All Articles by Jennifer Bunn, RN
Mrs. Bunn is a registered nurse who has been practicing for over 15 years.
Fall Prevention – Who is Ultimately Responsible?
It seems that as of October 1, 2008, Medicare will no longer be reimbursing hospitals for eight conditions that befall patients who are hospitalized, and that might have been reasonably prevented using certain evidence-based measures.These eight conditions include:* Pressure ulcers (bed sores) * Objects left in patients during surgical procedures * Falls suffered by patients while in hospital * Blood incompatibility
Viruses Cause Cancer?
In the 11th Report on Carcinogens, the US government added Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, and certain papilloma viruses to their list of substances known to be carcinogenic. This represented the first time ever that viruses were included.At the sixth annual International Conference of the American Association for Cancer Research, Dr. Andrew J. Dannenberg stated, "I believe that, conservatively, 15 to 20% of all cancer is caused by infections, however, the number could be larger, maybe double."
Emergency Rooms – Overcrowded and Understaffed
Who is to blame when patients die in overcrowded and understaffed emergency rooms?The story of the death of a psychiatric patient in a large Brooklyn, New York hospital got my attention, both as a nurse and as a human being. These stories are, thankfully, rare but still happen too frequently. In this case, lack of a bed for the patient was cited as the reason the patient was in the ER for almost 24 hours. The patient was reportedly suffering from a psychiatric condition, but deaths of patients have occurred in emergency rooms among patients with medical conditions as well.
The Eighth Leading Cause of Death in the U.S. is…
The eighth leading cause of death in the U.S. is medication error. This statistic may surprise you. Other frightening statistics include the following:* 7,000 deaths occur each year that are directly attributable to medication errors. * Errors occur around 1 in 5 times that medication is administered. * The FDA estimates 1 death per day due to medication errors.The three most common errors are giving an improper dose, giving the wrong drug, and giving the drug by the wrong route (for example, intravenous instead of oral).
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- The Brain’s Buying Power
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- Salvia Divinorum – DEA Control over Magic in the Mint
Comments
- Emily Haines, MSc, PhD student: Thanks for your comments, Matt
- Emily Haines, MSc, PhD student: Thanks for your comments and s
- Alex: While we have our eyes glued t
- Richard Kensinger, MSW: Carla,You are absolutely c
- Soraya L. Valles: I'm interested in astrocytes.
- Raymond Tallis: Dear Kitty, I have come to you
- Steven: After smoking for 17 years dai
- Matt: I'm just interested in hearing
- Carla Easley: If everyone adopted the "Growt
- Isabel (retired RN): I second that query for resear
- David: How about some citations to pe
- MrsK: @Dawn - I agree with your stat
