Archive for category: Guest Blog Posts

Over the last several decades, technology in the healthcare space has steadily been evolving. In recent years, however, this evolution has seemingly exploded with incredible technology now enabling medical professionals to aid patients in profound ways.

One demographic of American patients that is in dire need of increased healthcare resources is those in rural areas. Gaining perspective on how new technology in healthcare can help provide rural residents with the care they need can give one a more nuanced perspective on the way technology is impacting healthcare.

Here is how technology will transform patient care in rural areas.

Telehealth is Making Rural Healthcare More Accessible

In rural areas, there are a number of barriers standing between residents and healthcare. One of the most difficult challenges is a lack of medical facilities and medical professionals located in rural areas. Oftentimes, this means that rural residents will have to travel for several hours just to see a doctor.

As one can imagine, the resources needed to build new medical facilities are immense. To make matters worse, not many medical professionals are keen on living in rural areas, and it could take years to build new facilities even if the proper funds were secured.

Thankfully, telehealth has presented itself as a potent and effective solution that can help solve the issue of a lack of rural healthcare facilities. Essentially, telehealth is the practice of providing healthcare through the use of electronic technology. 

In its most common forms, telehealth involves patients communicating with medical professionals remotely through phone calls or video calls. This alleviates some of the need for rural residents to travel significant distances to see medical professionals.

Unfortunately, telehealth is not yet at an advanced stage that completely dissolves the need for rural residents to see their medical providers in person. However, as technology evolves and new ways of engaging in telehealth become normalized, this may one day change. 

Hopefully, new technology will be able to solve the problem of remote healthcare and provide rural residents with a way to receive robust care and experience better health outcomes. 

Robots Can Help Medical Professionals Perform Procedures More Successfully

As has been noted, many rural areas across America lack key medical resources. Even when there are clinics and medical facilities in these areas, they may not have the proper equipment and professionals to perform specific types of procedures. For rural residents, this means having no other option than having to travel significant distances to have procedures performed. 

Robots, however, are beginning to play a more important role in healthcare. What may have once seemed like an idea out of a science fiction movie has now started to become reality as robots are helping medical professionals perform surgeries and procedures. 

For rural residents, this means that more types of procedures may be offered in local clinics as a result of an influx of new medical robots. This can help medical providers ensure that they’re providing amazing care to rural residents in need of surgery and procedures. As such, the next decade will likely see a great boost in rural healthcare offerings as more healthcare organizations take advantage of medical robots that can help perform procedures. 

Remote Patient Monitoring is Providing Rural Residents with More Convenience

Traditionally, treating patients remotely posed some key challenges for medical providers. Specifically, medical providers had to trust that patients were being consistent in their self-care and were unable to know if patient vitals were off in real-time. This could often result in poor health outcomes for patients who weren’t stringent in their self-care duties. 

Today, however, technology has evolved to the point where medical professionals have the opportunity to monitor patients remotely in real-time. This form of technology has impacted nursing and other medical fields profoundly by making remote care a more viable option. 

For rural residents, this can have a number of benefits. Rather than noticing declines in health when it’s too late, medical professionals can notify rural residents immediately if their vitals become irregular or worrisome. 

One technology that is helping to make this possible is a form of AI called machine learning. Essentially, this form of AI learns over time by studying masses of patient data. As a result, machines powered by machine learning software can alert medical providers if a rural resident’s health is taking a negative turn. 

As time goes on, many are hopeful that technology will continue to make remote monitoring of patients more effective. In this way, technology can help rural residents experience better health outcomes with increased regularity despite a lack of rural medical facilities. 

Technology is Helping Rural Residents Achieve Optimal Health Outcomes

While rural residents have faced a number of healthcare obstacles over the last decades, technology is presenting itself as a powerful tool to overcome these challenges. From making remote monitoring more effective to utilizing robots to help with medical procedures, medical technology is transforming the way that rural residents receive care. 

As time goes on, many are hopeful that technology in healthcare will continue to evolve and provide rural residents with more amazing care options that can potentially transform their lives.

