Abstract
The paper looks at the need to add more registered nurses to medical surgical units in light of the fact that poor patient outcomes seem commonplace: pressure ulcers, patient unhappiness, and complications like ventilator-assisted pneumonia. The paper relates that changing the skill mix is going to take time, but nevertheless asserts that an incremental approach that prioritizes the changes (the time-sensitive ones) which need to be made first with the available resources can overcome resistance and smooth the way to success.

From the Paper
"The following paper will look at the need for adding more registered nurses to medical surgical units in light of the fact that poor patient outcomes seem commonplace: pressure ulcers, patient unhappiness, and complications like ventilator-assisted pneumonia. What should become evident is that changing the skill mix is going to take time - maybe even a lot of time. Nonetheless, an incremental approach that prioritizes the changes (the time-sensitive ones) which need to be made first with the available resources can overcome resistance and smooth the way to success. The proposed change, put simply, would see more registered nurses on the..."

Tags:setting, skill, mix

Abstract
This paper gives a comprehensive review of several articles which discuss safe strategies for preventing infection in a hospital setting. According one article, safe sharps management can and must lead to the prevention of infections to patients, staff, and visitors to healthcare facilities. It further examines how safe, well-thought-out procedures and policies are necessary in hospitals and clinics, so that individuals in and near the healthcare activity could not be inadvertently exposed to infections from blood-borne pathogens. Another articles cites various precautions necessary to protect individuals from infection. Complications associated with migrating catheters are also addressed in the paper, with an article recommending the use of an effective stabilization device because it allows movement. The paper takes a look at an article about the importance of washing hands, especially if they were exposed to blood. The paper concludes by stating that the seriousness of the infection-related healthcare issues should get the attention of not only nurses and doctors, but of administrators as well.

TOC:

Introduction
Summary of Article
Nurse's Knowledge
Migrating Catheters
Washing "Bloody" Hands
Self-Improvement
Conclusion
Works Cited

From the Paper
"Indeed, in the entire British healthcare system - and likely in Australia and the United States as well - nurses were the group with the highest percentage of sharps injuries. Still, avoidable blood-borne infections are being reported on a regular basis in hospitals and clinics - in fact between 2002 and 2005 the number of reported occupational exposures to blood borne infections increased by 49 percent (Aziz 92). And the data shows, "about half" of those infections due to accidental exposure were reported by nurses, Aziz writes on page 92. What is needed the writers assert is local protocols that can be posted in all healthcare facilities - and published in all workplace-related brochures, newsletters, and other materials that nursing and other clinical staff have access to."

Tags:catheters, sharps injuries, blood-borne infections, hospital infections

Abstract
This paper offers a comparative analysis of the situations faced by nurses who work in the hospital setting, as opposed to nurses with home health care agencies, who regularly work in isolation without the benefit of peers or essential supports. Nurses in hospitals have the benefit of safety and security measures provided by the institution. This occupational sector of nurses who work with home health care agencies is predominately female, and is characterized much more than most groups by high physical and psychosocial demands, the paper explains. Complicating the issue further is the fact that many nurses with these agencies work in isolated rural settings. Personal safety and safety issues include the potential for physical assault, sexual assault and various forms of workplace violence, as well as personal injury related to heavy lifting.

From the Paper
"In contrast to nurses who work in the hospital setting, nurse with home health care agencies regularly work in isolation without the benefit of peers or essential supports. Nurses in hospitals have the benefit of safety and security measures provided by the institution. This occupational sector of nurses who work with home health care agencies is predominately female, and is characterized much more than most groups by high physical and psychosocial demands (Brulin & Winkvist, 2000). Complicating the issue further is the fact that many nurses with these agencies work in isolated rural settings. Personal safety and safety ..."

Tags:safety, registered, home, health

Abstract
The paper discusses how Cedars-Sinai is one of the finest health providers in the state of California. The paper looks at how hospitals and health care facilities are facing several kinds of legal and ethical issues that complicate their service. The paper shows how the organization is indeed performing at its optimum best and is ensuring the safety and the well being of the patient, while at the same time maintaining the high quality and standards that are expected of a Medical Care Center like Cedars-Sinai. The paper concludes that perhaps this is the reason that more and more numbers of patients are flocking to this hospital today.

