http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. While nurse-to-patient ratios are widely recognized as an important factor in determining the quality of patient care, those ratios are not always easy to change without significant cost and investment of resources. What's more, the projected nursing shortage will make it even more difficult for hospitals to increase nurse staffing. A study published in the current issue of Health Care Management Review indicates that there are other aspects of registered nurses' (RNs) work environments that RNs perceive can also have a significant impact on the quality of care they deliver. In order of influence, those factors are: physical work environment, workgroup cohesion, nurse-physician relations, procedural justice and job satisfaction. Nurses' ratings of patient care quality were also higher in hospitals with Magnet® recognition programs, and lower in work settings with greater organizational constraints such as lack of equipment and supplies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-patient-nurses-environment.html Health Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:50:01 EST news241867725 The nation's largest for-profit nursing homes deliver significantly lower quality of care because they typically have fewer staff nurses than non-profit and government-owned nursing homes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-staffing-poor-quality-nation-for-profit.html Health Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:09:11 EST news241794535 A safe working environment for nurses is also a safe environment for the patients in their care, according to a new study led by public health researchers at Drexel University. Researchers, led by Dr. Jennifer Taylor, an assistant professor in Drexel's School of Public Health, found that safety climate was associated with both patient and nurse injuries, suggesting that patient and nurse safety may be linked outcomes. The study was published online in BMJ Quality and Safety in October. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-hospital-safety-climate-linked-patient.html Health Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:03:09 EST news239904182 Nurses have an obligation to disclose an error when one occurs. While errors should be avoided as much as possible, the reality is the health care delivery system is not and will never be perfect; errors and adverse events are an inevitable part of care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-nursing-error-disclosure-homes.html Health Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:10:01 EST news239637477 Adding a nurse practitioner (NP) to a busy hospital staff can decrease unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits, according to a study published in the latest issue of Surgery by researchers at Loyola University Health System. Researchers found that the nurse practitioner reduced ED visits by improving the continuity in care and troubleshooting problems for patients. The addition of an NP also resulted in an improved use of resources and financial benefits for the health system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-loyola-nurse-practitioner-unnecessary-emergency.html Health Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:20:01 EST news239622720 (AP) -- More than 5,000 people are expected to show up for free medical care at a Los Angeles arena starting Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-free-la-medical-clinic-uninsured.html Health Thu, 20 Oct 2011 07:00:02 EST news238309043 Using a specially designed risk assessment tool was an effective way of identifying violent hospital patients in medical and surgical units, according to a study in the November issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-aggression-tool-violent-patients-medical.html Other Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:35:16 EST news238235706 A survey of US primary care physicians shows that many believe that their own patients are receiving too much medical care and many feel that malpractice reform, realignment of financial incentives and having more time with patients could reduce pressures on physicians to do more than they feel is needed, according to a report in the September 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-survey-physicians-patients.html Health Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:23:19 EST news236272987 More than two-thirds of men who contacted an email advice service run by a leading sexual advice charity had erection problems, which were frequently linked to loss of sex drive, according to research in the October issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-email-sexual-advice-highlights-problems.html Health Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:25:59 EST news235909501 New research has potential to alleviate the side effects of cancer treatments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-over-the-counter-drug-effect-chemo-side.html Cancer Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:31:55 EST news235661489 One of the nation's leading voices in patient care and safety says that the key to successfully navigating the challenges and changes that health care reform will bring is the ability to "reimagine and redefine" what nursing is all about. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-nurse-practitioners-critical-link-demands.html Health Mon, 19 Sep 2011 04:16:58 EST news235624540 (AP) -- A Madison-based clinic is trying to track down hundreds of patients after a nurse apparently spent years improperly using diabetic injection devices on them, potentially exposing them to blood-borne diseases such as HIV. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-wis-clinic-disease-exposures.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 30 Aug 2011 03:50:17 EST news233895002 Monika McBride has acute myeloid leukemia, a life-threatening blood cancer that requires six months of intensive chemotherapy. Three days before her third treatment, however, a nurse called to cancel her appointment: Her doctor had run out of the drug. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-drug-short-endangering-patients.html Medications Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:40:01 EST news232968023 By 2012, an estimated 14 million people will serve as distance caregivers to family members who live across the state, across the region, even across the country. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-distance-caregivers-advanced-cancer-patients.html Health Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:55:38 EST news232034118 In a comprehensive analysis comparing nurse staffing in California hospitals to similar hospitals in the U.S. over nearly a decade, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing have found that controversial legislation setting nurse-to-patient ratios added more registered nurses to the hospital staffing mix, not fewer as feared. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-california-nurse-staffing.html Other Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:30:01 EST news229958370 Greater powers introduced by the government to enable specially trained nurses and pharmacists to prescribe medication in England have been successfully adopted, according to a new report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-wide-reaching-strong-nurse-pharmacist.html Other Tue, 10 May 2011 09:25:22 EST news224238306 (Medical Xpress) -- How much exercise are overweight and obese people getting? More than many might think, according to research findings by nurses from Case Western Reserve University’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-overweight-obese-people.html Overweight and Obesity Mon, 02 May 2011 08:47:20 EST news223544815 Low health literacy is a significant barrier to quality care, especially among elderly patients, but increased use of simple and effective health literacy assessment tests by nurses and clinicians can help improve communication and health outcomes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-health-literacy-underutilized-elderly-cancer.html Health Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:30:48 EST news223313429