Patients need a nurse, not a computer

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YthF86QDOXYHealthcare is changing. And not for the better. Behind all the pretty pictures on billboards showing a world where everyone "Thrives" there is a sinister reality. As local hospitals and clinics are gobbled up by giant corporations, the theme is cut costs (by which they mean your care) and raise their profits.

TV ads tell you that you can get your diagnosis at home via Telemedicine without ever setting foot in the emergency room. And, if you go to the hospital, be prepared to get pushed out soon, often when still at your most sick and vulnerable, to a nursing home or your own home where the burden for complex medical care falls on your family.

Hospitals spend your patient care dollars on Wall Street investments, unproven technology, marketing or buying up other hospitals, while cutting those staff at the bedside, registered nurses, who are your first line of protection and your last line of defense.

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I wish management gets the big picture. Thanks for this.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.

management paints the picture...

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This is ridiculous. Cutting costs isn't just cutting costs for the consumer (if it ever does), but care as well, because that's where they sacrifice for savings.

I read today that as much as 60% of a hospital's budget goes into the salaries of health care professionals. Obviously they're going to be looking at ways of cutting that figure - but there's a reason nursing jobs exist. For example, I have read articles and discussions on the idea that technology may be expected to replace nurses through robots, but the critical thinking and real world responding to problems is something that I don't see a robot providing.

For full disclosure, I'm not a nurse and just a student, but nursing is a family profession, and I have helped an aunt provide home care to clients for my whole life --- so when I see things like this I just shake my head.

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

Nurses Launch New Campaign to Alert Public to Dangers of Medical Technology and Erosion of Care Standards

Sweeping changes underway in the nation's health care delivery system that expose hundreds of thousands of patients to severe risk of harm are the focus of a major new national campaign by the nation's largest organization of nurses announced today.

An unchecked proliferation of unproven medical technology and sharp erosion of care standards are rapidly spreading through the health care system, far outside the media spotlight but frighteningly apparent to nurses and patients, says National Nurses United...

... Key features of the new threat to patient safety include:

Digitalized care - experimental, unproven medical technology put patients at risk

Hospitals and other healthcare industry giants are spending billions of dollars on medical technology sold to the public as the cure for everything from medical errors to cutting costs. But the reality is proving to be far different, warns NNU.

Bedside computers that diagnose and dictate treatment for patients, based on generic population trends not the health status or care needs of that individual patient, increasingly supplant the professional assessment and judgment of experienced nurses and doctors exposing patients to misdiagnosis, mistreatment, and life-threatening mistakes....

... Cutting costs is now seen as the prime directive in health care. Unwilling to reduce their profits or limit excessive pricing practices, the means to limiting expenses in the healthcare industry is by restricting or rationing care...

... Inadequate, unsafe staffing is proliferating through the nation's hospitals, even as hospitals shift care to other settings leaving the patients unable to get in, and stay in hospitals, facing often perilous care standards....

http://news.yahoo.com/nurses-launch-campaign-alert-public-dangers-medical-technology-110000148.html

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Amen, preaching to the choir.

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, M/S.
Amen, preaching to the choir.

Yes. We need to get this message out to the general public and elected officials.

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That video is so scary. The sad thing is management is probably willing to try that. I don't think many people realize how important your job is, you watch for changes, teach new skills, keep patients free of pain, turn them so they don't get sores, ECT.... and also offer compassion to your patients, a computer cant do that, a nurse with a heart and education can.

I think it is so sad the way many treat your profession, WITHOUT nurses there would be no healthcare, your profession is on the front lines of it, often one step ahead of what needs to be done. I will ALWAYS have a soft spot in my heart for nurses, they have always been there for me, and got me tough some rough times in my life, I couldn't imagine society without nurses and when I do it's scary. If that ever becomes reality....Oh are we in trouble.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.

The powers that be control the bucks so they usually get away with whatever "novel" concepts they believe will better accomplish their goals.

And their principal objective is to increase the bucks.

Sadly, this is nothing new in nursing... only that, over time, TPTB have grown bolder as a result of not being seriously challenged.

Even when nurses are brought on as managers, true control remains with those with their hands on the purse strings.

Think we need a consumer uprising... which seems to be the strategy of the vid.

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

From the ER waiting room to your living room: Catholic hospital plans telemedicine only facility

May 12, 2014

Nobody enjoys the wait in an emergency room, especially if you're the one experiencing any pain. This excruciating wait could possibly be gone in the next few years for people in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy has announced plans for of a new virtual care center. There will be no patients at the center, only doctors, nurses and other caregivers. Mercy announced the facility

...

... The center will have several focus areas, including home monitoring and telesepsis programs. Mercy plans to to provide ongoing care and home monitoring for more than 1,000 patients diagnosed with congestive heart failure to reduce hospitalization and readmissions. The telesepsis program will help doctors spot warning signs for patients at risk for the complication. Mercy's electronic health record automatically searches for more than 800 warning signs to identify patients at risk for sepsis...

Read more: http://medcitynews.com/2014/05/from-waiting-rooms-to-your-room-revolutionizing-healthcare/#ixzz31oH3n9U6

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
The powers that be control the bucks so they usually get away with whatever "novel" concepts they believe will better accomplish their goals.

And their principal objective is to increase the bucks.

Sadly, this is nothing new in nursing... only that, over time, TPTB have grown bolder as a result of not being seriously challenged.

Even when nurses are brought on as managers, true control remains with those with their hands on the purse strings.

Think we need a consumer uprising... which seems to be the strategy of the vid.

When the lack of nursing workforce rises morbidity and mortality, this cutting into profits THEN the scramble for nurses will begin; we can not wait until THAT happens... :no:

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Hospira ad touts how their clients reported that "connecting smart infusion pumps with Hospira MedNet safety software to pharmacy orders and electronic patient records was like adding another nurse at the bedside..." Yikes.

Hospira Celebrates 10 Years of Advancing Wellness - YouTube

I came across the Hospira ad the link above after viewing a video by "EmpowerN" on how to ace the interview as a new nurse. It had a couple good items, but more things that disappointed me (including an item referring to her book which has instructions on how to apply make-up for the interview). She said interviewees should never ask about nurse-to-patient ratios, if nursing assistance are available, or about lunches.... Really? Somehow, I'm not surprised that the Hospira ad was attached.

All of the items above were viewed after viewing the video that is the subject of the OP (youtube presents other items of similar interest). Oy vey.

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