Editor's Note Twenty-four hour, shift-related, short-term sleep deprivation leads to a significant increase in cardiac contractility, blood pressure, heart rate, and stress hormone secretion, finds this study presented December 2 at the Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting. The study included 20 healthy radiologist volunteers. Their heart function was…

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Editor's Note Discontinuity in nursing care in hospitals was high and negatively impacted patient clinical conditions in this study. Discontinuity in care declined from nearly 100% in the first 24 hours, to 70% at 36 hours, and to 50% by the 10th day after admission. Each instance of discontinuity lead…

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Editor's Note Surgical residents who perceived negative effects of The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s duty hour policies on patient safety were more likely to violate duty hour policies, this study finds. Of 4,554 residents in 184 programs analyzed: 25.3% felt the current duty hour policies negatively affected patient…

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Editor's Note This study led by Linda H. Aiken, PhD, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, finds that employment of more nurse assistants relative to the number of professional nurses in hospitals is associated with higher mortality and lower quality of care. Every 10-point increase in the percentage of…

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Editor's Note This study finds that general surgery residents strongly prefer work hour policies that allow them the flexibility to work longer hours when needed to provide patient care over the standard, more restrictive work schedules required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The preference for flexibility becomes…

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High staff engagement contributes to the success of an organization, but OR managers are finding it tough to engage their staffs, given the multitude of changes in healthcare and stressors in the OR. In the final article of this three-part series, OR Manager examines the challenge of staff engagement, along…

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Editor's Note The ECRI Institute has issued a white paper titled, “Responsive staffing and scheduling in aging services: A systems rethinking approach.” Problems in staffing and scheduling can lead to potentially dangerous conditions, which can cause performance gaps in delivery of care and services. To better address these problems, providers…

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Part 1 of this series on staffing challenges, published in October OR Manager, explored the challenge of increased demand. In Part 2, we turn to lack of experience, again including examples of how OR leaders are responding.   Recruiting for experience In all, 70% of respondents to the 2016 OR…

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Editor's Note A total of 86% of general public respondents to a national survey want 16-hour shifts for first-year residents to remain, and 80% support dropping the maximum shift limit for second-year residents and above from 28 hours to 16 hours. The survey was conducted by Public Citizen, an independent…

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Editor's Note Nearly 5,000 Minnesota nurses are on strike after contract talks broke down, the September 5 Modern Healthcare reports.  The walkout at five Minneapolis-St Paul hospitals began Monday, September 5, at 7 am. The main issues of the negotiations include health insurance, workplace safety, and staffing. Allina Health says it…

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