Background: The development of pressure ulcers may lead to morbidity/mortality. In 1997 the Natio... more Background: The development of pressure ulcers may lead to morbidity/mortality. In 1997 the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (to improve/standardize treatment) recommended the Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing (PUSH) to document ulcers/monitor healing using exudate, size, and depth. Regardless of these recommendations, traditional nursing observation remains standard practice. This study compares subjective nursing observation with the recommended standardized assessment (PUSH). Methods: A retrospective chart review of 48 residents (2004-2006) with stage II-IV decubiti was implemented at a large skilled nursing facility. Based on this review, a PUSH score was calculated. Nursing observations for these residents were compared to PUSH scores for agreement/correlation (N=298). Agreement was assessed using Kappa statistics between the nurse's impression and the change in PUSH score. Results: The nurses documented improvement in 170 cases (57%), of which there were only 74 conco...
Background: The rise of multi-resistant organisms has made nursing homes an obvious, but poorly r... more Background: The rise of multi-resistant organisms has made nursing homes an obvious, but poorly recognized, battleground for sanitation. This multi-center study aims to analyze knowledge, attitudes, and practices, as well as barriers to effective hand hygiene. Methods: Using CDC guidelines, a 52-question survey was developed and implemented to determine nursing home employees' knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported practices, as well as barriers to hand washing. Respondents were classified into three categories (nurses, certified nursing assistants [CNAs], and other professionals). Significant differences among groups were explored using chi-square and analysis of variance. Results: There were 1,036 participants (31.1% nurses, 34.7% CNAs and 33.6% other professionals) from 15 nursing homes across 6 states. Only 31.2% reached top percentile (>89%) in the 19 knowledge questions section. With regards to the 7 attitude questions, all groups were similar, with 86.4% reporting tha...
Introduction/Objective: Capillary blood glucose (fingerstick, FS) monitoring and sliding scale in... more Introduction/Objective: Capillary blood glucose (fingerstick, FS) monitoring and sliding scale insulin (SSI) are used routinely in the nursing home (NH). The efficacy of prolonged FS glucose monitoring (FSGM) and SSI are not well-established, especially in this frail ...
Pressure Ulcers (PU) present a major challenge for the long-term care industry. They are common, ... more Pressure Ulcers (PU) present a major challenge for the long-term care industry. They are common, costly and associated with pain and poor quality of life. The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) introduced in 1997 the Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing ( ...
BACKGROUND: Over a decade ago, the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP, 1997) recommend... more BACKGROUND: Over a decade ago, the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP, 1997) recommended a new tool, the Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing (PUSH) tool to document ulcers and monitor the healing process. Yet, traditional nursing observation ...
An anonymous survey of 1143 employees in 17 nursing facilities assessed knowledge of, attitudes a... more An anonymous survey of 1143 employees in 17 nursing facilities assessed knowledge of, attitudes about, self-perceived compliance with, and barriers to implementing the 2002 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hand hygiene guidelines. Overall, employees reported positive ...
Background: The development of pressure ulcers may lead to morbidity/mortality. In 1997 the Natio... more Background: The development of pressure ulcers may lead to morbidity/mortality. In 1997 the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (to improve/standardize treatment) recommended the Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing (PUSH) to document ulcers/monitor healing using exudate, size, and depth. Regardless of these recommendations, traditional nursing observation remains standard practice. This study compares subjective nursing observation with the recommended standardized assessment (PUSH). Methods: A retrospective chart review of 48 residents (2004-2006) with stage II-IV decubiti was implemented at a large skilled nursing facility. Based on this review, a PUSH score was calculated. Nursing observations for these residents were compared to PUSH scores for agreement/correlation (N=298). Agreement was assessed using Kappa statistics between the nurse's impression and the change in PUSH score. Results: The nurses documented improvement in 170 cases (57%), of which there were only 74 conco...
Background: The rise of multi-resistant organisms has made nursing homes an obvious, but poorly r... more Background: The rise of multi-resistant organisms has made nursing homes an obvious, but poorly recognized, battleground for sanitation. This multi-center study aims to analyze knowledge, attitudes, and practices, as well as barriers to effective hand hygiene. Methods: Using CDC guidelines, a 52-question survey was developed and implemented to determine nursing home employees' knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported practices, as well as barriers to hand washing. Respondents were classified into three categories (nurses, certified nursing assistants [CNAs], and other professionals). Significant differences among groups were explored using chi-square and analysis of variance. Results: There were 1,036 participants (31.1% nurses, 34.7% CNAs and 33.6% other professionals) from 15 nursing homes across 6 states. Only 31.2% reached top percentile (>89%) in the 19 knowledge questions section. With regards to the 7 attitude questions, all groups were similar, with 86.4% reporting tha...
Introduction/Objective: Capillary blood glucose (fingerstick, FS) monitoring and sliding scale in... more Introduction/Objective: Capillary blood glucose (fingerstick, FS) monitoring and sliding scale insulin (SSI) are used routinely in the nursing home (NH). The efficacy of prolonged FS glucose monitoring (FSGM) and SSI are not well-established, especially in this frail ...
Pressure Ulcers (PU) present a major challenge for the long-term care industry. They are common, ... more Pressure Ulcers (PU) present a major challenge for the long-term care industry. They are common, costly and associated with pain and poor quality of life. The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) introduced in 1997 the Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing ( ...
BACKGROUND: Over a decade ago, the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP, 1997) recommend... more BACKGROUND: Over a decade ago, the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP, 1997) recommended a new tool, the Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing (PUSH) tool to document ulcers and monitor the healing process. Yet, traditional nursing observation ...
An anonymous survey of 1143 employees in 17 nursing facilities assessed knowledge of, attitudes a... more An anonymous survey of 1143 employees in 17 nursing facilities assessed knowledge of, attitudes about, self-perceived compliance with, and barriers to implementing the 2002 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hand hygiene guidelines. Overall, employees reported positive ...
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