Patient Safety / Quality
“Bundle” up to prevent pressure ulcers
Find out how to start a pressure ulcer prevention program on your unit or in your facility.
NEJM article addresses challenges of evaluating patient satisfaction
10 modifiable risk factors explain 90% of stroke risk
6 surprising best resuscitation practices
Nothing is more important to the patient’s outcome than properly performed chest compressions.
A 200-year perspective on hospital costs and mortality
A Case Study: Using Technology to Build a Culture of Safety
An emphasis on a culture of safety and appropriate use of technology help the organization deliver safer and more efficient health care.
A geriatric family-centered care model for hospitalized elders
This innovative model has helped reduce falls and pressure ulcers, and RN turnover rates have dropped as well.
A hospital’s Magnet® redesignation drive spurs efforts to improve patient safety
Magnet appraisers’ questions increase the author’s determination to reduce patient falls.
A little humor please
A new patient-acuity tool promotes equitable nurse-patient assignments
When a 2 acuity rating isn’t truly a 2
A partnership to enhance outcomes through quality dashboards and action
Learn how a multidepartmental task force improved a hospital’s data display and action-planning tools
A question of disclosure: RNs often struggle with revealing their health conditions to employers
A ROADMAP involves patients and families in the plan of care
This electronic tool keeps patients and families informed on key aspects of care.
A roll-up-your-sleeves kind of hope
To reinvent health care, we need down-to-earth help and a roll-up-your sleeves kind of hope.
A troubled life, a difficult death
A woman’s reproductive health: Clues to future heart disease?
Reproductive status, hormonal therapy, oral contraceptives, irregular menstrual cycles, and pregnancy complications may raise woman’s risk of cardiovascular disease.
A word about patients’ psychic experiences: Listen
AACN endorses white paper on medication reconciliation
Abbott withdraws Meridia from market
Act fast when new neurologic deficits arise
Alert clinicians take immediate steps to eliminate a life threatening epidural hematoma.
Acts of kindness
Adding NP to inpatient surgical team can reduce emergency department visits
Adherence to SCIP not always associated with lower postop infections
Adult obstructive sleep apnea: Taking a patient-centered approach
Sleep apnea causes sleep deprivation and, over time,
can lead to serious physiologic changes.
Advancing adoption of the electronic health record
Experts at the federal level are working to actualize the promise of health information technology.
Adventures in virtual meetings
Tired of unproductive staff meetings held at inconvenient times? Had it up to here with being interrupted when trying to express your opinion? Maybe it’s time to explore alternatives to the traditional in-person meeting. One hospital unit did just that, and their online meeting forum helped them create new protocols in record time.
Advocating for patients in an era of drug-delivery problems
Learn what steps you can take to help patients avoid drug contamination and cope with drug shortages.
AHRQ provides guide for patients being discharged
AHRQ releases new guide for patients
AHRQ reports results from survey on patient safety culture
Airway pressure release ventilation: A boost for spontaneous breathing
Many clinicians are using this mechanical ventilation mode to help reduce lung damage, pneumonia, and other complications of ventilation. Find out how it works, when it’s indicated, how it preserves spontaneous breathing, and why it reduces sedation requirements.
America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
Make a difference join ANA’s Health Care Reform Team
American Heart Association offers suggestions for patients on Avandia
An evidence-based approach to creating a new nursing dress code
How should nurses dress? Should you wear a white uniform? Is jewelry appropriate on the job? A survey reveals what patients really think.
ANA ACTION ALERT: Proposed regulations could mean big opportunity for nurses
ANA addresses nurse-specific measures in health IT
The American Nurses Association (ANA) has long supported nurse-specific measures in health IT
ANA addresses shift work
ANA position statements address the hazards of shift work.
ANA awards five hospitals for outstanding nursing quality
ANA comments on ACOs
ANA participates in International Panel on Safe Patient Handling
ANA releases 2011 Health and Safety Survey results
ANA’s new survey identifies nurses’ concerns about health and safety in their work environments.
ANA signs on to letter affirming positive change in U.S. Public Health Service
ANA signs a letter of concern about proposed creation of an Office of the National Nurse.
