Daily Grind Category
Patient satisfaction: It’s more about needs than wants.
In light of the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) launching of their Hospital Compare data base this week it seems only fitting that a few words of prose be devoted to the subject of healthcare transparency and patient satisfaction.
Healthcare organizations have been developing transparency exhibits for both public and organizational member viewing for some time now. Popular content that seems to be somewhat universal from many of these initiatives include infection rates from invasive catheters, numbers of patient falls, hand washing compliance percentages, as well as other indicators of quality.
Study suggests improved nurse patient ratios don’t equal higher quality of care.
Headlines in the Sacramento Business Journal state “Study: Nurse staffing ratio hasn’t improved patient care”. The California Nursing Outcomes Coalition conducted the study to evaluate the quality of nursing since the advent of nurse patient ratio laws in California.
“The first study of the effect of nurse-to-patient ratios on care in California hospitals concludes hospitals have hired more registered nurses, but they’ve had little effect on two areas of care — patient falls and bed sores.”
Hospitals spin the wheel with mandatory OT, no one wins.
Your in the middle of your shift, the nursing supervisor comes over to the group of nurses working and asks if anyone would like to stay and “do a double”. There is immediate silence, each nurse looks at the other and almost unanimously everyone turns back to the supervisor and signals a resounding “no”. In response the supervisor declares that someone has to be mandated.
