developing a national strategy for healthcare quality measurement, identified 28 adverse events in 2002 now commonly referred to as “never events.” Such events are considered preventable and as such should never occur in any healthcare setting. Some examples of never events are decubitus, urinary tract […]
Archives for April, 2013
How to get information about a motor vehicle accident Consider hidden sources of information about an accident, particularly when there is a question of when it happened. The cardiac monitor/defibrillator electrocardiogram (ECG) equipment used by an ambulance crew has an internal clock, which documents the time on the ECG rhythm strip. This equipment is typically […]
There are many different types of educations available for nurses that are interested in pursuing a career as a Legal Nurse Consultant. You have the online courses, the University based courses, the courses made available by different organizations, and then the courses advertised by the big marketing companies. The focus of these different courses is […]
The quality of nursing documentation is an important issue for both patients and nurses. Obviously quality nursing documentation enhances patient care as this leads to better communication of the issues. “No matter how skilled or experienced you are, inaccurate or incomplete nursing documentation can mean serious trouble for your patients—and for you if you’re ever […]
The patient’s healthcare record has evolved into the most reliable source of data available to fulfill multiple purposes and functions. As many as 150 end users seek access to a standard medical record. With ever increasing numbers of individuals needing the information in a medical record, the physical condition and location of the record […]
Untreated respiratory arrest and DEATH. Patient found asystolic with resulting DEATH. ST elevation goes unnoticed in a post anterior MI patient that had received a LAD stent. The patient infarcts, goes into v-fib and is unable to be resuscitated. These are all examples of what happens when monitor alarms are turned off, muted, or […]
“It’s Before Code Blue” Failure to rescue is when caregivers do not pick up on the subtle changes that precede the “Code Blue”. Fresh post-op patients and patients receiving pain medications are at highest risk for failure to rescue or for subtle changes to be missed. The post-op patient has the added benefit of also […]