From the Paper
"Cedars-Sinai is one of the finest health providers in the state of California, and perhaps this is one of the reasons that the hospital has been able to make numerous advances in medicine, because of which it has been possible to save many more lives than before. Today, there are more than 1,800 physicians from almost all the specialties there are, affiliated with the Cedars- Sinai. In addition, there are 8,000 employees, 2,000 volunteers, and about 15,000 more people belonging to various fund-raising groups, and it is all these people together who make up the quality of health care that is offered in the Cedars Sinai hospital. (Cedars-Sinai is leading the Quest for Health among California Hospitals)"

Tags:medicine, advances, ethics, patient

Abstract
This paper presents a step by step guide for a hospital for implementing changes which will make the system run more smoothly, minimize wasted resources and be more cost-efficient. The program is laid out in five steps - 1. Amalgamate acquirement receiving with copy cataloging; 2. Combining complicated copy cataloging, copy-assisted cataloging, and some record maintenance; 3.Consolidating original monograph cataloging units; move responsibility for pub recall; 4.Digital initiative support and 5.Consolidate database management.

From the Paper
"The objectives of this change plan are few and to the point. The need for this change arose when we felt the need for this new department due to the loss of work. In order to make the hospital a more manageable place and for its records to be easily available to doctors and nurses the following points must be taken in view. The flow of work as we lose staff through attrition, reassignment, retirement, etc. The staff has to be moved in a staff development direction, i.e., to broaden skills for future flexibility within and outside of the hospital."

Tags:cost, efficient, staff, medical, database, management, catalog, saving, skill, doctor, nurse, data, entry

Abstract
This paper defines nosocomial pneumonia as the development of a fever, leukocytosis, purulent sputum, and new or changes to lung infiltrates on chest x-ray within 72 hours of hospitalization. The paper explains that post-operative nosocomial pneumonia is very preventable but that frequent complications can be costly and life-threatening. The paper addresses areas of improvement for the prevention of nonsocomial pneumonia, such as research, which has shown that careful pre-operative screening can identify patients who are especially at risk for developing post-surgical pneumonia. The paper also describes evidence, which shows that use of an incentive spirometer, early ambulation after surgery as well as the use of coughing & deep breathing exercises is associated with positive post-surgical health outcomes. Tables that illustrate the data are included with the paper.

Table of Contents:
Area in Need of Improvement
Evidence-Based Plan
- Table 1. Odds Ratios of Common Post-operative Pulmonary Complications
Implementation Plan for this Process Improvement
- Table 2. Pneumonia Risk Identification
- Table 3. How to Score Patients Using the Pneumonia Risk Identification Protocol
Business Case to Support Evidenced-Based Plan
- Table 4. Cost of Current Practices
- Table 5. Cost of Implementing PRIP
- Table 6. Cost-Benefit Analysis
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Currently Medicare has identified eight conditions that will no longer be reimbursed if a patient develops them during an inpatient stay. Those conditions are object left in patient during surgery, air embolism, blood incompatibility, catheter-associated urinary tract infection, pressure ulcer, vascular-catheter associated infection, mediastinitis after coronary-artery bypass grafting, and fall from bed [4]. Rosenthal wrote in October of 2007 that these eight conditions were identified after meeting several criteria including that the condition "could reasonably have been prevented through the application of evidence-based guidelines". Currently post-surgical pneumonia is not one the eight identified conditions, but as the number of Medicare participants increases and funds are strained, this preventable and costly condition could easily become next on Medicare's list of non-reimbursable conditions."

Tags:nursing, incentive spirometer use, surgical Pneumonia, business case analysis, preventative health

Abstract
In terms of the hospitality industry, the global consumer is defined as the traveler who frequently travels outside of his or her own country, to varied destinations over the world. The Euro consumer on the other hand is the traveler who makes use of hospitality facilities primarily within Europe. The paper shows the fact that the travel industry and information technology has made world travel much less complicated than in the past, has given rise to the need to globalize the hospitality industry as well. The requirements for this, as well as the extent to which these requirements have been met, are discussed in this paper.