When people hear nurse, their mind typically jumps to bedside nursing. And while this is a noble, common manifestation of the profession, it’s also just the tip of the iceberg. There are many different types of nurses, each providing a unique kind of care and expertise.

Understanding the different types of nurses can help you make important career choices, or simply just understand the healthcare system better. In this article, we take a look at several of the many different types of nurses and describe what they do on the job. 

In-Patient Versus Outpatient Nursing

Most people will have interactions with in-patient nurses at some point in their life. If you are ever admitted to the hospital, this is the person who will take care of you. They perform a wide range of duties, including performing tests and helping to ensure your comfort. 

Out-patient nurses often work in the hospital setting as well, but with patients that don’t need to be admitted. For example, if you are getting ongoing blood work, or if you find yourself in the emergency room, you will probably be involved in outpatient care. The hospital treats you and then sends you home that same day. 

However, there are situations in which outpatient nurses may travel to the patient’s house. This is typically done in situations where the patient would not otherwise be able to access care. 

School Nurse

School nursing is often a frequent first job for newly minted nurses. School nurses work in educational environments to assess student health and provide basic care to people who are deemed to need it throughout the school day. 

Nutrition Nurse

You can hire a nutrition nurse if you are trying to optimize your food intake to achieve a specific health goal (weight loss, lower blood pressure, better overall nutrition, etc). Nutrition nurses can help their patients come up with food plans, and monitor their progress with said food plans over time. 

Sometimes nutrition nurses are brought in after a specific incident. For example, if a person has a cardiac event, they may be referred to a nutrition nurse as a way of helping them make the lifestyle changes required for continued health. 

In other situations, people may hire nutrition nurses to help them meet their own goals. 

Nurse Educators

Nurse educators work in schools, teaching the next generation of nurses. They usually will have several years of experience on the job, and will most likely need to at least have a master’s degree to be eligible for the job.

Because they have real-life experience, they are well-positioned to guide students through the hands-on elements of nursing education. 

Hospice Nurse

Hospice nurses are brought in toward the end of life to help improve the patient’s comfort level. Once hospice begins, most patients are no longer looking for a cure for their condition. Instead, the hospice nurse works to reduce pain and help the patient achieve at least some degree of normalcy with their eating and sleeping habits. 

Hospice nurses continue to advocate for their patients right up until the end, modifying their care as much as possible to suit their needs while also working with their families to facilitate visits and ensure that the patient’s final wishes are being honored. 

Informatics Nurses

Informatics nursing is a relatively recent development that combines the responsibilities of a hospital nurse with those of a data analyst. Informatics nurses may look both at individual patient data, and analytics for an entire community to help improve the hospital’s ability to provide high-quality care. 

In addition to getting an RN certification, informatics nurses also need to be licensed specifically for data analysis. Because this is a relatively new profession, not all regions of the country have access to informatics nurses. 

Nurse Ethicist

Nurse ethicists work to advise hospitals on policies relating to healthcare ethics. They may also be brought in to advise in situations where the ethics of a choice made at the hospital are in question. They may work directly with other nurses to educate and remind them about the ethical elements of their job.

You may interact with a nurse ethicist as a layperson if your loved one is unable to make medical decisions for themselves. When a decision needs to be made about withdrawing life support, nurse ethicists are brought in to work with members to make the best possible decision. 

Homecare Nurses

Homecare nurses provide patients who can no longer take care of themselves with long-term care. If you come to the conclusion that an aged family member can no longer live on their own, you may look for the services of a home care nurse. 

That said, there are various forms of ongoing care. In certain cases, when the person requiring care is in good health, they may just need someone to help them with a simple task. Running errands. Performing light housework. Helping them with personal hygiene, etc. 

These tasks do not require the services of a home care nurse. However, if the patient has extenuating health conditions that require constant supervision the services of a home care nurse may be required. 

Flight Nurse

Flight nurses work out of airplanes, providing care in situations where someone becomes sick on a plane, or when they need to be transported by air to another hospital. They may perform the same duties as an ER nurse, but within a very unique environment that takes years of experience to master. 

