RESUMEN
As nursing pervades the vast majority of health care, clear and strong cries for protection of individual privacy and confidentiality are warranted. Because nursing is often involved in evaluation and quality care issues, we need to identify those arenas that potentially violate patient and employee rights of privacy and confidentiality and establish strong and clear policies that seek to protect these individuals from unnecessary intrusion. The problems promise to be complex, so the solutions need to be creative. The talent is available, but only if we focus our attention on the tasks at hand will these issues be resolved appropriately.
Asunto(s)
Confidencialidad , Política de Salud , Enfermería , Evaluación de Procesos y Resultados en Atención de Salud , Garantía de la Calidad de Atención de Salud , Humanos , Defensa del PacienteRESUMEN
This article describes a systematic method for planning and implementing a program for product evaluation. Steps for the planning process include appointing a centralized, decision-making group, developing an evaluation plan, implementing mechanisms to introduce new products, defining follow-up methods, and developing methods to identify product needs. Steps in the implementation process include initiating product requests, exploring options, evaluating options, and summarizing findings on which to base a final product decision. A tool for product evaluation is presented.
Asunto(s)
Equipos y Suministros de Hospitales/normas , Estudios de Evaluación como Asunto/métodos , Vigilancia de Productos Comercializados/métodos , Departamento de Compras en Hospital/métodos , Comunicación , Toma de Decisiones , Seguridad de Equipos , Humanos , Enfermeras AdministradorasRESUMEN
This study assessed the bacteriologic safety of room-temperature injectate used for cardiac output measurement in a surgical ICU, and compared its cost/benefit relationship to that of prefilled packaged syringes and a closed-loop injectate system. Ninety-five samples of injectate were obtained at four time intervals from staff-prepared syringes, and cultured for microbiologic growth. About 29% (27/95) of samples yielded bacterial growth, ranging from two colony-forming units to those too numerous to count. All positive samples contained skin flora, including coagulase-negative staphylococci and coryneforms. Additionally, five plates contained colonies of Gram-negative bacteria. Extended storage time increased the risk of contamination: 16.2% were contaminated within the first 24 h, whereas 45% were contaminated when stored for more than 72 h. Switching to a closed injectate system significantly (p less than .001) decreased the incidence of contamination by 1.2%, and also allowed a cost savings of $1.52/patient.
Asunto(s)
Esterilización/normas , Termodilución/instrumentación , Técnicas Bacteriológicas , Análisis Costo-Beneficio , Contaminación de Medicamentos , Estudios de Evaluación como Asunto , Glucosa/administración & dosificación , Humanos , Inyecciones , Unidades de Cuidados Intensivos , Jeringas/economía , TemperaturaRESUMEN
Quality assurance (qa) programs must be documented carefully, systematically, and completely to be of continued value. A literature review revealed that no tools had been developed to evaluate the effectiveness of qa programs. A tool was designed and tested to assess the reports of qa studies, as an initial step in establishing the benefits of qa. The tool was found to yield reproducible results and its use is recommended to others.