ANA supports safe patient handling measures in Congress
“The Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2009” (H.R. 2381) gets ANA approval.
ANA urges nurses to volunteer before disaster strikes
In the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake on Jan. 12, many nurses felt the urgent need to jump on a plane and hit the ground in Haiti to help treat and comfort the survivors, but were not sure how to go about it.
Analysis: Good communication enhances patient safety, satisfaction
Applying a systematic approach to new-product assessment
Take the spontaneity out of new-product purchases to control costs and keep patients safe.
Applying the Magnet™ model to improve medication safety
A Baltimore hospital used the five Magnet components as a framework for
transforming its bedside medication administration process. Involving directcare
nurses in decision making was a key aspect of the project.
Are 12-hour shifts safe?
Are extended work hours worth the risk?
Today, 75% of hospital nurses work 12-hour shifts. But studies
show a link between nurse fatigue and preventable medical errors.
Are we making progress against autism?
Scientists are learning more about this baffling disorder, but a cure is a long way off.
Are you an ABG ace?
Can you interpret arterial blood gas (ABG) values with confidence? To find out, test yourself with the case studies in this article.
Are you ready to care for patients in clinical trials?
Part 1 of a four-part series on clinical trials
Aromatherapy for you and your patient
Use fragrant oils to soothe muscles, relieve tension, and more.
Article provides guidance for nurses working with patients with vision loss
Assessing the seven dimensions of pain
Pain affects many aspects of your patient’s reality. Learn about the seven dimensions of pain and how to evaluate them.
Astute assessment saves a patient with PE
A nurse responds quickly to the patient’s distress.
Attacking anterior-wall myocardial infarction in time
More than 1 million Americans a year suffer a myocardial infarction (MI). This article tells you how – and how quickly – you need to respond to the most dangerous MI.
Attacking anterior-wall myocardial infarction in time
More than 1 million Americans a year suffer a myocardial infarction (MI). This article tells you how – and how quickly – you need to respond to the most dangerous MI.
Attitude: The power of human energy
Our thoughts, feelings, and disposition influence other people, not just because people see and read our facial expressions or body language, but because thoughts themselves are energy.
Baby pictures: Preserving precious moments in the NICU
For one nurse, taking pictures of preemies develops into an art form.
Bar coding effective for reducing med errors
Beasts, gods and FaceTime: The anguish of visitor limitations during the COVID-19 pandemic
Beasts, gods and FaceTime: The anguish of visitor limitations during the COVID-19 pandemic
Behind the curtain: Creating an in situ simulation experience
Go "behind the curtain" to learn how simulation is being used to prepare hospital-based nurses for urgent situations.
Best practices for seasonal influenza immunization
Better care for patients with borderline personality disorder
Beyond a box of chocolates
Beyond an interesting “read”
Nurse authors call on educators to incorporate IOM findings into education, practice.
Beyond customer service
Many nurses don’t like to hear their patients called “customers” or be told to provide “customer service.” This expert explains how to lose the lingo and adapt the principles of customer service to patient care.
Building a compelling business case for nursing and quality indicators
The author outlines how to make a business case for clinical quality measures, including how to use NDNQI data to substantiate your position.
Buying time for patients with acute liver failure
Managing the complications of acute failure, so your patient’s liver has time to regenerate.
C.A.R.E. to prevent medical device related pressure injuries
Calculating I.V. drip rates with confidence
Do you sometimes have trouble remembering the equation you learned for calculating I.V. drip rates? This article presents a simplified equation that can make calculations quicker and easier – whether the medication order is written for mcg/kg/minute, mcg/minute, or mg/minute.
Calculating I.V. drip rates with confidence
Do you sometimes have trouble remembering the equation you learned for calculating I.V. drip rates? This article presents a simplified equation that can make calculations quicker and easier – whether the medication order is written for mcg/kg/minute, mcg/minute, or mg/minute.
Can a nurse be too old to work at the bedside?
Can teach-back reduce hospital readmissions?
A study shows this method helps educators focus on topics the patient doesn’t fully grasp.
Care during crisis
ANA brings nurses, experts together to shape practice policy during disasters
Care of clinical trial participants: What nurses need to know
The third in a series of articles on clinical trials from nurses at the National Cancer Institute.
