It is unclear what role the experimental drug and convalescent plasma had in the recovery of these patients. Prospective clinical trials are needed to delineate the role of investigational therapies in the care of patients with EVD.
A quality improvement initiative was undertaken to reduce restraint use in 4 acute care hospitals within a single health system. A variety of initiatives and interventions were used including the following: implementation of multidisciplinary rounds on restrained patients, increased availability of restraint alternatives, development of unit-based restraint champions, and education of both staff and health care providers about restraints. The health care system has maintained a quarterly restraint prevalence rate of less than 2.26% with 1 variant.
This article focuses on the type of problems that lead to false or nonactionable clinical alarms and the type of data that can help identify which of these alarms are most prevalent in specific units in healthcare facilities. The process of identifying necessary data is first described, as this activity will drive later choices on capturing data. This article also discusses how to use the data collected in alarm reports to help determine which alarms should be targeted first for improved management in a pilot environment. Suggestions are provided on how to reduce false and nonactionable alarm signals and how to monitor to ensure no untoward consequences occur from new alarm default settings. The information provided here can be individualized to hospitals and units to enhance alarm management with physiological monitor alarms. It also can be adapted to reduce nonactionable alarm signals occurring from other medical devices.
Objective
The objective of this study was to determine if patient and family advisors’ (PFAs) collaboration in an educational program could increase the empathy levels of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses.
Background
Data suggest that nurse empathy is on the decline. Ensuring that nurses consistently empathize with patients and families helps create positive patient experiences.
Methods
Thirty nurses participated in a PFA-designed educational intervention using simulation-based role playing. The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) was used to measure empathy before and after the intervention.
Results
The TEQ empathy scores increased significantly after nurses completed the PFA-designed educational program. Younger nurses (<30 years) improved on average 3.03 ± 3.6 points compared with older nurses (>30 years), who improved, on average, only 0.43 ± 2.06 points (t
24.4 = 2.46, P = .021). For the changes in TEQ scores from preintervention to postintervention, age was significantly associated with improvements in TEQ scores.
Conclusions
Patient and family advisors can positively impact empathy among ICU nurses.
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