Tragedy into Policy: A Hepatitis C Outbreak and a Study of Nevada RNs Lead to New Protections for Whistleblowers

By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

In 2008, more than 62,000 people who had undergone procedures at one of two southern Nevada endoscopy clinics were notified that “they might have been exposed to bloodborne pathogens, including hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and HIV, as a result of unsafe injection practices.” As author Lisa Black reports in this month’s CE–Original Research feature, a subsequent investigation by federal and state agencies found multiple breaches of infection control protocols. Indeed, 115 patients were found to be “either certainly or presumptively infected” with HCV through the reuse of contaminated medication vials.

Especially distressing was strong anecdotal evidence that because of a general fear of workplace retaliation, staff at the two clinics had often failed to report unsafe patient care conditions. At the request of the Nevada legislature, a study was conducted to examine Nevada RNs’ experiences with workplace attitudes toward patient advocacy activities. Black was the principal investigator. […]

2016-11-21T13:12:47-05:00June 7th, 2011|nursing perspective, nursing research|1 Comment
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What Is the Role of the Staff Nurse on a Medical Emergency Team?

By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

There is strong evidence that a hospital’s use of a medical emergency team (MET) helps to decrease the rates of in-hospital cardiac arrests, unplanned ICU admissions, and overall hospital mortality. (A MET is similar to a rapid response team, but is typically led by a physician rather than by a nurse.)

But our understanding of such teams is incomplete. Nurse researcher Margaret Pusateri and colleagues set out to explore, in particular, the role of non-ICU staff nurses during a MET call. They wanted to better understand such nurses’ familiarity with and perceptions of the MET, and possibly, to increase the team’s effectiveness. So they sent a survey to 388 non-ICU staff nurses at a large urban teaching hospital; 131 nurses (34%) responded.

The authors report on the results in May’s CE feature (for optimum reading, open the PDF version). Among their findings:

  • Nearly three-quarters of the respondents had participated in a MET call.
  • The most common actions they reported taking during the call included relaying patient history, initiating the call, and documenting MET data.
  • But fewer than half of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statements “I feel comfortable with my role as a member of the MET” and “I know what my role as a member of the MET is.” […]
2016-11-21T13:12:55-05:00May 25th, 2011|nursing perspective, nursing research|1 Comment
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‘A True Art’: Strategies for Feeding Patients with Dementia

By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

Feeding difficulties in people with dementia are common, but the way such difficulties manifest can vary widely, and there is no single, one-size-fits-all solution. Nurse researchers Chia-Chi Chang and Beverly L. Roberts open their April CE article, “Strategies for Feeding Patients with Dementia,” with some disturbing statistics that make clear the scope of the problem:

People with dementia constitute roughly 25% of hospital patients ages 65 and older and 47% of nursing home residents. And more than half of them lose some ability to feed themselves, which puts them at high risk for inadequate food intake and malnutrition. Patients who are unable to eat independently must rely on caregivers to assist them . . . Unfortunately, caregivers may be unable to identify the various types of feeding problems that accompany dementia or unaware of the feeding practices required to address them.

In an earlier literature review published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing, Chang and Roberts evaluated three tools used to assess feeding difficulties in people with dementia, then created a conceptual model depicting such difficulties, contributing factors, and outcomes. Now, in this CE article, the authors take their work […]

2016-11-21T13:13:37-05:00April 1st, 2011|nursing research|2 Comments
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Entering the Mainstream? Nursing Research at 25 Years

Logo of the United States National Institute o...

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN interim editor-in-chief

Last Thursday the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) held its kick-off event to celebrate its 25th anniversary—and what could be more appropriate than holding a research symposium at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)? Scientists and researchers (nurses as well as others) whose work is supported by the NINR presented highlights of their research. (See here for synopses.)

Why it matters to all nurses. All nurses, researchers or not, should celebrate the growth and accomplishments of the NINR—its establishment provided tangible recognition of the value of the substantial body of research conducted by and/or about the nursing profession. As practitioners, where would we be without research to provide the evidence underlying care interventions or the processes of delivering that care? With the October issue, AJN highlights the NINR’s silver anniversary: on the cover, with a guest editorial by NINR director Patricia Grady, and with a timeline highlighting key milestones and landmark research supported by the NINR (click through to the PDF version to read this article). To give you an idea why nursing research matters, here’s just one entry on the timeline, from 1998:

Nancy Bergstrom, PhD, RN, FAAN, in a multisite study, tests the Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk and finds its predictive capability accurate. The scale is now widely used in nursing homes […]

2016-11-21T13:15:29-05:00October 4th, 2010|career, nursing perspective, nursing research|1 Comment
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Tech, EBP Buzzwords Among Nurse Researchers

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN interim editor-in-chief

As a lover of history, especially nursing history, I’ve been following Sue Hassmiller’s posts retracing the steps of Florence Nightingale with great interest and a bit of envy.

Well I went on a trip, too—to Sigma Theta Tau International’s 21st International Nursing Research Congress in Orlando. I was astounded by the truly international aspect of the meeting—many meetings say they are international if there’s a few hardy travelers from abroad, but there were many presenters, poster presenters and attendees from outside the United States.

What AHRQ does. Carolyn Clancy, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), was the good choice for keynote. She shared some interesting data—like the fact that AHRQ is the leading funder of patient safety research in hospital and ambulatory care, or that the U.S leads the world in rates of hysterectomy. (While our rates are comparable with other countries for hysterectomy for endometrial cancer, they are “all over the map” for hysterectomy for noncancer diagnoses.) She also spoke about the agency’s research priorities—patient safety and quality of care, comparative effectiveness research, and reducing disparities in access to care for minorities and women (she acknowledged that “lack of health insurance is the biggest barrier”).

If there was a catchphrase from this conference, it was “evidence-based practice”—how to do it, teach it, evaluate it, and use it to transform practice, education, leadership style, and workplaces.

Using technology—virtual technology, simulation, social media, and Web technology—was another major theme, and presenters focused on […]

2016-11-21T13:16:35-05:00July 19th, 2010|Nursing, nursing perspective, nursing research|0 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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