Caring and advocating for school children
Caring for a homeless adult with a chronic disease
For homeless people, chronic illnesses can be hard to manage. Here’s what you should know about assessing these patients and developing a practical discharge plan.
Caring for Caregivers: What Is Proven to Relieve Caregiver Strain and Burden?
Caring for older lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults
Caring for patients in alcohol withdrawal
Be sure you’re prepared to care for patients with this condition
Caring for patients with Parkinson’s disease
Learn about assessment, intervention, and teaching for patients with this progressive debilitating disease.
Caring for patients with traumatic brain injuries: Are you up to the challenges?
Many patients face prolonged recovery and permanent disability after a traumatic brain injury. This article reviews appropriate assessment and intervention and highlights family care.
Carrots and sticks
Cartoonist with a cause
The cartoons of Theresa Garnero, APRN, BC-ADM, MSN, CED, help patients cope with diabetes.
Case study: Coerced consent
“Coercion is commonly said to invalidate consent, and that is always true if the source of the coercion is the physician.
Case Study: How much is enough?
Case Study: When is what you know considered confidential?
CDC analysis of foodborne norovirus outbreaks
CDC survey finds sexual violence and stalking is ‘widespread public health problem’ in the U.S.
Central venous catheter dressings put to the test
A nursing team’s research findings lead to hospital-wide savings.
Cerebral salt wasting: An overlooked cause of hyponatremia
Commonly confused with SIADH, cerebral salt wasting can result from such neurologic conditions as subarachnoid hemmorrhage, intracranial hemorrhage, ischemic stroke, intracranial surgery, and brain trauma.
Cervical Spine injuries: Preserving function, improving outcomes
How to provide skilled care that stops the damage and helps your patient manage the injury.
Challenging nursing’s sacred cows
Do you routinely instill normal saline solution into endotracheal tubes before suctioning? Use only the Glasgow Coma Scale for neurologic assessment? Evidence on these and other sacred cows of nursing practice might surprise you.
Chemical soup
ANA and state associations work to protect nurses and the environment from chemicals.
Choosing wisely: Resources for selecting sharps safety devices
Clinical nurse leaders and clinical nurse specialists: harmonious partners
Collaboration between these two valuable resources depends on understanding how their roles differ.
Clinical trials 101
Don’t miss the second in a four-part series on clinical trials written by nurses from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, which covers phases of clinical trials, informed consent, ethics, and more.
CMA Lobbyists plan to protect nurses, patients, and public from harmful chemicals.
Color awareness: A must for patient assessment
Color “blindness” may help minimize social and economic disparities, but can impede accurate patient assessment. The author explains why nurses should practice color awareness and tells how to adapt skin inspection for dark-skinned patients.
Colorado only state with obesity less than 20%
Combating medication verification workarounds in an electronic world
Communicating with intubated patients: A new approach
Learn how one hospital improved communication between nurses and intubated patients through the use of an algorithm,
new communication devices, and a focused communications course for nurses.
Confronting racism in health care
Our editor-in-chief discusses the issue of race in health care.
Controlling blood glucose in hospital patients
Recent studies shed light on the importance of maximizing glycemic control in inpatients with diabetes.
Protected: CRE: Not your average multidrug-resistant organisms
Creating a smooth move for patients and staff
When Missouri Baptist Medical Center had to relocate nearly 200 patients in a single day, staff and leaders knew collaboration and planning would be key. Here’s how they did it.
Daily sedation breaks and breathing trials help wean patients from ventilators safely
For patients on mechanical ventilators, daily sedation cessation can decrease
ventilator, ICU, and hospital days. Careful use of safety screens is
crucial for patient safety and successful weaning.
Dangers of the 12-hour shift
Dear Members of Congress
In an open letter to Congress, Dr. Cipriano urges legislators to leverage nurses’ knowledge, skills, and abilities to help bring order to a chaotic healthcare system.
Déjà vu all over again
Some people simply can’t learn from the past—even the fairly recent and painful past.
Delegating without doubts
With this decision tree as your guide, you’ll delegate tasks to assistive personnel with confidence.
