Ideas needed for improving nursing practice

I'm a nursing student and this is what some of our courses are all about. CARING! One of our teachers says that she is trying to change and improve nursing one bit at a time through us. SHe doesn't say that people who have been nurses for a long time are bad nurses at all. She knows you're all WONDERFUL she just knows that it becomes crazy sometimes and wants to teach us how to not let that happen (or maybe not so often).

Anyways, back to your question... I haven't worked in the hospital yet cause I'm only 5 weeks into my degree but they talk a lot about making sure the client is turned often (if bedridden) and that they have cream and massage used if appropriate. I know from being in the hospital as a patient, any extra attention, even comforting conversation while my iv bag was being changed made a world of a difference. Again, most of this may be completely irrelevant because you may be doing it all already! Hope it helps or leads to some ideas!

ps we learned about those bath bags the other day in class and I was wondering...

I found a good area to work on in practice is the staff satisfaction portion and staff rights. I found surveys to be of help. We used those responses to improve staff satisfaction with policies and procedures, general satisfaction level, improvement of benies, creating of a "voice" for staff esp. in places where there is no union or committee respresentation for staff.

We also looked at admission paperwork to streamline that process and care planning and documentation could always be better. Whether you use SOAP, or targeting charting that reflects things like focus 1 or 2 on the care plan or something like that.

Of course infection rates are good because you can base your findings on good reasons to evaluate/update P&P with things like catheter care, etc.

Studies are good for educational information to standardize for staff to begin teaching of things like meds or procedures. They are good but alot of hospitals have those where other health care entities do not.

Orientation can always be tweeked with responses from those who evaluate the program at its completion.

Does any of this help?

renerian

Thanks renerian those are great....we are doing staff ones but Orientation is one we have not looked at !....and most important to the retention of staff

YOur welcome OZ! Cute name.........feels like that sometime doesn't it!

renerian

Number One suggestion?

Once you have graduated from school, NO MORE CARE PLANS!!!!!!

No one has time to look at them and they do not improve the residents quality of life (speaking LTC here only).

Care Plans are a useful learning tool, but that is it. They consume too much Nurse time that could be better spent on Residents.

Nuff said!

We do not have time to look at them in home health either......

renerian

Hello Nurses:

I would like to announce the addition of "Free Spanish one Phrase a Week With Audio-Voice Message" To my web site:

spanish4nurses.com

Sincerely,

Pilar

Spanish4nurses.com

Neat website. Do you offer standard spanish educational information as well as medical spanish?

renerian

Hi chicky!, We do the whole 2nd day showering too, crappy aint'it? We have to do bed baths on certain days, even days these beds, odd days those beds.

How about inservicing on basic proceedures, we have a LOT of AINs off the street I took some on bed making, infection control, cleaning razors( my pet hate is a dirty razor in the am shift!LOL!), Updates on new dressing techniques( we do "clean" not "sterile" dressings), the diference between "duty of care" and the charter- what falls into the AINs scope of practice and so on up the line.

More efficient use of charting to comply with the new program, to avoid double charting but still get the govt. funding when audited.

Fire safety and evacuation proceedures are good to use too, they seem to like that, also cleanup proceedures(blood-spills ect), activity programs are also usefull as are rehab programs that can be nurse initiated.

Good luck! Hope this helps!

Oh Johnson and Johnson market a range of non-soap products that are very good and cost effecctive, your lot might want to take a look, also look at incontinence management- types of napkins used etc.

Taking back our power might help. May I suggest a solution.

I think we can corrent all of the major problems in nursing by simply having all of us take the same day off. Let's say February 11th, 2003, all nurses on duty go home and no, I repeat no nurse comes into work that day. This would include all LPNS, RNs, ADNs, BSNs, MSNs, and RN/Phds. Exactly 24 hours later we return to work and see have some meaningful discussion with the powers in charge.

Aussie nurse.......off the subject.....................does the NSW area require nurses to have a three year degree or is two okay to work there? Do you know?

renerian