Nursing Quality

Patient safety is an integral part of nursing. This makes policies that ensure high quality care of vital importance. Therefore, for over 100 years, ANA has been working to improve patient safety by promoting nursing quality. The National Center for Nursing Quality (NCNQ) has been created by ANA to address patient safety and quality in nursing care and nurses' work lives.

The center advocates for nursing quality through quality measurement, novel research, and collaborative learning. Issues such as the nursing shortage and a flawed national healthcare system are tackled through innovative initiatives, which include the National Database for Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI®) and Safe Staffing Saves Lives, among others. Explore this site for more information about the important work being done.

Since the work being done in these areas is ongoing, this Web site will change to reflect new advances.

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About The Caregivers

Oh my gosh, the pandemic is here! Mass destruction is upon us and the end of the world will happen. Great googly moogly, perhaps we should all make a bunker and store oodles-of-noodles and twinkies, because of course those do not go bad for centuries. And don’t forget the tamaflu. Heaven’s to betsy, we have never had the flu before?!

Lets get it together folks. As health care professionals, we sound like the silly group of birds on The Ice Age. Remember the ones that are going “prepare for the ice age” and trying in vein to hide the last melon?

How are we going to help our patients over their fears and answer their questions if we are panicking? Let us start by realizing that the vast majority of us will only suffer from the flu and that is only if we are the unlucky ones to get sick. The people most affected will be those who don’t have access to health care, and those that are healthy. That’s right, its hitting the 20 something’s to the 40 something’s the hardest.

Yeah, it sucks, we will deal with it ladies and gentlemen. What is one way to deal with a tough situation at work…come on you remember…it was in nursing school…a thorough self examination of the way you feel about something. Talk to your peers, talk to your family, really examine how you feel.

Don’t just go through scenarios in your mind, actually talk it over with other staff members. What are your facilities policies regarding a flu pandemic? Is there one in place? Could you be instrumental in helping put policies in place that help in patient flow and reducing infection rates?

Actually doing something about the problem can help in reducing your fears. That way you know what is coming down the line should there be a problem, and not only for a pandemic flu, but also for internal/external disaster scenarios at your facility.

Are you prepared at home for an emergency in the community if you had to leave in a hurry? Despite what I said above it does help to ease your mind if things are taken care of at home. There should be water stored, canned and dried foods available, important papers in a fire proof container, and emergency routes made out from home work and schools along with an emergency contact number that everyone knows by heart.

Now, are you all like me, go to work…go home…sleep…go to work…go home…kiss the kids…go to bed…you all know what its like. We all need to start taking better care of ourselves. We have all heard it before but now we really need to take inventory of our stress level and reduce it, because its going to be the main thing that gets us sick (besides the nasty little old man in room 512 that just harked up a luugy on your scrubs). Get some exercise, play with your children/grandkids, garden, run, read something besides a drug guide, make passionate love (what a great stress reducer eh?). Do something not nursing related.

In the end, please take care of yourselves guys so we can take care of those frightened patients out there. You are important and we need you!!!

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Care Plan

Care planning is an essential part of healthcare, but is often misunderstood or regarded as a waste of time. Without a specific document delineating the plan of care, important issues are likely to be neglected. Care planning provides a "road map" of sorts, to guide all who are involved with a patient/resident's care. The care plan has long been associated with nursing, and many people believe (inaccurately, in my opinion) that is the sole domain of nurses. This view is damaging to all members of the interdisciplinary team, as it shortchanges the non-nursing contributors while overloading the nursing staff. To be effective and comprehensive, the care planning process must involve all disciplines that are involved in the care of this patient/resident.

The first step in care planning is accurate and comprehensive assessment. In the acute care setting, a thorough admission nursing assessment should be followed by regular reassessments as often as the patient's status demands. In the long- term care setting, the MDS (Minimum Data Set) is the starting point for assessment. Home health utilizes the OASIS assessment. Other settings will have established protocols for initial assessments and ongoing reevaluation.
Once the initial assessment is completed, a problem list should be generated. This may be as simple as a list of medical diagnoses, or may involve working through the RAP (Resident Assessment Protocol) process associated with the MDS. The "problem" list may actually include patient/resident strengths as well as family/relationship problems, which are affecting the person's overall well-being.

Once the problem list is complete, look at each problem and ask the question, "Will this problem get better?" (Or, "Can we make this problem better?") If the answer is yes, then your goal will be for the problem to resolve or show signs of improvement within the review period. In the acute setting, the review period may be as short as next shift, next day or next week. In the long-term or home health setting, the review period will likely be longer. In any case, the goal should be specific, measurable and attainable. Do not write a goal that a stage 4 pressure ulcer "will be improved by next week." This is not specific or measurable, and most likely not attainable. A better goal statement would be for "stage 4 pressure ulcer to improve to less than full thickness and length/width to __X__cm in the next 90 days." The approaches (or interventions) should also be measurable and realistic, and should be documented elsewhere in the record when performed. An example of a problem that will improve would be self-care deficit related to hip fracture. With rehab, this problem is likely to resolve.

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All About "At-Home Teeth Whitening"

Nowadays there are many people want to great looked when smiling each other. In order to seems like that many of them choose teeth whitening as a solution to keep their performance good or even increase. Among all of teeth whitening methods, at-home teeth whitening is the cheapest and most convenient, over-the-counter bleaching involves the use of a store-bought whitening kit, featuring a bleaching gel with a concentration lower than that of the professionally dispensed take-home whiteners. The gel is applied to the teeth via one-size-fits-all trays, whitening strips or paint-on applicators. In many cases this may only whiten a few of the front teeth unlike custom trays that can whiten the entire smile.
This is how 'at-home teeth whitening' will work on your teeth: The dentist molds vinyl trays to fit your teeth. Then he gives you a prescribed gel to put in the trays. This gel will contain carbomide peroxide (which reacts with your saliva to become hydrogen peroxide) at a concentration somewhere between 10 percent and 25 percent. You go home, load the gel into the trays, wear the trays two to four hours per day for two to three weeks, and your teeth get whiter as the gel oxidizes their stains. This option has been available for more than a decade, and it works. You'll see a difference within two days.


Advantages of At-Home Teeth Whitening

* Long-term results: Dental professionals agree that the only way to maintain your whitened teeth is with at-home bleaching products, repeated regularly — preferably every four to six months. But lately, many dentists are advising people with very dark-stained or tetracycline-affected teeth to continue home bleaching over a period of months (or up to a year) for optimal results. What's interesting is, the newest teeth whitening strips on the consumer market are intended for five-minute use every day, like brushing or flossing.
* Variety: You have a choice of whitening trays, strips or paint-on products, as well as numerous whitening accessories.
* Convenience: You can do home whitening at any time of the day or night, for short or extended periods.
* Portability: You can also use at-home whitening strips while on the go or at the office.

There are many products that support the at-home teeth whitening programs, but only few products will only real work on your teeth and didn't harm your teeth. So consult to your dentist first before applying at-home teeth whitening, and always buy the supporting products from accountable and trustable seller.

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