Demystifying literature reviews
Every nurse should understand evidence-based practice and the terms used in literature reviews.
Despite efforts C. difficile remains significant problem in hospitals
Diagnosing and managing cough
Check out these highlights from the American College of Chest Physicians’ new guidelines.
Differences among physicians, risk managers in admitting errors
Differences in attitudes among physicians and risk managers about revealing medical errors to patients may diminish the effectiveness of such disclosures, according to a new study published in the March 2010 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.
Differentiating diabetes complications: What’s your call?
A patient who collapsed at home arrives at the hospital with a blood glucose level off the charts, plus extreme thirst and polyuria. Think his diagnosis is cut and dried? Think again.
Differentiating research, evidence-based practice, and quality improvement
All nurses should know and understand the differences among these three concepts.
Disposal dilemmas in home health care
Learn the proper way to dispose of sharps and waste pharmaceuticals used in the home.
Do no harm
Our editor-in-chief tackles the issue of mandatory flu vaccination.
Do you hear what I hear? Combating alarm fatigue
Does evidence-based nursing increase ROI?
A quality-improvement initiative quantified return on investment (ROI) from cost avoidance for five healthcare-acquired conditions.
Doing the most good
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 provides many benefits.
Doing the right thing: Pathways to moral courage
Learn how to prepare yourself for the ethical and moral dilemmas you’re likely to encounter in the workplace.
Don’t tolerate disruptive physician behavior
No matter if you like – or fear – a doctor who behaves badly, you must report the incident for the sake of the staff, the patients, the institution.
Don’t forget ‘and mobility’
Mobility is an integral component of safe patient handling.
Don’t get ‘caught’ in the CAUTI trap
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), the most common healthcare-associated infection, can be deadly.
Don’t use injector devices for flu vaccines, states FDA
Drug errors harm 1.5 million people each year, report finds
In a new report, the Institute of Medicine concludes that at least 25% of harmful adverse drug events are preventable, and recommends specific preventive actions for nurses and other healthcare workers.
Drug shortages unprecedented says ISMP
Drug therapy gets personal with genetic profiling
In the not-so-distant future, the science of pharmacogenetics may
enable clinicians to give the right drug in the right dosage to the
right patient—in every case.
Drugs in the environment: Nurses’ roles and responsibilities
Editor’s note: This issue of American Nurse Today offers three perspectives on medication disposal, designed to educate nurses on this important issue so they can serve as advocates and teach their patients properly.
Drugs Today – February 2009
WEB EXCLUSIVE! An update of drug news, including alerts, approvals, and removals.
Drugs Today – January 2009
Web Exclusive! An update of drug news, including alerts, approvals, and removals.
Drugs Today – June 2008
An update of drug news, including alerts, approvals, and removals.
Drugs Today – September 2008
Web Exclusive! An update of drug news, including alerts, approvals, and removals at www.AmericanNurseToday.com/journal.
Early imaging reduces length of stay
ECRI names top 10 health technology hazards for 2012
ECRI releases top 10 health technology hazards for 2011
Emerging infectious threats: Respiratory protection for personal safety
Many experts think a flu pandemic (perhaps the swine flu) is inevitable, underscoring the need for all healthcare workers
to learn how to use respirators properly.
Engage Introducer recalled
Enhancing patient outcomes with sequential compression device therapy
Use sequential compression devices effectively to help achieve the best possible outcomes for patients.
Ensuring quality and saving time
The National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators® tracks the care nurses provide, helping to improve nursing practice, patient outcomes, and the work environment.
Environment, health and safety
Environment, health, & safety
With the growing reuse of single-use medical devices, ANA supports improvements in end-of-use product management and research on ethical and safety issues related to these devices.
Essential elements of a comprehensive sharps injury-prevention program
The steps outlined below can help facilities significantly reduce sharps injuries.
Ethics and the quality of care
Leah Curtin discusses the issue of quality care from an ethical perspective.
Ethics case study: Poor staffing results in brain-damaged patient
Author Leah Curtin discusses the ethical issue of short staffing.
Evaluating the neurologic status of unconscious patients
Evidence-based interventions for dyspnea
Eye of the beholder: Grand rounds at the museum
Facing up to widespread obesity
Facing up to widespread obesity – a reality check on a very real epidemic.
