The Key to Nurses’ Well-Being? Go ‘All in’ on Wellness, Expert Says
High levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and poor physical health correlated with an increase in self-reported medical errors by critical care nurses (CCN), according to a study co-authored last year by Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, APRN-CNP, chief wellness officer of The Ohio State University and dean of the university’s College of Nursing.
Patient Safety Predictions for 2023
PSQH reached out to professionals throughout healthcare to get their predictions for what will happen in patient safety and healthcare quality in 2023. Here’s what they had to say.
The Exec: What It Takes to Be an Effective Physician Leader
Jeffrey Ciaramita, MD, is senior vice president and chief physician executive at Mercy. A practicing cardiologist, he previously served in leadership roles at Mercy Clinic, a large medical group affiliated with Mercy. Ciaramita recently talked with HealthLeaders about a range of issues, including physician leadership, workforce shortages, and patient safety. The following transcript of that conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
IHI Forum: Leadership Pivotal in Implementing Joy in Work Initiatives
The IHI Framework for Improving Joy in Work is designed to reduce healthcare worker burnout and increase healthcare worker well-being. Healthcare worker burnout has spiked dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic, with a recent research article finding that 62.8% of physicians reported at least one symptom of burnout in 2021 compared with 38.2% in 2020.
CMS Urges Hospitals to Take Violence Prevention Steps
To provide care in a safe setting for both patients and healthcare workers, hospitals need to identify patients at risk for intentional harm to themselves or others, CMS recommended in its November 28 memo, as well as identify environmental safety risks for such patients and provide education and training for staff and volunteers. CMS said it expects hospitals to demonstrate how they identify patients at risk of self-harm or harm to others and what steps they are taking to minimize those risks.
Second Year of Coronavirus Pandemic Took Heavy Toll on Clinicians
The new study, which was published last week by JAMA Health Forum, is based on survey data collected from more than 20,000 clinicians. The survey data was collected between February 2019 and December 2021.
AHA: ‘A Strong and Resilient Workforce is the Backbone of Our Hospitals and Health Systems’
Health systems and hospitals are facing widespread workforce shortages, particularly in nursing. Top healthcare executives say staffing shortages are their most pressing clinical care problem now that the crisis phase of the coronavirus pandemic has passed. Burnout has spiked during the pandemic.
Alarm Raised Over Patient Boarding in Emergency Departments
Boarding in emergency departments occurs when there is a shortage of inpatient beds for hospital admissions or there are no beds at external facilities such as psychiatric hospitals. The Joint Commission recommends that emergency department boarding not exceed four hours; however, it has become common to have emergency department boarding for days or weeks, according to ACEP.
Mass General Brigham Issues Patient Code of Conduct
Under a newly imposed Patient Code of Conduct, patients and visitors who disrupt care, make verbal or physical threats — including racist, sexist, discriminatory or disrespectful comments about clinicians, other hospital staff, other patients and visitors — could face a verbal reprimand, and even expulsion from the Boston hospital and possible suspension of future care access.
Care Coordination and the Labor Shortage: How We Can Prepare
Today’s care coordination is often a manual and time-consuming process that depends on hard-copy patient lists, notes, and other physical documentation. Improving this state of affairs has historically involved throwing people at the problem—dedicating hours and staff to tasks like closing care gaps, securing referrals, placing follow-up calls, and more.