There’s a case where a World War II POW committed suicide by hitting himself in the head with an empty metal canteen after days without water. While that happened in the hold of a Japanese prison boat, not a hospital, it highlights how resourceful a suicidal person can be when it comes to...
With the end of the opioid/painkiller crisis nowhere in sight, it’s up to providers and facilities to lead the charge.
More than three dozen bills addressing various concerns about the opioid epidemic are before committees in the Senate and House. The Centers for Disease Control and...
Sepsis mortality rates increase quickly when left untreated, even if it’s only for a few hours. The difficulty facing providers is that there isn’t a simple test for sepsis. Instead, they have to watch for patterns and symptoms that could indicate sepsis. As a result, it’s common to have...
This March, a team of experts working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a study on antibiotic prescription habits in outpatient facilities. The study, which appeared in the Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology journal, showed that there are...
The three steps an Oklahoma hospital used to bring its C. diff rate to zero
Using a multifaceted approach, Stillwater (Oklahoma) Medical Center was able to beat one of the most frequently reported healthcare-associated infections. The 177-bed facility hasn’t seen a single hospital-...
Boston Children’s Hospital was threatened with termination from Medicare last year after three patients suffered from serious medication errors. An inspection report revealed that one of the patients waited 14 hours for an antibiotic and later died, while two others suffered overdoses of a...
For the coverage of ears, AORN is “probably going to come out in our new guideline and say the ears don’t need to be covered” because the task force feels the research focusing on its necessity has been inconclusive. “However,” she says, “our guideline stands as is until it’s revised.”
If you or anyone at your hospital use the National Guidelines Clearinghouse or National Quality Measures Clearinghouse operated under the auspices of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), download the information you need soon. Both online clearinghouses will go dark after July...
Early this year, the NFPA promised to fast-track a new standard to help first responders, healthcare providers, facility managers, and others prepare for an active-shooter incident, and they have delivered, complete with its own acronym.