Faculty shortfall
Faith, community, and health: Partnerships with good neighbors
Our editor-in-chief turns a spotlight on faith and community partnerships.
Fall prevention safety bundle: Collaboration leads to fewer falls
Fall prevention: A contract with patients and families
Fall prevention: Applying the evidence
Family history as a genetic assessment tool: Where are the resources?
Learn the value of a genetic history and resources for how to conduct one.
Family initiated rapid response team
Rapid response isn’t just for staff. More hospitals are allowing, even encouraging, patients and their families to make the call for help.
Family presence during resuscitation: Who decides?
Effective communication enables nurses and physicians to negotiate a collaborative decision that honors the family’s wishes.
FDA approves single REMS for transmucosal immediate-release fentanyl products
FDA changes sunscreen labeling requirements
FDA launches new website on safe disposal of ‘sharps’
FDA orders recall of Baxter infusion pumps
FDA posting postmarketing drug safety evaluations
FDA publishes REMS list
FDA recommends manufacturers stop using ‘latex-free’ labeling
FDA warns against counterfeit Adderall
FDA warns of potential risk of liver injury in ADPKD patients taking Samsca
FDA, NIOSH, and OSHA ‘strongly encourage’ use of blunt-tip suture needles
Fine-tuning your feeding-tube insertion skills
Even if you’re accustomed to inserting feeding tubes, the procedure can cause complications. The authors provide safety guidelines to help you make feeding-tube insertion safer.
Five strategies to help prevent nurses’ patient-handling injuries
Food in the fight against cancer: The evidence on cancer-related anorexia
Among the many treatments and supportive interventions for cancer, nurses and patients must not overlook a foundation of health—good nutrition. A proper diet during cancer treatment and beyond is essential for patients to feel better, have the strength needed to fight the disease, and maintain wellness.
Formula for success: Deliver enteral nutrition using best practices
Between 30% and 50% of adults admitted to U.S. hospitals are malnourished. This article explains how to provide nourishment while achieving better outcomes and shorter hospital stays.
Free radicals: What are they and why should nurses care about them?
Understanding free radicals at the cellular level can help focus our care practices.
From our readers: On being an oncology nurse, or humble pie by the slice
From our readers: One nurse’s journey into patienthood
From our readers: Overtime is only fun in baseball: A somber look at mandatory overtime and nursing care
The author reviews issues surrounding mandatory overtime.
From our readers: Resolving the forces of bias and duty in caring for incarcerated patients
From our readers: The art of self-disclosure
From our readers: What it means to be a nurse
A nurse shares her meaning of nursing.
From our readers…A case study of implementing an injury prevention program
The authors explain how they successfully implemented an injury prevention program.
From our readers…Balancing the power in favor of patients
From our readers…Creating a patient/family advisory board
From our readers…Hourly rounding benefits patients and staff
From our readers…Know your A, B, C, and D’s for patients with progressive disease
From our readers…Negative effects of shackling pregnant incarcerated women
The author advocates for more respectful treatment of pregnant women who are incarcerated.
From our readers…Nonadherent or compassion challenged?
From our readers…Strategies for Implementing an Effective Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners Program (SANE)
SANE nurses help ensure victims of sexual assault receive the compassionate care they need and collect evidence that can be used in court.
From our readers…The nature of grief
From our readers…Three elephants for safety
From the other side of the bed
From your ANA President
Nurses are natural innovators. Let’s recognize our strengths as
innovators and share our ideas on multiple platforms.
From Your ANA President
FTC supports APRN practice in new report
Funding the future of nursing
Fusing Magnet® and just culture
The author describes the beneficial alignment of just culture concepts Magnet® principles.
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act signed into law
The federal government bans genetic job discrimination; ANA backs the Kid Safe Chemicals Act.
Get Savvy to syncope
Syncope is a common occurrence and is commonly benign. But sometimes a swoon signals a serious underlying condition. Learn what causes syncope and how to assess and intervene for a patient who has just experienced it.
