Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide to Get Your Loved One Out Alive | Critical Nursing | Hospital Medication Errors | Hospital Infections | Medical Mistakes | Surgical Errors | Doctor Error



	"They should pass out this book to all families who have loved ones in hospitals." Robert Adair, MD, Santa Monica, CA "As an RN who has also had critically ill loved ones in the hospital, I feel that this book is an important and empowering tool. It covers the process from beginning to end and enables the reader to navigate the system while still being supportive of the healthcare community." Leslie Platt, RN, Lakewood, CA "If I'm ever a patient in the hospital, I want a family member there 24/7. It's not that the nurses are incompetent, they are just overworked." Kathy, RN, Buda, TX

		Patient Overload When your loved one is a patient in the hospital, your natural instinct might be to surrender control to the hospital staff because you believe, "they know what they are doing." And they do. But the first thing you must be aware of is that no matter how skilled and committed the nurses and physicians are in your loved one's case, most cannot overcome patient overload. That translates to a higher probability of medical error. There is something you can do.
		Nationwide Nursing Shortage There is a nationwide, drastic nursing shortage, which means fewer nurses to tend to your loved one. Even if there is a nurse-to-patient ratio law in your state (1:5), in all likelihood the hospital has had to cut back on support staff so it has the financial ability to hire the required number of registered nurses. In many cases, your hospital has had to cut Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs), nurse's aides, respiratory therapists, lab technicians, and part or all of their discharge planning departments. That means the registered nurses are now doing not only their own jobs, but also the jobs of the staff who have been cut. There is something you can do. Nurses and doctors are overworked and overwhelmed. Most claim they cannot do the job they aspire to. Many hospitals are not able to provide the precision of care necessary to avoid the highly publicized number of preventable, fatal, medical errors that occur with their patients.
			Older Patients, Baby-Boomer Generation Because hospitals are now restricting admissions to patients who need care the most, patients are now sicker than ever before. Translation? Doctors and nurses are caring for patients who need more of their attention. There are now more older patients because of the baby-boomer generation. This increases the number of patients with multiple medical issues, who are at risk of falling out of bed and breaking bones or contracting a hospital disease that could kill them. Because of this, nurses have to pay even more attention to this patient population because they are more at risk.
	Spread of Hospital - Acquired Infectious Diseases The spread of infectious diseases (pneumonia, MRSA, etc.) has increased to shocking proportions. That means there's even more for nurses and doctors to monitor and keep track of. Hospitals are Struggling to Survive Hospitals today are struggling to survive in an environment where authority is in the hands of the insurance companies, rather than patients and their families. Rapid advancement in technology makes ever more expensive treatments in wide demand. Karen Blanchard, MD, Santa Monica, CA

	Hospitals are now inundated with patients who don't have insurance and who don't pay their bills. Hospitals are struggling just to keep up as well. Doctors are Overworked To compound the above issues, doctors are required by insurance companies to see more patients in less time. Their time is divided among patients they see in their offices, in the hospitals, and in surgeries. This is part of the reason that the role of physician's assistant is becoming so popular. Doctors just can't keep up.
				Typical Family Member Story Gail's mother was admitted to a hospital in New York. Here is what she said: "There were horrible, life threatening holes with regard to hospital processes and procedures - mistakes with medication, delays with procedures and treatments, hospital politics regarding who got to decide which patients were treated first. There was a lack of 'team' communication between physicians, nurses, and administrators."
	"Also delayed or no response to nurse call buttons, lack of attention to my mother's skin/body condition. We finally hired a private duty aide to care for her at night when we were not there." "It is frightening to think about those patients who were not lucky enough to have family at their sides. The head nurse was particularly helpful, more so because she saw how dedicated we were. It was sad to hear that our behavior was so unusual."