Flight nurses usually need to have at least several years of experience on the job. They are also required to get a special certification to be eligible for the job. 

Conclusion

Navigating the healthcare system on your own is hard. If you are trying to secure care for yourself or someone that you care about, it helps to know what questions to ask. Above we have described some of the many different types of nursing jobs out there. However, there are many other types of nursing as well. 

To secure the right kind of care, begin by researching the symptoms or conditions that need treatment. From there, it is easier to find the appropriate specialties. 

For any healthcare provider, there is nothing more important than providing the highest quality patient care possible. A healthcare provider that doesn’t put the well-being of its patients first is one that is doomed to failure. Not only that but a patient-centric approach keeps your patients safe and well-treated. 

Of course, it’s not just a matter of treatment that needs to be considered when it comes to patient care, you also need to consider how the management of your hospital or healthcare facility can improve the care you provide to your patients. In this article, we’re going to look at some ways that you can improve patient care by improving your management.

Embracing technology

There are no areas of modern life that aren’t massively impacted by technology. For most organizations, being able to keep up with technological advances means ensuring business success, for healthcare facilities and hospitals, it can mean the difference between life and death. Screening services like those provided by Echelon Health, or improved communication software that allows staff to communicate more effectively can make a huge difference to the quality of care that you’re able to give to your patients. Technology shouldn’t replace a focus on your patients. Instead, it should support and improve the treatment that you provide to them.

Sharing information

Communication is one of the most underrated skills in the healthcare industry. Patients no longer just exist within the role of those receiving treatments, they are far more involved in their own treatments in the modern era. Providing training to all employees on how to communicate the science, data, and technology behind treatments is an essential duty for anyone in a management role in your facility. Not only that but workers need to be trained on how to discuss these things with patients in a careful and considerate way. Not only that but communication between staff members needs to be both encouraged and fostered by management.

Effectively manage data

Record keeping is important for any organization but there are few places where it is more crucial to ensure that your records are both accurate and fully up to date than in healthcare. After all, if your patient records aren’t up to date, you’re not going to be able to provide the best possible treatment. Not only that but there are a lot of laws and regulations that need to be abided by when it comes to things like the protection of patient data. If the information in your hospital or healthcare facility isn’t secure and protected, that could end up as a major breach of both medical ethics and the law.

There’s no doubt that running any kind of healthcare facility is a serious challenge. You’re likely to find yourself spinning a whole lot of plates at the same time. However, making sure that your management is assisting with a patient focussed approach is essential both for the success of your facility and the well-being of the people who matter most, your patients.

Patient safety is a critical component of healthcare that involves protecting patients from harm caused by medical errors or adverse events. Patient safety is an essential element of healthcare as it helps to ensure that patients receive the highest quality of care possible. The consequences of patient safety incidents can be devastating, leading to patient harm, injury, and even death.

This article will focus on the importance of identity management in patient safety. The process of patient identity management is essential in healthcare, as it enables healthcare providers to accurately identify and confirm their patients’ identities, which is crucial for providing safe and effective care. By ensuring that patients are correctly identified, healthcare providers can deliver safe and effective care that meets the patient’s needs.

Patient Identity Management

Patient identity management is the process of ensuring that healthcare providers correctly identify and confirm the identity of their patients. This process is essential to patient safety and patient care, as it helps to prevent medical errors that can result from misidentification or incorrect patient information. The importance of accurately managing patient identity cannot be overstressed.

Accurately identifying patients is critical to ensure that they receive the right care, treatment, and medication. When patients are misidentified, the risk of medical errors and adverse events increases, which can have serious consequences for patient safety and the quality of care they receive.

