VNA Care (VNA of Boston, VNA Care Network, VNA Hospice and Palliative Care, Private Duty Care)’s Post

Good morning everyone! Starting the day with a positive mindset is essential, especially in critical care settings. Working in Intensive Care Units (ICU) requires dedication, attention to detail, and quick decision-making. Each shift brings new challenges, but it's also an opportunity to make a significant impact on patients' lives. 💡 Did you know? In the ICU, multidisciplinary teamwork is key. Physicians, nurses, and allied healthcare professionals work together to provide comprehensive care, ensuring the best possible outcomes for critically ill patients. 🏥 "Success in healthcare is not just about individual expertise but collective collaboration and compassion." Wishing everyone a productive and inspiring day! #CriticalCare #HealthcareProfessionals #Teamwork #ICU #PatientCare

Improving Patient Care: The Importance of Nurse-Patient Ratios Discover why nurse-patient ratios are crucial for quality care. Learn how different states and unions implement these ratios, ensuring patient safety and optimal outcomes. Explore the impact of ratios in ICU, PACU, and MedSERVs settings, along with the role of LPNs and As. #PatientCare #NursePatientRatios #PatientSafety #QualityCare #HealthcareStandards #NursingLaws #LPNs #RegisteredNurses #OptimalOutcomes #Nursing

Meet Jo, a #TeamCHS Clinical Nurse Consultant on the Acute Medicine Unit. She shared with us intricacies of our patient discharge process. ‘From the very moment a patient is admitted, our discharge planning kicks in. While our goal is to have patients return to their comforting home environment, their safety remains our top priority. This isn’t just a one-day effort – we reassess and plan every single day.’ Patient involvement is key to a smooth discharge. ‘We keep patients informed about their plans. If discharge is possible, we discuss their needs and organise pharmacy, follow-ups, and more. Our aim is to have patients safely on their way home before 10AM.’ Jo also explained ‘criteria lead discharge.’ ‘I This is our way of staying a step ahead. Identifying patients who, come morning, are ready to leave without further medical evaluations. With all set, some can set off as early as 7AM’ Coordinating across departments is crucial. ‘We ensure timely flow and communication, advocating quality and safety of discharge planning from day one,’ Jo added. Finally, Jo's advice for efficient discharge? ‘Build genuine connections with patients. Maintain open channels of communication. It's our holistic approach to care that truly makes a difference.’ #SafeDischarge #PatientSupport #HospitalJourney

✍️Blog Alert: "Bridging the Gap: Solutions to the Nursing Shortage"! Dive into our latest post to explore the root causes of the nursing shortage and discover actionable strategies to overcome this pressing challenge. Let’s work together to ensure quality patient care and support our dedicated healthcare professionals! Read more here: https://hubs.li/Q02T6WSS0

"It's not my fault... ... there was an order!" __________________ PRN (as needed) orders are a great way to keep patients comfortable, avoid using telephone/verbal orders, and give nurses autonomy when managing admitted patients in a hospital. Common PRN orders are for pain, elevated blood pressure, etc... For the non-medical folks here... these are typically something like "Ibuprofen 600mg by mouth every eight hours as needed for pain". This means the patient does not get the medication routinely, but it's available for the nurse to administer should the patient need it. HOWEVER... PRN orders should NOT be used to simply "keep the nurse from calling me". This mindset creates a situation where two bad things can happen: 1. Potentially dangerous medications are available as PRN orders, and the assigned nurse might not fully recognize the potential adverse effects of this medication... because they assume if it's ordered... it must be "safe". 2. Too many PRN orders can be stacked on top of each other... creating a situation where the provider intended for only one medication to be given, but multiple medications are technically available to the nurse based on how the orders are written. Experienced nurses understand these pitfalls. They would never give a medication they don't fully understand. They would never give multiple medications of the same class, just because they were available as PRNs. Newer, less experienced nurses might not have the clinical acumen to make these distinctions. As you might expect... I just reviewed a case involving this exact situation. The outcome was bad. It could have been worse... but it was bad enough. ＴＡＫＥ ＨＯＭＥ ＭＥＳＳＡＧＥ 𝙿̲𝚑̲𝚢̲𝚜̲𝚒̲𝚌̲𝚒̲𝚊̲𝚗̲𝚜̲: Assume ALL of your PRN orders will be given. Every single one. 𝙽̲𝚞̲𝚛̲𝚜̲𝚎̲𝚜̲: Understand all the PRN orders and how they interact. Pick up the phone if you have questions. 𝙰̲𝚝̲𝚝̲𝚘̲𝚛̲𝚗̲𝚎̲𝚢̲𝚜̲: Analyze the admit orders AND the Medication Administration Records... understand the difference and look for PRN orders to determine if they were used appropriately by both the physician and the nurse #medicalmalpractice #expertwitness

👩⚕️ How Nurse4u works for people receiving support👨🍼 # A private nurse who is right for you through Nurse4U Get more choice and control with Nurse4U - Choose your services - Get more hours of support from your funding - Choose who supports you, and when 👉🏾 The level of care they provide is different. 🫵 A home care nurse - Registered nurses can assess patient needs and complete more complex healthcare tasks, such as wound care, continence education and dispensing medications. 🫵 A support worker - Support workers support people who need assistance with tasks in their home or community, rather than assistance with health or medical issues. 👩⚕️ In-home nurses from Nurse4U can assist with a range of healthcare needs. These include, but are not limited to: # Conducting health assessments # Medication management # Dementia support # Pain management # Oxygen therapy # Post-operative recovery # Wound care # Catheter care # Continence management # Palliative care Contact : www.nurse4u.com.au

The care we deliver is guided by what is most impactful for each patient, complementing other care touchpoints within the healthcare ecosystem. Become a Matrix Medical Network clinician and make your impact today! https://bit.ly/3BWufDS #nurse #prn

I really believe in providing education to the public we are serving. This helps to facilitate a smoother approach between the patients, patients loved one and the healthcare team. As we all know knowledge is power. It’s very hard for a patient/their loved ones to understanding why healthcare is not a first come first serve paradigm. I appreciate you breaking down the levels and the need of resources. You are correct the assigned ESI shouldn’t change. However, there are many that state/ believe once a patient is in the back and assessments are performed; the ESI level needs to match the items ordered for the patient. Depending on the timeframe from original triage to present some conditions have changed in the patient. One thing I believe is anyone in the triage position should have a keen assessment ability and working understanding of what is needed at each level. Great topic for discussion!

The care we deliver is guided by what is most impactful for each patient, complementing other care touchpoints within the healthcare ecosystem. Become a Matrix Medical Network clinician and make your impact today! https://bit.ly/3VP1KxY #nurse #prn

Interesting Malpractice Case to review RE: ED R.N. having neglected an ED patient of pertinent nursing care along with poor documentation in patient's EMR: (Feedback welcome about your or a similar experience;) https://lnkd.in/eKZ4KNkC