Tag: Attack Patients

Confidentiality is a Must for Nursing Assistants

Nursing Assistants are exposed to a wide variety of events taking place in the medical field. It is crucial that they are aware of the importance of maintaining confidentiality in all aspects of their job.

Nursing Assistants are well trained in the policies and procedures of the facility. While it is important to follow them, it is not recommended to discuss them outside of the facility. For example, you dont want to provide others with confidential information regarding evacuation and other emergency procedures. Doing so many compromise the safety of the patients and staff during a natural disaster or violent attack.

Patients requiring care in a medical facility are to have their privacy protected. This means you do not discuss their care or other personal information with any other person except staff they have an interest in the care of that patient. Confidentiality becomes an issue when you know someone in the facility or someone asks you why someone else in there.

All patients have the right to their privacy being maintained. Compromising this information is a direct violation of every medical practice. Providing such information can result in termination of your job, and in some cases, the loss of your Nursing Assistant Certification.

Communicable diseases can surface in medical facilities. It is important that you follow the policies and procedures set in place by the particular facility your work with. However, do not release information regarding such diseases to anyone. This could result in a panic over the possibility of an epidemic, and lead to patients wanting to leave the facility against medical advice.

The proper medical staff will release information on communicable diseases to the proper agencies. Often this includes the area health department. They can then help the medical facility incorporate a plan of action to remedy the solution. The decision might be made to share the information with the area newspapers in an effort to allow them to protect themselves and to seek medical attention if they display the symptoms of a communicable disease that requires treatment.

Confidentiality also includes other medical staff. Nursing Assistants should not be disclosing any information they overhear among other staff in regards to a patient. Likewise, they should not disclose any information that they hear about the private interactions of staff. Often referred to as gossip, this violation of confidentiality can result in poor working relationships. The result is often a stressful work environment and patients not receiving the best care because lines of communication are not open.

To protect yourself, it is important that you clearly understand the basics of confidentiality and why it is so important in the Nursing Assistant profession. Make sure you are fully aware of the specific policies and procedures in place for the facility you work for prior to accepting employment. In addition, it is the responsibility of the Nursing Assistant to report any violations of the confidentiality policies and procedures to the proper person. Not doing so makes you as much a part of the violation as those who committed it.

While it is human nature to talk and discuss things in common, make sure the information you are sharing in regards to your work are being shared with those who need to know the information. It can be humiliating enough for individuals who need to be in a medical facility without worrying about who is going to find out about what took place while they were in care.

E. R. Nurses Shorthanded

This interesting article addresses some of the key issues regarding nurses. A careful reading of this material could make a big difference in how you think about nurses.

You rushed a friend at 10: 00 in the evening to the nearest hospital due to unbearable chest pain. But at the emergency department, you were greeted with a number for patients waiting to be attended to. It took 30 minutes before your friend was taken care of by the emergency nurses.

You wonder, what is this shortage about emergency nurses? Arent there enough people who would like to catch care of sick people anymore?

According to a study conducted by the researchers from Cambridge Health Alliance as reported in Health Affairs, wait times went up an average of 4. 1 percent per year for all patients. Unfortunately for passion attack patients, the wait stretched to 11. 2 percent every space. Blacks, Hispanics, womanliness and patients in urban hospitals have longer wait times that others.

So how long exactly are these percentages? For patients diagnosed with heart attacks, the waiting time in 1997 was 8 minutes, but in 2004 it rose to 20 minutes. Patients who needed attention within 15 minutes, according to the nurses who evaluated them, have to wait 10 minutes back in 1997. But in 2004, it went up to 14 minutes. Emergency room wait in urban hospitals was 30 minutes. While non – urban hospital emergency room wait is within 15 minutes.

So why are the numbers increasing?

Emergency visits rose by 78 percent from 1995 to 2003. But the number of the emergency departments to accommodate this rise fell by 12. 4 percent from 1995 to 2003. The number of patients rushing in to the emergency department to entertain medical attention can be attributed to the fact that there is an increase of underinsured and uninsured patients. The aging American population is again a factor.

According to the EMTALA or the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, everyone has the conscientious to be seen and attended to in the emergency department, whether they are able to wages or not. This served as safeguard for the underinsured and uninsured citizens.

There were several accounts of patients dying in the emergency room waiting area because of late waits even with critical undiagnosed conditions. Recently, a 19 year old woman died on the Kings County Hospital Center Psychiatric Emergency Department floor. The incident was recorded by the hospitals camera. It took an hour before someone took notice of the woman, but the patient was contemporary dead. The hospital was said to be understaffed.

Different measures are being taken to resolve the crisis in emergency departments and avoid unfortunate events like this. Glaringly resolutions are being directed to the Congress. Some of the proposed means to be taken are:

1. Quickly approving the $50 million in extra funding for hospitals that provide uncompensated care to uninsured patients.

2. Significantly increase a funding for tragedy preparedness in hospitals.

3. Establish an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services for emergency and trauma care, and create a demonstration program to promote a coordinated regional approach to emergency care

Dr. Andre Wilson, Chief of Emergency Medicine in William Beaumont Hospital in No problem Oak in Michigan released a toss around on the effect of the straight back approach in reducing emergency room wait time. On this approach, the patients are immediately moved from the triage to an emergency room treatment area without going through the waiting room. There is need for the tolerant to go though with the little registration procedure and have the patient chart available immediately. With this procedure, the Beaumont Hospital was said to have the satisfaction rating from their patients increased. This also thought to increase the hospitals revenues.

Hospitals are taking measures on reducing the staffing shortages their emergency gob are increasing. Emergency room nurses are much in demand nowadays to cope with the increasing number of sick patients requiring medical attention. we could have as many emergency room nurses, but the key issue is how to yield health care for everybody available at all times with minimal amount of wait.
If you’ve picked some pointers about nurses that you can put into action, then by all means, do so. You won’t really be able to gain any benefits from your new knowledge if you don’t use it.