Wait Times in Canadian Emergency Departments: An Incessant Dilemma

Individuals often erroneously equate a nation’s economic stability with the quality of its healthcare. However, this is not always true, and definitely not in the case of Canada. The average waiting time for patients in Canadian EDs ranges from three to four hours. More preposterously, this “average” accounts for only a minority of the population. When asked up front, most patients claimed that they’d had to wait for at least five hours before consulting a physician.

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How to Reduce Anxiety and Burnout at Primary Care Practices

Burnout is taking a significant toll in the healthcare sector. It is estimated that a doctor commits suicide every day. Research indicates that nearly half of physicians nationwide are experiencing burnout symptoms. A study published in October 2018 found burnout increases the odds of physician involvement in patient safety incidents, unprofessionalism, and lower patient satisfaction.

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Long Time Coming

It may be a long time coming, but what’s very much needed is a mechanism for identifying, by individual facility, specific systemic sources of patient stress. We might call this a Systemic-Stress EMM (SSEMM) audit. “EMM” denotes eradication, minimization, and mitigation. Depending on a source and its context, one of these three tactics will be more feasible than the other two.

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IHI Names New Leader

Effective July 1, Mate will succeed current president and CEO Derek Feeley, who announced in January that he was leaving the organization to spend more time with his family in Scotland. Mate is currently the IHI’s chief innovation and education officer.

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Health Competencies: Beyond the Biomedical

Within the biomedical model, health professionals are probably among the most careful professionals in our society. They are not supposed to make mistakes, to have unforeseen events, or to be exhausted and worried; there is a strong emphasis on perfection, whether in diagnosis or treatment. In this demand for perfection, centrality operates through the health professional’s power over the patient in a relationship between the expert and the layperson.

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What You Need to Know About the Utilization Review Process

UR nurses speak a different language than most other bedside nurses. In all settings, to justify payment or suggest an alternative status, the hospital UR nurse and the insurance UR nurse first discuss medical necessity criteria. If there is disagreement between the nurses about status and therefore payment, then the physicians discuss medical necessity during a scheduled peer-to-peer conference.

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A 3-Point Strategy to Help Strengthen Nurses’ Resiliency

By Rhonda Collins, DNP, RN, FAAN, Chief Nursing Officer, Vocera Each May, I write a CNO Perspective report on a topic that’s top of mind for nurse leaders. Last year, I wrote about reducing cognitive load for nurses and other healthcare professionals. I’ve spent the past year speaking and publishing on this topic, and the … Continued

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