Examples of patient identity management include:

• Incorporating biometric patient identification solutions, such as iris or facial recognition, which can increase accuracy and efficiency of patient identification
• Integration with patient portals or mobile applications that allow patients to verify their own identity and access their health information
• Automatic alerts for potential identity mismatches or duplicates in the EHR system to prevent errors and ensure accurate patient identification
• Establishing policies and procedures for safeguarding patient information, such as encrypting data and limiting access to authorized personnel
• Educating staff and patients about the risks of medical identity theft and how to prevent it, such as being cautious when sharing personal information online or with unauthorized individuals

By implementing patient identity management processes and technologies, healthcare providers can improve patient safety and ensure that patients receive the right care at the right time.

Patient Safety Risks and Factors Affecting Patient Safety

Identifying patient safety risks is essential to prevent harm and ensure patient safety. By recognizing and addressing potential risks, healthcare providers can reduce the likelihood of medical errors and adverse events.

Several factors can affect patient safety, including:

• Problems arising from a lack of effective communication between healthcare providers and patients
• Inadequate staff training and education
• Medication errors
• Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
• Infections acquired while receiving care from a hospital or healthcare facility
• Incidents of patient falls and other associated injuries
• Equipment failures or malfunctions

Patient safety indicators (PSIs) are measures that can help healthcare providers identify potential safety risks and improve patient safety. Examples of PSIs include hospital-acquired infections, surgical complications, and patient falls. The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 was enacted to motivate healthcare providers to report and analyze patient safety events and implement strategies to prevent future occurrences.

By understanding the factors that can affect patient safety and implementing PSIs, healthcare providers can take proactive steps to prevent harm and improve patient safety.

Four Main Roles in Patient Safety

Patient safety is a shared responsibility that involves a range of stakeholders in healthcare. There are four main roles that contribute to patient safety:

1. Patients and families: Patients and families play a vital role in ensuring their own safety. They can ask questions, provide accurate and complete information, and participate in their care decisions to help prevent medical errors.
2. Healthcare providers: Healthcare providers, including doctors, nurses, and other clinicians, are responsible for providing safe and effective care. They can improve patient safety by communicating effectively, verifying patient identity, and following established protocols and procedures.
3. Healthcare organizations: Healthcare organizations, including hospitals, clinics, and other facilities, have a responsibility to create a culture of safety and implement policies and procedures that prioritize patient safety. They can support patient safety by providing staff training and education, implementing quality improvement programs, and reporting and analyzing safety events.
4. Regulatory agencies: Regulatory agencies, including government bodies and accrediting organizations, are responsible for establishing and enforcing standards of care to promote patient safety. They can improve patient safety by monitoring healthcare providers’ compliance with regulations and promoting best practices.

Each role is critical to ensuring patient safety. Patients and families can act as advocates for their own care, while healthcare providers, organizations, and regulatory agencies can create a culture of safety and implement best practices to prevent harm and improve patient outcomes.

Principles of Patient Safety in Healthcare

Patient safety is a fundamental component of quality healthcare. There are several principles of patient safety that guide healthcare providers in their efforts to prevent harm and improve patient outcomes.

1. Patient-centeredness: Patient-centered care is an approach that prioritizes the patient’s values, preferences, and needs in healthcare decision-making. Patient-centered care involves communication, collaboration, and shared decision-making between patients, families, and healthcare providers.
2. Teamwork and collaboration: Effective teamwork and collaboration are essential for patient safety. Healthcare providers must work together to communicate effectively, share information, and coordinate care to prevent medical errors and improve patient outcomes.
3. Communication: Communication is a critical aspect of patient safety. Healthcare providers must communicate effectively with patients and other providers to ensure accurate and complete information is exchanged and understood.
4. Continuous learning and improvement: Healthcare providers must continuously learn and improve their practices to provide safe and effective care. They must stay up to date with current research and best practices, and engage in ongoing quality improvement initiatives to enhance patient safety.
5. Culture of safety: A culture of safety is one in which patient safety is a top priority, and where healthcare providers are empowered to identify and report safety events without fear of retaliation. This culture promotes transparency, accountability, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Each principle is essential to promoting patient safety and ensuring high-quality healthcare. By adopting these principles, healthcare providers can help prevent harm, improve patient outcomes, and promote a culture of safety.

