Effectively treating critically ill patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a challenge for many intensive care nurses. Multiple disease processes and injuries contribute to the complexity of ARDS and often complicate therapy. As a means of supportive care for ARDS, practitioners resort to rescue therapies to improve oxygenation and salvage the patient. The pathophysiology of ARDS and the use of prone positioning to improve pulmonary ventilation and oxygenation in ARDS patients are described. Educating nursing and medical staff on the use of prone positioning allows ease of patient placement with an emphasis on safety of both patients and staff. Scrupulous assessment of patients coupled with judicious timing of prone positioning expedites weaning from ventilatory support and contributes to positive outcomes for patients. (Critical Care Nurse. 2015;35[6]:29-37)
Background:
Patient safety may be compromised by ineffective communication. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing's Baccalaureate Nursing (BSN)
Essentials
state that effective communication skills are vital for nursing students to deliver safe patient care.
Method:
Faculty developed materials—including trigger videos—to teach nursing students effective communication in response to difficult workplace conversations. Students were surveyed after instruction and viewing scenarios demonstrating difficult conversations. Students prepared smartphone videos using scripting and received feedback from faculty and peers.
Results:
Increased comfort in addressing difficult conversations was noted for communication following medication errors (
p
= .011) and bullying (
p
< .001) scenarios. Students were likely to report delegation issues (
p
< .001) yet were less sure about reporting medication errors (
p
< .001) or bullying (
p
< .001). Students were less likely to use avoidance in addressing bullying (
p
= .015) but were unsure if they would avoid addressing medication errors (
p
= .004).
Conclusion:
The project provided innovative strategies to teach effective communication to nursing students.
[
J Nurs Educ.
2019;58(9):538–542.]
Interactive video modules can be used to foster patient teaching skills early in the nursing curriculum. Future studies are needed to evaluate the ability to transfer skills learned to the clinical setting. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(5):296-299.].
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