Many complain about the services received at the ER, and these concerns often reveal problems with workflow. Here’s how improving patient satisfaction in hospitals could enhance the quality of care and working conditions.
It’s National Nurses Week when we celebrate and honor nurses nationwide (in both Canada and the U.S.). International Nurses Day also falls on May 12 every year, a date that also coincides with Florence Nightingale’s birthday. This week, take the time to thank a nurse for the effort, compassion, professionalism, and vital care they give […]
You may get a sudden sharp pain that sounds your alarm bells, or your child seems out of sorts and you start to panic. However, don’t immediately jump to the worst conclusion—emergency room visits are much more expensive than routine medical visits and are often unnecessary (not to say there are many legitimate reasons to […]
The introduction of Obamacare last year has resulted in a surge of visits to emergency rooms. That’s the finding of a new survey of more than 2,000 American doctors. The survey, which was carried out by the American College of Emergency Physicians, reveals that almost one in three of the 2,099 emergency room doctors surveyed […]
If you have piercings, a pacemaker, or metal dental work, you may want to think twice about undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (or MRI) exam. That’s because any kind of embedded metal can be affected by the MRI, thereby causing serious injuries. MRI machines use powerful magnets to form images of the body. These scans […]
Speed versus safety — unless you’re talking about race cars, usually the latter is more important. A new report shows that while staples are faster and easier for doctors to use following a cesarean section (or c-section), sutures (or stitches) are far safer. In a recent study scientists examined 746 women who had undergone a […]
Researchers at the University of British Columbia are hoping a new, upright-standing MRI scanner will help them take clearer images of joints in patients’ hips and knees. It’s the first scanner of its kind in Canada. MRI (or Magentic Resonance Imaging) scanners give doctors a way of seeing high-resolution images of the human body, including […]
A new study from California suggests that 40% of post surgical complications occur after hospital discharge. The study, titled “Association of Postdischarge Complications With Reoperation and Mortality in General Surgery” was authored by Hadiza S. Kazaure, MD; Sanziana A. Roman, MD; and Julie A. Sosa, MD, MA. The study followed 551,510 adult patients after general […]
A new treatment may have been discovered for patients at risk for C. difficile. Clostridium difficile colitis is a dangerous and antibiotic resistant pathogen. It is an infection of the colon and can cause perforation of the colon and peritonitis. The study looked at preventative measures for C. difficile. Researchers studied 20 randomized control trials, looking at […]
Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City had to evacuate 300 patients as their back up generators failed after Hurricane Sandy hit. After the initial power outage, the hospital ran on backup generators from the 13th floor. The basement flooded from the torrential rain and while they pumped out 17 million gallons of water, the fuel pumps […]