The statistics are scary. Nearly 5 million Americans are currently living with congestive heart failure (CHF) and approximately 550,000 new cases are diagnosed in the U.S. each year. But, that’s only part of the story. Along with diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and acute myocardial infarction, CHF patients fall into the all too familiar group of diseases significantly contributing to preventable hospital readmissions. Scary, too is the financial and reputational...more...
We’ve all heard the saying, “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes” as a way of understanding another’s experiences, challenges, thought processes and perspectives. Seeing someone actually do it is a unique experience. Cathy Gray, director, clinical support supply chain at Sentara Healthcare, started her career with Sentara as a registered nurse and over the course of the next several years she served in different nursing roles in both inpatient and outpatient...more...
We can learn a lot when we pause and listen. So the Vizient Center for Advancing Provider Practices (CAP2™) thought leader group did just that. The group has advanced practice provider (APP) leadership representation from each member organization within the CAP2 program and they come together multiple times a year to identify key topics affecting APP practice. During a recent meeting, we wanted to know what some of the greatest challenges the APPs within their organizations face. more...
Picture this scene: a nurse in her 50s attends to an ED patient who is suffering a seizure. The nurse successfully uses a time-tested approach to treat the patient. Her 20-something colleague observes her actions and compliments the older nurse’s quick thinking and judgment call. The millennial nurse then proceeds to suggest an alternative method she recently learned in nursing school. This remark slightly annoys the nurse who has worked 30-plus years in health care.more...
It’s December. All around us are reminders that this is the season for joy: colorful lights, familiar carols and cherished family and friends. But if you read health care news, or speak with your staff, you know that joyful isn’t always the way our workplaces are described.
Almost weekly, we see new and startling studies stating how burnout has taken root in our hospitals, stealing the joy from one of the most noble career pursuits - being a caregiver. A few fast stats reveal:more...
In the United States, suicides rank 10th in the nation as the leading cause of death. Of the nearly 45,000 suicides that occur each year, approximately 50 to 65 occur in hospitals. Although this is a low number, facilities must be diligent in their efforts to provide a safe environment for at-risk patients.more...
What does it take to actually slow down and not rush through important tasks? A simple decision? An outside force? Money? Sickness? There are so many things that can cause us to hit the brakes, but usually we like to keep our foot heavy on the gas pedal.more...
For years, vendors and supply chain leaders have engaged in negotiating prices for expensive implant medical devices. Every price increase was challenged, and as competition grew, the cost of these implants has gradually decreased, while the cost for orthobiologic products has actually risen three-fold. According to Becker’s Spine Review, the spinal biologics market is anticipated to hit $2.7 billion by 2023.more...
Two deaths, 24 serious injuries and 32 device malfunctions. Those are the number of reports received by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 2011 related to enteral device misconnections. And despite the educational and awareness efforts of many organizations, misconnections continue to occur.more...
I live in a growing and desirable part of southeastern United States. To get just about anywhere by car however I have to drive through rural America. Recently, I stopped at a small, independently owned gas station and noticed something strange behind the counter. There was only one choice of cigarettes. In my experience, tobacco sales were a big business in this part of the country and gas stations made a pretty good margin on every pack sold. I asked the attendant if those were the only...more...
