Beware of Interrupting your Nurse!

"Distracting an airline pilot during taxi, takeoff or landing could lead to a critical error. Apparently the same is true of nurses who prepare and administer medication to hospital patients. A new study shows that interrupting nurses while they're tending to patients' medication needs increases the chances of error. As the number of distractions increases, so do the number of errors and the risk to patient safety. Experts say the study is the first to show a clear association between interruptions and medication errors."
Johanna I. Westbrook [Professor of Health Informatics, and Director of the Health Informatics Research and Evaluation Unit, University of Sydney, Australia.] did add that not all interruptions are bad. "If you are being given a drug and you do not know what it is for, or you are uncertain about it, you should interrupt and question the nurse," she said.
Read full article from Health Day.

Computer Game Helps Novice Nurses Adjust

"Your Future in Nursing" is an interactive video game of real-life nursing scenarios designed to help new nurses transition from the classroom to hospital rooms!

"One of the greatest challenges facing the nursing profession is helping new RN graduates acclimate to the real world of healthcare delivery and thus, reduce the turnover rate for entry-level nurses," said Diane Mancino (NSNA). "This new program will help develop new nurses' communication skills which are critical in their first work experience. It will foster the transition from the nursing student to the staff nurse, improve interaction with co-workers and interdisciplinary staff, and increase job satisfaction."

The new program was unveiled at the National Student Nurses' Association (NSNA) Convention [April 7-11, 2010 in Orlando]. Click on the post title to download the game from the Discover Nursing website.

More on the Caribbean 'Brain Drain'

The Economist recently published this thought-provoking article on an old, yet persistant problem ~ the impact at home in the Caribbean of nurse migration to 'greener pastures'!
With the World Health Organization and the Global Health Workforce Alliance currently developing a 'code of practice' to bring before the General Assembly next month, this blog will continue to keep it's ear to the ground on this topic! Click on the post title to read the full article published in The Economist on April 8, 2010.

UPDATE April 23/2010:
More on this topic from the Trinidad & Tobago Guardian.

HRSA Nursing Scholarship Program

The Nursing Scholarship Program [a US government program] aims to help alleviate the critical shortage of registered nurses experienced by certain types of health care facilities. The program assists needy students with the financial support they need to complete their nursing training. In exchange the new grad's agree to work at these types of facilities for at least 2 years.

Scholarship application intake happens once per/year, beginning NOW until May 6, 2010. Applicants selected to receive the scholarship are notified by the end of July. Click on the post title to learn more about the benefits, eligibility, criteria, and online application procedure.

Medpedia adds Media

The Medpedia Project is dedicated to advancing access to freely available, high-quality, health and medical information. In pursuit of that goal they continue to work hard to collaboratively growing the knowledge base of this online medical platform.

Their latest addition are hundreds of medical and health videos from respected sources including the CDC, the FDA, other institutes of the NIH, etc. The videos cover topics ranging from diabetes and H1N1 education, to medical/surgical procedures and health care reform.

In addition to the videos, the Medpedia platform includes a medical encyclopedia, directory for health professionals and organizations, clinical trials information, Medpedia Answers for medical and health questions, and Medpedia Alerts to enable you to stay current.

You can even read the Anne Ross Library Blog posts in the Medpedia News & Analysis section were they are picked up, under 'General Medicine' ~ Check it out here...