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Ebola: America Driven by Fear

October 30, 2014 by Lisa Sams Leave a Comment

Ebola is a nasty disease. But ignorance is worse. If you doubt this statement, take look at film clips from BBC World on the struggle to bring calm, through the use of the evidence, to the many frightened people in West Africa. Why, in America, where we have access to a 24/7 news cycle, has fear taken control of our brains? A recent Wall Street Journal article is a case in point. The article is about the nurse who volunteered to care for people with Ebola in Sierra Leone. It is a disheartening look at what misinformation does to people. It drives politicians to mandate rules so their … [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Patient Safety, Work Environment Tagged With: American airlines passenger in lavatory, BBC world Ebola, CDC, doctors without borders volunteers, Ebola, HIV, New Jersey, patient safety, pentagon station bus transfer point, quarantine, Sierra Leone Ebola, World bank Ebola

Ebola: Are We Relying on EHR to Tell the Story?

October 21, 2014 by Lisa Sams Leave a Comment

Ebola — this word has its own hashtag, millions of tweets, hundreds if not thousands of articles in the past month, and the power to frighten many people. Fear is playing a large role in how this disease is perceived, which is a poor foundation for managing its spread. Communicating Key Information Electronic health records (EHR) are essential tools in clinical care. When written words in an electronic record become the primary way information is shared among busy clinical staff, I believe we inject increased risk into clinical care. The nation is following the Dallas case almost minute … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Care Coordination, Patient Safety, Work Environment Tagged With: CAUTI, Dallas Hospital, Ebola, EHR, electronic health record, Infection, SBAR

Are We Returning to a Life Before Penicillin?

October 2, 2014 by Lisa Sams Leave a Comment

Life before antibiotics is a scary thought, but a clarion call for behavior change has come from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). We are on the verge of an era without antibiotics to cure infection. Dr. Srinivasan calls this a “post antibiotic era”. To appreciate the staggering implications of this message, imagine the outcome of the following two scenarios without effective antibiotics. Your 8 year-old daughter is playing with the cat and suddenly the cat bites and scratches her. Despite carefully cleaning the wound and making a quick trip to the urgent care for antibiotic coverage … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Evidence Based Practice, Patient Engagement, Patient Safety Tagged With: Alexander Flemming, antibiotic efficacy, Antibiotic Overuse, Bacterial Resistance, CDC, CRE, patient understanding, prescribing

CMS Requirements Will Be “Trick” for Hospital Budgets this October

July 8, 2014 by Lisa Sams Leave a Comment

CMS requirements

October means fall leaves, Halloween goblins…and a new “spook” if your local hospital is one that will receive less money from the government. This new Halloween treat will last for a full year however, not just one night. The new healthcare law requires CMS to monitor quality and safety in hospitals and to rank order their results. The legal mandate is to deny payment to hospitals that fall in the bottom quarter of this list. They are designated worst performing and will lose money as a result. A New Beginning or a Cliff? The law has mandated pay for performance based on three categories: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Evidence Based Practice, Healthcare Finance, Patient Engagement, Patient Safety Tagged With: catheter infections, CAUTI, CDC, CMS, HAIs, patient deaths, patient injuries, Pay for Performance

A Revolution is Coming for 21st Century Patients

July 3, 2014 by Lisa Sams Leave a Comment

Colonists and Patients July 4th is for celebrating America’s independence from England. We picnic, enjoy fireworks, and watch parades…its great fun. The Revolutionary war was anything but fun. It was gut-wrenching marches in stifling heat or blowing snow often with only rags tied on the soldiers’ feet because the boots were worn through. It was unthinkable that a people as varied in interests, wealth, and skills could come together for their desire to be free and beat the most powerful army in the world, but they did. Then the real work began, creating a government that would work and live … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 21st Century Patients, Evidence Based Practice, Patient Engagement Tagged With: 21st Century Patients, active listening, evidence based care, Patient engagement, shared decision making

Would You Remodel a Building Without a Blueprint?

