CVME Insider: Nursing Knowledge That Matters

Sharps injuries? Sharps injuries  are a significant injury and health hazard for health care workers and also result in a  number of direct and indirect organizational costs . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 385,000 sharps-related injuries occur annually among health care workers in hospitals. More recent data from the Exposure Prevention Information Network (EPINet™) suggest these injuries can be reduced, as sharps-related injuries in nonsurgical hospital settings decreased 31.6% during 2001–2006 (following the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act of 2000) . However, injuries in surgical settings increased 6.5% in the same period, where adoption of safety devices was limited compared to nonsurgical settings. It has been estimated about half or more of sharps injuries go unreported. Most reported sharps injuries involve nursing staff, but laboratory staff, physicians, housekeepers, and other health care workers are also injured. ...

We have been teaching CPR , ACLS , and PALS for over 5 years now and I always get the same complaint from many students.  "Why do we have to watch those stupid videos?"  We know that some of the videos you watch can be boring or repetitive; however, there is a madness behind the methods from the American Heart Association. A recent student from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania finds "using a video to train members of patients at risk for cardiac arrest in CPR may be just as effective as using the traditional hands-on method with a manikin." "The findings suggest simplified and more cost-effective approaches may be useful for disseminating CPR education to families of at-risk patients and the general public. The results are being presented during the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2015." (Abella, MD, MPhil) The cardiac arrests in the United States are typically responded and treat...

reprinted with the permission of     Donna Maheady   www.ExceptionalNurse.com "Jasmine Stacey, 24, a nurse in the UK has Crohn's disease.  She underwent surgery to remove part of her intestine when she was 20 years old and needed an ileostomy bag. Jasmine has launched a new line of luxury lingerie that allows women who also have stoma bags to feel sexy again. The nurse/designer said she was "inspired to come up with a stylish range of underwear by the lack of seductive garments available for women in her position". "I want to take the stigma away from having a stoma bag and prove you can still be sexy with underwear.  "I want to get the message out there that it is not as bad as people think and that young people have stoma bags as well as old people." "We hope our underwear is stylish without being flimsy and empowers women to feel confident whether they have stoma bags, scars, or simply want more stomach control."  ...