Cingles Info

Better Working Conditions May Improve Patient Care
48 minutes ago
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Boosting nurse staffing levels in hospitals and
nursing homes and improving communication between hospitals and other healthcare
providers could lead to better patient care, the federal Agency for Healthcare
Research said on Friday.
Such measures are among a handful of effective strategies for improving patient
safety gleaned from a review of 115 existing studies on healthcare working
conditions in healthcare and non-healthcare settings, AHRQ said.
A new report developed for AHRQ by the Evidence-based Practice Center at Oregon
Health & Science University in Portland, Ore., helps shed light on what
healthcare providers can do to improve the quality of healthcare.
In addition to the recommendations on staffing and communication, the report
concludes that preventable complications are less likely when complex, technical
procedures are handled by physicians who do them frequently. It also finds that
fewer staff interruptions and distractions will likely reduce medical errors and
that, for some types of clinical care, more experience means better patient
outcomes.
A summary of the report is available on AHRQ's Web site ( www.ahcpr.gov ). The
full report will be available later this spring.
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.476 / Virus Database: 273 - Release Date: 04/24/2003