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Falls prevention continues to be a focus on all patient units and is a priority for safe care throughout the organization. The fall prevention program ensures that patients at risk for a fall have all necessary interventions in place throughout their stay in the hospital to mitigate risk for injury…
The goal of this project was to reduce the amount of global office visits by using Lean Six Sigma methodologies. Process defects were identified in patient education discharge instructions. Key improvements included development and implementation of diagnosis-specific discharge instructions and…
An accurate home medication list serves as the 'source of truth' for the entire process of medication reconciliation. The hospital's home medication lists were found to be inaccurate 100 percent of the time and the organization lacked a systematic, evidence-based process for gathering a home…
Hypoglycemia can cause considerable harm to patients including the potential for falls, seizures, coma, and contributes to increased mortality and length of stay. The goal was to decrease the time it takes to resolve a hypoglycemic blood glucose reading to 30 minutes in a cardiovascular surgical…
The link between excessive work hours and adverse errors is inseparable. This project investigated if work hour guidelines and education had an impact on nurse work hours, fatigue management and patient outcomes. New hospital guidelines proposed employees do not work more than three, 12-hour shifts…
The goal of this project was to decrease the utilization rates of indwelling urinary catheters and ultimately decrease rates of catheter-associated urinary tract infections. During the eight quarters prior to project implementation, 33 percent of nursing units did not outperform the National…
Hypertension—the silent killer—impacts more than one in three Americans and is a leading cause of strokes, heart attacks and other serious illnesses. Catching it early and controlling it is key to saving lives which is why Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center started a program that coordinates…
White Plains (N.Y.) Hospital Center's interdisciplinary team developed a disinfection procedure that successfully reduced central line-associated blood stream infections by 70 percent. The procedure includes disinfecting the catheter hub on peripherally inserted central catheters with an IV…
NYU Lutheran Healthcare, Brooklyn, N.Y., created a shared medical appointment program transforming the usual doctor visit and providing essential health education to its patients.