Getting to the root of the root-cause analysis problem
Giving from the heart
Going from the gut
The current emphasis on best practices, guidelines, and checklists make cause healthcare professionals to turn off their judgment and go by the book – even when it’s the wrong thing to do.
Good intentions eclipsed
Leah Curtin discusses how negative effects of work on work/life balance and mandatory overtime affect patient care.
Gorillas, restraints, and moral blind spots
Leah Curtin discusses a restraint situation.
Guiding your patients through menopause
The more you know about menopause, the more you can help patients understand and cope with symptoms.
Handling with care: The bariatric patient
Technological advances, special equipment, and screening algorithms help healthcare facilities and nurses meet the needs of bariatric patients while reducing worker injury.
Have we lost our ability (and our sensitivity) to communicate in healthcare?
Headlines from the Hill
ANA’s legislative agenda introduced in the 113th Congress
Headlines from the Hill
Find out what has been accomplished during the 112th Congress and what healthcare professionals stand to lose if our country goes over the "fiscal cliff."
Headlines from the Hill
The RN Safe Staffing Act and what it means for you
Healing the wounds: Quantum nursing V
Quantum nursing demands that nurses honor each person’s
humanity, promote independence and autonomy, and offer the
opportunity for individuals to redefine for themselves who they are and how they choose to live.
Healthcare immunization: Protecting coworkers and the community
Healthcare needs a swoosh
Does healthcare need its own type of “swoosh” as a daily inspiration for us to do the right thing without hesitation? Our Editor-in-Chief answers that question and explores the issue of safety in healthcare.
Healthcare reform: Resolve to increase your knowledge in 2014
Find out how the Affordable Care Act is reforming health care and how it could affect your practice.
Helping patients adhere to a gluten-free diet
Avoiding gluten isn’t easy. Here’s what you need to know to keep patients compliant with a gluten-free diet.
Helping patients navigate end-of-life issues
An ANA Workgroup is drafting position statements on end-of-life issues.
Herbal facts, herbal fallacies
HHS releases modifications to HIPAA privacy, security, enforcement, and breach notification rule
High-alert drugs: Strategies for safe I.V. infusions
About 80% of all deaths from medication errors are caused by some 20 drugs. This article gives you evidence-based strategies for preventing errors with these deadly drugs.
High-energy drinks: What you don’t know could hurt you
High-energy drinks carry risks nurses need to know.
Holistic nursing: Focusing on the whole person
How well do you know holistic nursing? Expand your knowledge with this article.
Hook-and-loop alarm belt: A vital component in a fall-prevention toolkit
Hospital patients with chronic diseases at risk for unintentional stoppage of medications
Hospital volume associated with better survival in patients with head and neck cancer
Hospital-acquired infections mortalities, costs
Two common conditions caused by hospital-acquired infections killed 48,000 people and ramped up health care costs by $8.1 billion in 2006 alone, according to a study released Feb. 22 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Hospitals Explore Innovative Nurse Retention Strategies
Hospitals know that it’s less expensive to retain the nurses they have than to recruit, train and place new ones. This has led hospitals and other facilities to continue to look for new and creative ways to keep their nurses right where they are.
How a “just culture” can improve safety in health care
How Magnet® designation affects nurse retention: An evidence-based research project
A positive work environment and nurse satisfaction can improve nurse retention.
How the candidates want to change health care
Web exclusive! See what Senators McCain and Obama say they’ll do to fix our broken healthcare system.
How to achieve success in quality improvement
To achieve sustained improvement in patient outcomes, create a work environment that promotes a commitment to excellence and examine NDNQI data on your organization’s current performance level.
How to deliver bad news
Healthcare providers often must give bad news to patients and families. Doing this in a direct, concise, compassionate way is a skill that equired practice.
How to make the most of your nursing minutes
Feel like you’re running in place sometimes? Heed advice of the author of this article.
How to prevent falls among older adults in outpatient settings
The author provides tips for preventing falls.
Huddle up for patient safety
Human factors engineering can improve patient safety
Knowing how nurses interact with the environment can help safeguard patients.
I have diabetes. How do I live with it?
A colorful teaching tool can help your patients understand and control this chronic disease.
