Nurse Invents Device to Reduce Disease Transmission
Having started her career as an infectious disease nurse 24 years ago, Jennifer Giroux, RN, developed a keen awareness about vectors and the risks associated with taking equipment from one patient to another. She came up with a solution to prevent stethoscopes from spreading disease and, last year, brought StethoClean to market.
Multi-Dimensional Ultrasounds: Exploring the Latest Trend in Prenatal Imaging
The standard two-dimensional ultrasound is an essential step in the prenatal care process.
New advances in ultrasound imaging technology, however, have now made it possible to capture three- and even four-dimensional views of a baby before birth, and these pictures and videos can be recorded for expectant mothers at small boutique firms across the country.
Centralized Monitoring Improves Patient Safety
In June 2007, The Joint Commission’s Board of Commissioners approved the 2008 National Patient Safety Goals, one of which stipulates the need to “improve recognition and response to changes in a patient’s condition.” In an effort to adhere to this goal, health care facilities need to have the right systems in place to ensure a timely response when a patient’s condition appears to be worsening.
ICU Staff Receive Support from Remote Patient Care Technology
Most of us have seen the inside of air traffic control rooms on television and in movies. They are large high-tech centers filled with computers, monitors and banks of telephones. They are staffed by teams of expert controllers who interact with pilots to guide them safely through their flights. They are frequently located miles away from the nearest airport. Now, the same concept is being used to improve and expand patient care in ICUs across the country.
Gecko-inspired Bandages May Someday Replace Sutures in Surgery
With feet lined with tens of thousands of miniscule hills and ridges, gecko lizards have the unique ability to climb walls and hang from surfaces by one tiny toe. Now, researchers have adapted the clingy characteristic of the reptilian creature to create a bandage that may someday replace sutures after certain surgeries.
Bar-coded Surgical Sponges Improve OR Safety
Armed with the latest technology, perioperative nurses in several hospitals are taking an extra step with sponge counts—scanning bar codes—to avoid inadvertently leaving a sponge in a patient.