摘要:

The gods of marketing axe whimsical but implacable: 80 percent of new products fail. Why did Chocolate Styling Mousse achieve astounding success while Top Coverage (hair colored spray paint for bald spots) barely warrants shelf space. Fickle indeed are the gods who sweep Pringles into our kitchens and Parsnip Chips under our rugs. And who among you mourns the passing of Gorilla Balls (vitamin enriched malt candy)? Of course, these fail-ures, so hopefully undertaken, must be accepted with good grace, studied, and then set aside without regret.The health industry, veritable babes-in-the-woods when it comes to marketing, also suffers from the slings and arrows of misguided fortune. To think that a health food store sponsored the news broadcast that began with the question, “Does an apple a day cause cancer?” Between advertisements one learned that a chemical widely used in aboriculture caused virulent cancers in laboratory mice — and very likely could be found in your apples, applesauce and even apple juice. And let us not forget the editor of one local newspaper who was so insensitive as to place a full page ad for a hospital directly across from a story headlined “Elderly Woman Denied Admission, Dies.”

ISSN:0744-6314    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1986

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0744-6314    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1986

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0744-6314    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1986

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0744-6314    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1986

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Patient classification schemes arose primarily from clinical rather than economic considerations. That is, they concentrated upon targeting nursing resources precisely upon each patient's care in a systematic, prompt and justifiable manner. While it has been proposed that patient classification follow regionalized, even nationalized criteria with all deliberate speed, most authors favor designing PCSs according to nursing care as delivered at particular hospitals. Many systems have already proven their worth to clinical managers in a growing number of acute care settings.Now, the drive to operate in a profitable — at least, a thrifty — manner has added economic questions about patient classification systems to clinical ones. Designing a PCS requires a rigorous effort to establish a data base from extensive studies of nursing characteristics, activities, and timing. The costs of setting up a genuinely comprehensive system, along with the difficulties of integrating one into common practice, incline many administrators to shy away from the project. To justify its existence, then, a PCS must show that it continually yields many kinds of returns upon the original investment of time and money.

ISSN:0744-6314    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1986

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

How can today's hospital improve employee productivity and operating efficiency while continuing to provide quality health care? One way to accomplish this goal is to develop an organizational profit-sharing plan. Such plans give employees a share of the savings which result from improvements in operating efficiency and productivity.In the past, nonprofit hospitals have not offered employees profit-sharing plans because the federal government held that tax exempt institutions must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes; thus, no earnings could accrue to the benefit of individuals associated with the exempt entity.1Recently, however, the federal government declared that organizations exempt under Section 501 can establish profit-sharing plans for their employees if certain safeguards and restrictions are present.2This policy change enables nonprofit hospitals to make extensive use of profit-sharing plans.Since nursing managers at all administrative levels will play a vital role in the operation of profit sharing plans, they need a basic understanding of how these plans are developed and operated.

ISSN:0744-6314    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1986

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

At Riverside General Hospital (RGH) the nursing staff recently had the opportunity to participate in a field trial of an electronic instrument which offers a new, automated method to measure routine vital signs (blood pressure, pulse, and temperature) in general floor patients. This article describes how the nursing staff at RGH came to be involved in the evaluation of this new product, how our different nursing units are organized, and how they made use of the system. Several observations will be made, followed by discussion points and conclusions.Riverside General Hospital is a 354-bed acute care center designated as a secondary trauma center and associated with the Loma Linda School of Medicine. In addition, RGH is the neuro center for Riverside County, and a base station emergency department. The nursing staff at RGH had had earlier experience with use of automated electronic blood pressure monitoring devices in the triage area for trauma and critical care patients. Also, the hospital currently uses instruments of this type in the emergency room, labor and delivery, intensive care and recovery.Our interest in evaluating the new battery powered multiple vital signs measurement system on the general floor was two-fold: (1) we were interested in assessing whether or not the system would increase our productivity; (2) we wished to evaluate whether it could eliminate variability between readings taken manually by different persons for pulse rate, temperature and blood pressure. With blood pressure especially, the human factor is always a problem — hearing abilities of individuals, judgment and previous training regarding K-sound end points, a tendency to release the thumbscrew too quickly, interpretations of the column or gauge, etc., all contribute to variability.RGH currently uses nursing assistants to take routine temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiration on general wards. Electronic thermometers are used for temperatures, and roll-around mercury column sphygmomanometers are used for blood pressures. Customary methods are used for pulse and respiration. Organization of these tasks depends on ward layout and the type of patients treated.

ISSN:0744-6314    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1986

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

One of a nurse manager's most challenging accomplishments lies in developing staff into a strong cohesive team. In a hospital the “cause” is a high standard of patient care. To “win,” the team must provide a means for the personal aims and ambitions of people to be directed toward this end: i.e., to give each person a stake in success.In our 8-bed Coronary Care Unit (CCU) the development of a cohesive team also has had a direct effect on reducing our turnover rate. Over the past two years, all terminations and transfers were unavoidable (promotions, husbands being transferred, and nurses who joined supplemental staffing pools within the hospital to return to school) and no one has left because she or he was dissatisfied with the unit. To promote cohesiveness and close interpersonal actions among team members, a nurse manager could follow these steps.

ISSN:0744-6314    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1986

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Diagnostic related groups (DRGs) alter the way consumers use the health care delivery system. Acute care facilities provide care for serious health problems while less serious problems are treated in outpatient agencies. Inpatient stays decrease while use of skilled nursing and home health services increase. This we have already seen. The purpose of this article is to examine appropriate use of baccalaureate nurses (BSN) as a method for providing cost effective quality care.The BSN is prepared to function in five major roles — caregiver, manager/leader, health promotion/supervision, teaching/counseling, and health/illness screening.1In addition, they are prepared to identify researchable problems and incorporate research findings into clinical practice. The preparation for these roles provide the BSN with the abilities necessary to perform ideally under a prospective payment system.

ISSN:0744-6314    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1986

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

As nursing departments compete for their fair share of scarcer health care dollars, nursing managers must be constantly ready to justify their requests according to the impact their operations have upon the whole institution's productivity. To do this, nursing managers must be able to evaluate nursing's whole program in terms which general policy makers can grasp — whether they are health care administrators, corporate financiers or legislative ways and means committees. Therefore, a comprehensive evaluation policy has become a vital aspect of managing both inpatient and outpatient settings for delivering nursing care.Evaluation entails the application of a model of evaluation, the gathering of sources of data, and the development of conclusions and recommendations after careful analysis. In itself, evaluation is the “process' of determining value or the amount of success in achieving a predetermined objective.”1Program evaluation measures “the extent to which a program achieves its goals, the relative impact of key program variables, and the role of the program contrasted to external variables.“2Establishing an useful system requires the nurse manager to select a sound model to guide the process and foster good practices for recording and storing data.3

ISSN:0744-6314    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1986

数据来源: OVID