Improving depression screening in patients with chronic illness
Don’t miss an opportunity for health promotion and improvement in disease management by failing to assess patients with chronic illness for depression.
Improving how we use and respond to clinical alarms
Nuisance alarms, false alarms, and hard-to-identify alarms can imperil patient safety. The author describes ways to manage clinical alarms more efficiently.
Improving insulin adherence in diabetes care
By addressing patients’ concerns, you can help them adhere to insulin therapy with less pain and anxiety.
Improving pain care for combat injured soldiers and veterans
Improving pain management: Call to action
Less pain means a great gain for patients. Learn about ANA’s agenda to improve the management of chronic and acute pain.
Improving palliative care and communication in the ICU
Looking for more information on evidence-based practices? Read this first article in a series from the National Institute of Nursing Research.
Improving patient education with Health Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Learn how this tool helped an ICU analyze and correct flaws in its patient-education process
Improving the care of stroke patients
Is your facility doing enough to help stroke patients survive and regain functional independence? Find out how a national evidence-based initiative helps hospitals deliver better stroke care.
In God we trust. All others – show me the data.
Ms. Patton makes it perfectly clear why she loves and believes in ANA’s National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators.
Infection control for lifts and slings
Your guide to keeping lifts and slings free from infection.
Infection control lapses common in ambulatory surgical centers
Infusion pump resource from FDA
International home care conference
Introducing the quantum patient
The quantum patient is an indivisible human being whose health
problems might not be healed through traditional specialization.
Investigating nurses’ dressing change techniques
Original nursing research explores nurses’ rationales for using sterile technique instead of clean technique in particular circumstances – and reveals wide practice discrepencies.
Is diagnosis of pressure ulcers within an RN’s scope of practice?
If you’re unsure whether pressure ulcer diagnosis is within an RN’s scope of practice, President Patton provides an answer based on ANA’s Scope and Standards of Nursing Practice.
Is the school nurse in?
ANA promotes strategies to help meet students’ health and safety needs.
ISMP issues guidelines for standard order sets
Issues up close
Care coordination: Nurses lead the way.
Issues up close
ANA has joined the Partnership for Patients to improve patient safety.
Issues up close
ANA is taking steps to ensure that nurses are recognized for their care-coordination activities.
Issues up close
ANA’s House of Delegates recently approved a resolution supporting health
care for all. The author examines the social, economic, and political ramifications of undocumented immigrants’ lack of access to health care.
Issues up close
To increase health literacy, we need to educate patients and consumers about health issues in a more meaningful, individualized, and patient-oriented way.
Issues up close
How NDNQI® data are helping top hospitals improve nursing quality
It’s all in the translation
Read about a valuable health-education resource for foreign-language patients.
Joining the fight for safe staffing: Q&A with Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite
Joint Commission issues Sentinel Event Alert on opioid use in hospitals
Joint Commission proposes alarm management as 2014 National Patient Safety Goal
Joint Commission releases Sentinel Event Alert on healthcare work fatigue and patient safety
Jump into action against aspiration pneumonia
The author covers how to recognize and treat this serious complication.
Just culture promotes a partnership for patient safety
The authors explain how workplaces can move toward just culture,
which recognizes that errors may be systemic rather than personal.
Keep consumer hand lotions at home
Are you using the right hand lotion at work?
Keeping asthma at bay
NIH has updated its guidelines on asthma diagnosis and treatment. Learn how to help your asthma patients lead fuller lives.
Keeping genetic information confidential
What you should know about the new federal law.
Keeping watch: Enhancing fall prevention through targeted video surveillance
Key concepts in patient-centered care
Respect, communication, and comfort are essential to ensuring that care focuses on the patient first.
Last Breath: The ethics of pharmacologic paralysis
Should patients receive neuromuscular blockers while mechanical ventilation is withdrawn?
Lean tools and concepts reduce waste, improve efficiency
By putting lean principles in action, a health network has shortened stays,
improved patient satisfaction, and decreased ED-to-bed times.
Leapfrog Group says hospital safety improvements too slow
Learning the language of pediatric heart sounds
Use these tips and techniques to identify heart sounds and murmurs in children.
Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor – April 2007
Letters to the Editor – August 2008
Letters to the Editor – December 2008
Letters to the Editor – July 2008
Letters to the Editor – June 2007
Letters to the Editor – May 2007
Letters to the Editor – May 2008
Letters to the Editor – November 2007
Letters to the Editor – November 2008
List of Supporting Organizations for Moving the Sharps Safety Agenda Forward in the United States: Consensus Statement and Call to Action
Little Progress in fight against health care-associated infections, says AHRQ
Long-term cancer survivorship nurse practitioner care model promotes patient quality of life
Long-term health outcomes of childhood sexual abuse
The consequences of childhood sexual abuse continue into adulthood. Here’s what can occur and how you can help these patients.
Making a stand against malignant melanoma
Summer sizzles on, sun-worshipers soak up the rays. Years later, your ability to detect melanoma in its early stages could spell the difference between a patient’s prompt treatment and a grim prognosis.
Making community health care culturally correct
Cultural awareness can lead to better outcomes.
Making the case for Magnet® designation to the C-suite
How to convince senior executives that the Magnet journey is well worth the expense
Making the transformation to a customer-service orientation
This article describes how to boost patient satisfaction and loyalty.
Managing atrioventricular blocks
Not all AV blocks are dangerous. Find out which ones are and how they’re managed.
Managing end-of-life symptoms
For patients nearing death, palliative care can enhance quality of life by easing pain and other symptoms, improving sleep, and reducing fatigue. Managing end-of-life symptoms
Managing skin reactions to targeted cancer therapy
What to do when life-saving chemotherapy causes a disfiguring rash.
MARS®: The new frontier in treating acute liver failure
A type of dialysis, MARS removes toxins and replaces
lost liver functions.
Medical-surgical value analysis aims high above the bottom line
Medication adherence pays prompts lower healthcare costs
Medication errors: Best Practices
A medication error can occur in any healthcare setting-with devastating consequences. The authors describe weaknesses in the key elements of medication use and propose ways to make drug therapy safer.
Medication name change proposed
MedWatch marks 20-year anniversary
Meeting your patients spiritual needs
When a patient says, “I’m afraid I’m going to die,” do you offer empty reassurances? Find an excuse to leave the room? Read this article to learn about simple spiritual interventions that can aid a patient in spiritual distress.
Memory pegging
Forgetting is frustrating. To make memorizing fun, “peg” each item on your to-do list.
Mission: Achieve continual readiness for Joint Commission surveys
Surviving surprise visits can be easier if you use the author’s “E” approach.
Mitral valve repair: A new choice
Learn the advantages of repairing a mitral valve instead of replacing it.
Model act helps out-of-state healthcare professionals volunteer during disasters
ANA supports efforts to advance model legislation that would help healthcare workers seeking to volunteer in disasters.
More hospital observation units could save $3.1 billion a year
Motivational interviewing: A collaborative path to change
Moving the Sharps Safety Agenda Forward: Consensus Statement and Call to Action
Moving toward a restraint-free environment
Nanotechnology and the environment
National Priorities – a guide for nursing pratice
National Priorities give guidelines for the transformation in health care.
National Priorities Partnership explores nursing’s contributions to healthcare transformation
Seeking to address major healthcare challenges, the National Priorities Partnership recognizes the many contributions nurses are making to advance its goals and transform health care. This article details the steps needed to optimize nursing’s contributions in specific areas.
NEJM study finds low RN staffing increases mortality
New boxed warning for propylthiouracil
New colorectal screening guidelines
New falls prevention guidelines released
New FDA regulation for improving safety reporting in clinical trials discussed in The New England Journal of Medicine.
New guidelines for treatment of malaria
New minimally invasive technique treats acute DVT
Pharmacomechanical thrombectomy removes dangerous clots to restore healthy function in hours.
New report addresses engagement with consumers
New report reaffirms old concerns
New report says more than 13% of Medicare patients experience adverse events during hospital stay
New safety information for Invirase
New survey on family caregivers released
New vial labeling standards released
New warning added for gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists
No drugs down the drain
No peeking allowed
Electronic health records give healthcare providers faster, more efficient access to patient information. Experts hope to make the data less vulnerable to security breaches.