	Hospitals Sign On To Surgical Checklists CBC News February 24, 2010 Hospitals across Canada are voluntarily adopting a surgery checklist in a move aimed at avoiding the kind of errors that led to two unnecessary mastectomies in Windsor, Ont. Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsor announced Wednesday its review has uncovered seven serious "cases of concern" following a review of incorrect pathology reports, including two women who each had a breast removed when they did not actually have cancer. Starting April 1, the Ontario government will require that hospitals use and comply with a surgical checklist. Some hospitals across Canada have also elected to adopt a similar checklist. Read full article here... Is Your Doctor Using A Checklist? The Huffington Post March 1, 2010 Lloyd I Sederer, MD Written with Jeffrey A Lieberman, MD* Let's face it. Medical care has become a whole lot more complex. The scientific knowledge base and practice of medicine has expanded exponentially as scientists have plumbed the human body and mind to reveal its genetic, molecular, anatomic, physiological and psychological mysteries and developed ever-more sophisticated means to diagnose disease, treat patients and prolong life. Although this acceleration in progress holds great benefits for an individual's health, it poses a daunting challenge to physicians trying to keep up with the latest findings and developments. Who can provide state of the art care and deliver complex treatments to numerous patients day after day without error? No one. It is simply not humanly possible to be error free. Tick Tock: Medicare Payment Cuts for Docs Due to Start Monday The Wall Street Journal FEBRUARY 26, 2010, 6:02 PM ET By James A. White In response, the AMA is telling its members what they can do about the lower payments, including closing their doors to new Medicare patients, CNN reports. “To our physicians, we are providing information on their Medicare participation options, including how to remove themselves from the Medicare program,” AMA President James Rohack told the cable channel. Read full article here... Rising Threat of Infections Unfazed by Antibiotics February 26, 2010, 6:02 PM ET The New York Times By ANDREW POLLACK Published: February 26, 2010 A minor-league pitcher in his younger days, Richard Armbruster kept playing baseball recreationally into his 70s, until his right hip started bothering him. Last February he went to a St. Louis hospital for what was to be a routine hip replacement. By late March, Mr. Armbruster, then 78, was dead. After a series of postsurgical complications, the final blow was a bloodstream infection that sent him into shock and resisted treatment with antibiotics. Read full article here... Hearst National Investigation Finds Americans Are Continuing to Die in Staggering Numbers From Preventable Medical Injuries. An estimated 200,000 people die from medical errors and hospital-acquired infections each year. NEW YORK, August 9, 2009 - An estimated 200,000 Americans will die needlessly from preventable medical mistakes and hospital infections this year, according to "Dead By Mistake," a wide-ranging Hearst national investigation, which began reporting the findings today [www.deadbymistake.com/]. Despite an authoritative federal report 10 years ago that laid out the scope of the problem and urged the federal and state governments and the medical community to take clear and tangible steps to reduce the number of fatal medical errors,a staggering 98,000 Americans die from preventable medical errors each year and just as many from hospital-acquired infections. read more... Deadly bacteria defy drugs, alarming doctors Los Angeles Times By Mary Engel February 17, 2009 When Ruth Burns had surgery to relieve a pinched nerve in her back, the operation was supposed to be an "in-and-out thing," recalled her daughter, Kacia Warren. But Burns developed pneumonia and was put on a ventilator. Five days later, she was discharged -- only to be rushed by her daughter to the hospital hours later, disoriented and in alarming pain. Seventeen days after the surgery, the 67-year-old nurse was dead. read more... The Fifth Annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study, 2008, found that patient safety incidents resulted in 238,337 potentially preventable deaths during 2004 through 2006. HealthGrades previously estimated that within the entire population, not just Medicare patients, there were 575,000 preventable deaths caused by medical errors over three years. read more... CBS News (Jan. 17, 2003) "American hospitals are in serious crisis, from large numbers of uninsured patients to spiraling costs, from outlandishly expensive prescription drugs to a severe and dangerous shortage of nurses." read more... Time Magazine (May 2006) reported in its cover story, "What Doctors Hate About Hospitals," that "Until proper safeguards are built into the system, what a patient needs most, many doctors agree, is a sentinel—someone to take notice, to be an advocate, ask questions." read more... ABC News (Oct. 14, 2005) reported that tens of thousands die each year because of the spread of infectious diseases in hospitals. read more... ABC News (Nov. 14, 2006): New Report Sheds Sobering Light on Hospital Infections. Infections Acquired During Hospital Stays Kill More People Than Breast Cancer, Auto Accidents and Aids Combined read more... New England Journal of Medicine (May 30, 2002) reported that when there are too few registered nurses at bedsides, patients are significantly more likely to suffer serious complications, such as internal bleeding and even death. read more... Newsweek (Dec. 12, 2005) reported that "Nurses are the key to safety in hospitals and nursing homes. You are not admitted to the hospital for medical care but for nursing care." read more... ABC World News Tonight (Jan. 21, 2006) reported that "Patients in hospitals today are sicker than 20 years ago." read more... American Hospital Association 2006 Survey reported that "Hospitals face workforce shortages that are affecting patient care. Lawsuit abuse has caused medical liability premiums to rise, disrupting many of the nation's hospitals' ability to provide… services for the communities that depend on them." read more...

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Hospital Medication Errors

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