June 18, 2014 by Lisa Sams Leave a Comment

Not likely. If you have been through a remodeling experience in your organization then you know it takes time, clear communication and above all a plan to enact the vision of the new facilities. Having been through this process, I recall the angst living amidst changes in the environment. In fact, there was more than one meeting where frustrations aired and the group had to be re-centered on the intended vision/outcome. Whew! Adopting EBP without a Blueprint? Evidence based practice needs a blueprint to work. It is one thing to say we need to translate the current evidence guideline on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Evidence Based Practice, Patient Safety, Work Environment Tagged With: barriers to evidence, Blueprint, Clinical Practice, patient safety

Listen! Say Our Patients

June 16, 2014 by Lisa Sams Leave a Comment

Patient engagement is the new mantra. Several posts on 21st Century Patients blog have addressed this phrase and the confusion surrounding the term. Likewise, there are can be no defined outcomes for “engagement”. Although a meaningless phrase it is here to stay – subject to various interpretations and possibly used as a weapon for someone’s benefit. I suggest we step back a moment and really look at our clinical care areas for the presence of “engagement”. What do you see? Where are the eyes and ears? Perhaps you can identify with the scene in the Emergency Department of this story in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Patient Engagement, Patient Safety, Work Environment Tagged With: 21st Century Patients, digital health, emergency department, hospital care, mHealth, patient care, patient safety, patient stories, patients, Regina Holiday, Walking Gallery

What Can The Magnificent 7 Teach Us About Hospitals?

June 5, 2014 by Lisa Sams Leave a Comment

If you have never seen the 1960s blockbuster old western, The Magnificent Seven, you may want to have a look. The movie is popular in Russia even today. Yes, the lead star, Yul Brynner was Russian, but the story itself carries several messages about values and priorities. These messages may resonate with clinicians and administrators. Like the Seven in the movie who chose to take on a battle for the struggling farmers of a Mexican village, hospital leaders today are developing survival tactics to deal with a very aggressive healthcare marketplace. The top 7 strategic priorities from the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Evidence Based Practice, Healthcare Finance, Patient Engagement Tagged With: AHA reports, CAUTI, CDC, evidence translation, HAI, healthcare leadership, Lean Six Sigma, Pressure ulcers

If Nurses Could Take Over the World…

May 9, 2014 by Lisa Sams Leave a Comment

What do you think would happen to patient care if nurses took over the world? I suggest this question should be the headline for Nurses Week because, as a nation, we are missing the point about improving healthcare. Words like patient engagement are tossed around freely without an understanding of what it really means to “engage” a patient. Well, nurses do know what it means and there are three million RNs in the US who can lay claim to a long history of significant contributions to improving health because nurses have always engaged patients. This is Nurses Week and it offers an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Patient Engagement, Patient Safety Tagged With: Angela Starkweather, Clara Barton, Crimea, Ed “Riv” Hrivnak, Florence Nightingale, healthcare statistics, Jean Ward, military flight nurses, NINR, nurse researcher, Nurses Week, patient centeredness, Patient engagement, RN, Wounded

Choosing Engagement

May 2, 2014 by Lisa Sams Leave a Comment

This week lay and professional press will focus on a growing national collaborative of medical societies engaged in an information campaign for consumers. Choosing Wisely® wants patients and care providers to engage in discussion on the evidence for commonly used tests and procedures. Risk, harm and necessity are central to this conversation and a path forward for better understanding about commonly held beliefs. Forks in the Road This is not an easy path. In fact there are three forks in the road that make the journey to greater understanding a significant challenge. They are: Ritual … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 21st Century Patients, Patient Engagement, Work Environment Tagged With: Choosing Wisely, evidence based practice, Health 2.0, Muir Gray, technology

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Our Blog – 21st Century Patients

Choosing Wisely: Are We Capable as a Nation?

There is a campaign underway to help consumers understand the risks and benefits of selected procedures commonly used in care. The Choosing Wisely campaign is a collaboration of more than 70 … Continue reading article...

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