Paper Outline:

Introduction
Finance and Accounting
Treasury Management
Customer Relationships
Purchasing and Vendor Relationships
Information Technology
Communication
Human Resources
Owner Issues
Bibliography

From the Paper
"In terms of the global market, there is also a need to differentiate products and other facilities within hospitality resorts. Food and beverage products are the most critical factors for success, and the need for global catering here is obvious. There is, for example, a growing demand for all-inclusive resorts. Hotels have therefore found it increasingly necessary to consolidate their resources in order to become a greater success in the global market. Globalization as a trend in all businesses has thus affected the hospitality industry as well. It is not envisioned that regional companies who do not cater to the global need will find survival easy."

Tags:Euro, Disney, travel, agent, entertainment, human, resources

Abstract
This paper presents, discusses and analyzes an interview that was conducted with a university student. In the interview the student states that she is now older and much more mature than when she was hospitalized as a teenager for complications related to diabetes, a chronic disease in which the body does not make or properly use insulin. The paper focuses on the help the student received while she was in the hospital and how that has helped her deal with her chronic health problem of diabetes.

From the Paper
"The following interview was conducted with a university student. Jenny states that she is now older and much more mature than when she was hospitalized as a teenager for complications related to diabetes. "Diabetes is a chronic disease in which the body does not make or properly use insulin, a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches, and other food into energy" (National Diabetes Education Program, 2005, p. 1). This former patient received a great deal of help as a result of her hospitalization. That help consisted of new learning and insights about her chronic condition. Jenny's needs at..."

Tags:nurse, patient, help

Abstract
This paper reviews a longitudinal study conducted by Pennsylvania State University, which reveals that the effects of divorce on children depend on the parents' marriage. Children of couples who fight a lot tend to fare better psychologically and socially after divorce than do the children of couples whose marriages show few outward signs of stress. The author points out that a new book, "The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce,'' by psychologist Judith Wallerstein, based on a recent study, argues that emotional complications are common among adult children of divorced parents, although many of these complications may not be fully evident until decades after the breakup. The paper cites a recent report by Kather and Rembar at Children's Psychiatric Hospital, University of Michigan, that a father lost through divorce is associated with diminished self-concepts in children and that one of the most devastating affects on a child is fear of abandonment by the remaining parent.

Table of Contents
Parent's Marriage, Child Post-Divorce
Implications for a Child's Future
View of Children in a Divorcing Family
A Summary of Effects

From the Paper
"On the positive side, the researchers found that the adult children of divorced parents have strong survival instincts. The same experiences that hindered relationships were effective in the workplace. The study participants had a good deal of success getting along with difficult people, and those who had mothers who often said one thing and fathers who said another became adept at making up their own minds.
The study also compared the adults from divorced families to 44 adults from intact families. Children of intact marriages took strength from their parents' decision to stay together, the researchers found, even though the marriage may have had conflict and unhappiness similar to those of families that broke up."

Tags:signs, complications, decades, abandon, father

Abstract
This paper cites studies indicating the connection between quality patient care and adequate nursing staff and shows how insufficient nursing staff negatively affects nurse morale and satisfaction. The paper also shows how these studies leave no doubt as to the negative effect nursing shortages have on the quality and outcome of patient care and that this highlights the urgent need for hospital policy changes regarding nursing staff decisions.

From the Paper
"Most RN's are acutely aware of the negative repercussions they experience personally as a result of under-staffing, particularly in acute health care units. Most also realize that this under-staffing is the result of the popular administrative notion that the higher the RN percentage in any given facility, the higher hospital costs rise (Potter, Barr, McSweeney, Sledge, 2003). Although, it is true that higher RN concentrations in any given facility must necessarily increase cost in the short term, there remains the question of whether, in consideration of the detrimental effect reductions in RN staffing has on patient outcome, the current definition of "cost" is one-dimensional."

Tags:caring, institution, cost, effective, medication, errors, medical, complications, satisfaction