Goals and Strategies for Ensuring Patient Safety

Patient safety goals and strategies are essential components of healthcare quality improvement initiatives. They provide a framework for healthcare providers to prevent harm and improve patient outcomes.

Patient Safety Goals

The National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) are a set of guidelines established by The Joint Commission to promote specific patient safety initiatives in healthcare organizations. The NPSGs address a variety of safety concerns, including patient identification, infection prevention, medication safety, and communication.

Internationally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has established Global Patient Safety Challenge initiatives that address specific patient safety concerns, such as medication safety and healthcare-associated infections.

Patient Safety Strategies

Patient safety strategies are specific approaches that healthcare providers can use to improve patient safety. Examples of patient safety strategies include:

• Standardizing procedures and protocols to reduce variability and improve consistency in care delivery.
• Utilizing technology to reduce medical errors, such as electronic prescribing systems and barcoding.
• Implementing effective communication protocols to ensure accurate and timely information exchange between healthcare providers and patients.
• Educating and training healthcare providers on patient safety principles, strategies, and best practices.

NHS Patient Safety Strategy

In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service (NHS) has established a patient safety strategy that focuses on five key areas:

1. Improving culture and leadership to promote a strong commitment to patient safety throughout the NHS.
2. Reducing patient harm by improving the safety of medication, surgery, and other high-risk areas of care.
3. Engaging patients and their families in safety efforts to promote shared decision-making and patient-centered care.
4. Developing a skilled and competent workforce that is equipped to provide safe and effective care.
5. Using data and measurement to continuously monitor and improve patient safety outcomes.

By establishing and implementing patient safety goals and strategies, healthcare providers can make significant strides in improving patient safety and enhancing the quality of care delivered to patients.

Framework for Addressing Safety Incidents in Patient Care

The Patient Safety Response Framework for Managing Incidents is a systematic approach to responding to patient safety incidents in healthcare. It involves identifying and reporting incidents, analyzing the root causes, and developing and implementing solutions to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

The importance of the incident response framework in patient safety cannot be overstated. Responding to incidents promptly and effectively can prevent harm to patients and improve the overall quality of care. The framework also promotes a culture of safety by encouraging open communication, reporting, and learning from mistakes.

Implementing an incident response framework requires healthcare organizations to establish policies and procedures for reporting incidents, conducting investigations, and implementing corrective actions. It also involves training staff on incident response and creating a supportive culture that encourages reporting and learning from incidents.

Overall, the incident response framework is an essential component of patient safety in healthcare, as it provides a systematic approach to identifying and addressing patient safety incidents, ultimately leading to enhanced quality of care leading to improved patient outcomes

Patient Safety and the Importance of Caregiver Awareness

Patient safety awareness is an essential aspect of ensuring patient safety in healthcare. It involves the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to identify and prevent patient safety incidents. Healthcare organizations can promote patient safety awareness by providing ongoing training to staff and promoting a culture of safety.

One way to promote patient safety awareness is through the use of patient safety attendants. Patient safety attendants are trained professionals who are responsible for monitoring patients and ensuring their safety. They are especially important for patients who are at risk of falls or other types of patient safety incidents. Patient safety attendants can help prevent patient safety incidents by identifying potential risks and taking action to address them.

Patient safety is an essential element of healthcare delivery. It involves the prevention of harm to patients through the identification and mitigation of patient safety risks. Ensuring patient safety involves vital patient identity management, which guarantees timely and appropriate healthcare services are delivered to patients. This necessitates the use of unique combinations of patient identifiers to accurately identify patients and their corresponding medical records.

Healthcare organizations can promote patient safety by implementing patient safety goals, strategies, and incident response frameworks. They can also promote patient safety awareness through ongoing training and the use of patient safety attendants.

In conclusion, patient safety is a shared responsibility that requires the involvement of healthcare providers, patients, and their families. By working together, we can create a culture of safety that prioritizes the well-being of patients and ensures the delivery of high-quality healthcare services.