Nurse Inventors Turn Experience into Innovation
May 13, 2012 - Nurses’ main desire is to help their patients. Sometimes, though, they’re missing just the right tool to help them do that. Here, two nurses discuss how they turned inspiration into innovation to invent the missing piece to perfect their patient care, followed by advice on how other nurses can turn their ideas into reality.
High-tech Tools Keep Safety in Check
April 29, 2012 - If getting patients healthy is nurses’ first priority, keeping them safe comes in a close second. With risks like health care-associated infections (HAIs), patient falls and medication errors affecting patient safety, nurses must be frontline advocates for risk prevention. Thankfully, a number of high-tech safety checks are being put in place to ensure patient safety remains a priority for all health care professionals.
Manufacturers Keeping Nurses Safe on the Job
March 25, 2012 - Nurses’ number-one priority is the safety of their patients, but in an environment where there are any number of potential workplace dangers--from infections to falls to accidental needle sticks--their own safety also has to be high on the priority list.
Technology Reducing the Risk of Retained Surgical Instruments
February 16, 2012 - The scenario is one of a patient’s worst nightmares: They go into the hospital for surgery and leave with a lot more than they bargained for--a foreign object left inside the surgical site. Left unnoticed, it could result in numerous medical complications, including infection, bowel perforation, abscess, undue pain, return to surgery and even death.
New Time-Saving Devices and Apps for Nurses
January 19, 2012 - Nurses often work long hours and have exhausting schedules, which they must balance with other responsibilities like caring for children, spending time with loved ones and staying fit. With everything that’s on their plate, it's easy to see why many are turning to technology to save time and try to make their lives a little easier.
Public Health’s Take on Technology
November 18, 2011 - While much of the focus on health care information technology (HIT) is in hospitals and health systems, the public health arena is also impacted by innovations that help improve care. From electronic medical records (EMRs) and telehealth to mobile technologies and interoperable data systems, HIT plays an important role in public health care in communities across the country.