Source: Gregg Blesch, Modern Healthcare, Vol. 39 no. 21, May 25, 2009
Hospitals face renewed calls for staffing mandates while dealing with recession-related workforce cuts.
An alliance of nurses unions rallied in Washington this month for new workplace regulations in hospitals--an agenda the unions and other nurse advocacy groups have had mixed results in pushing piecemeal state by state.
Source: Debra Wood, AMN Healthcare, May 2009
Nurses continue to be less satisfied with their jobs than other healthcare professionals, according to the latest Press Ganey Associates' check-up report, Employee and Nurse Perspectives on American Health Care Organizations.
Source: Mark Brenner, Labor Notes, No. 363, June 2009
When the Service Employees and California Nurses Association called a truce in March, many union observers were confused--but breathed a sigh of relief. What does the SEIU-CNA deal mean for health care unions in California and beyond.
Source: Marcia Frellick, Nurse.com, May 18, 2009
In contrast to the widely publicized reports of the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in hospital settings in recent years, a new study finds a striking bit of success in fighting the bacteria.
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that from 1997 through 2007, MRSA central line-associated bloodstream infections declined by 50% among all ICU types except pediatric units, where incidence rates remained stable. The decline among the more than 1,600 facilities that participated in the study, reported in the Feb. 18 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, runs counter to the widespread perception that the disease is infiltrating hospital ICUs unable to control the superbug. Such perceptions have prompted legislatures in several states to call for mandatory screening, which is controversial in whether that precaution is effective or necessary.
From the abstract:
One in three CNAs received some kind of means-tested public assistance. More than half of CNAs incurred at least 1 work-related injury within the past year and almost one quarter were unable to work for at least 1 day due to the injury. Forty-two percent of uninsured CNAs cite not participating in their employer-sponsored insurance plan because they could not afford the plan. Years of experience do not translate into higher wages; CNAs with 10 or more years of experience averaged just $2/hr more than aides who started working in the field less than 1 year ago.
Source: RN Magazine, May 15, 2009
Hospitals struggling to decrease their rates of health care-associated infections such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) may want to consider a new strategy: Hiring more staff.
A review of 38 studies found a significant relationship between nurse staffing and health care-associated infections. Four of them explored the impact of temporary nurse staffing and found a link between the use of temporary (agency) nurses and infection rates.
Two studies linked the use of temporary nurses with increased risk of bloodstream infections and two indicated an association between temporary nurse staffing and MRSA.
Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Research Highlight, Number 37, May 2009
From the summary:
This research highlight suggests that policy changes that result in better management, better orientations and a decrease in the amount of stressful work may improve the retention of new RNs in hospitals.
Source: Denise A. Davis, Melanie D. Napier, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Issue Brief, April 2009
The factors contributing to the current U.S. nursing shortage are well-documented and have been given high priority by government agencies and funding organizations. Although concerned health care professionals and funders have been supporting initiatives to improve the shortage, it is hard to determine the impact of their collective funding efforts. This issue brief summarizes a study that documented where nursing funding ends up regionally and categorically. Results from the study will ideally encourage collaboration among nurse funders and more strategic choices about what areas of nursing and the country to fund to achieve the most leverage against the nursing crisis.
Source: Steve Davies, Senior Research Fellow Cardiff School of Social Sciences, April 17, 2009
This report reviews some of the evidence for two sets of connections: that between environmental cleaning and HCAI incidence, and that between competitive tendering and contracting out and high quality cleaning. Drawing on government, parliamentary, academic and business literature and data as well as Freedom of Information requests, it updates a previous UNISON report on contract cleaning and infection control.
See also:
Healthcare associated infections: A backgrounder
Source: CUPE, January 2009
- Equipment Cleaning Monitor (working template)
- Environmental Cleaning Services Procedure Manual (working template based on Seven Oaks General Hospital's experience)
- Cleaning Of Non-Critical, Reusable Patient Care Equipment
Source: CUPE
Source: Consumers Union, April 23, 2009
Surgery patients are at risk for infection because surgical incisions create a pathway for germs to enter the body. Maintaining a sterile environment in the operating room is therefore critical to
protect patients from being contaminated with bacteria, which can lead to infection.
In addition, research shows that the risk of surgical site infections can be reduced if patients are
given the appropriate antibiotic within one hour before the first surgical incision is made, depending on the type of surgery and patient characteristics. Another practice, discontinuing
antibiotics within 24 hours after the surgery, is critical to reducing overuse of antibiotics and
antibiotic resistance, a major problem in treating infections. These practices have been identified
by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as key to decreasing the incidence of
surgical infections. CMS reports hospitals' compliance levels with these practices on its
Hospital Compare website.
An estimated 40 to 60 percent of all surgical site infections could be prevented by following
these and other infection prevention measures.7 Other measures found to reduce the incidence of surgical infections include appropriate hair removal for surgical patients (using clippers instead
of razors to avoid creating cuts in the skin, which can allow bacteria to enter the body); keeping
patients warm during surgery; and maintaining proper serum glucose levels after surgery.8 These
last two measures have recently been added to the Hospital Compare site but are not included in
this report.
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