Team efforts by nurse educators and nurse administrators resulted in modification of the orientation process to better accommodate part-time nurses. Use of the Performance Base Development System (PBDS) was initiated and scheduling flexibility was introduced as a "Med-Plus" program. Over 30 nurses have had acceptable assessments and became valuable members of the staff. Not all problems involvi...

In 2004, a 551-bed nonprofit hospital launched a pilot of the unit-based clinical nurse leader (CNL) role to support staff nurses and their patients. Thus far, the role has demonstrated great promise in promoting individual patient-centered outcomes, although the pilot has identified potential adaptations to enhance aggregate outcomes. These include decreasing the patient-to-CNL ratio, increasi...

In the practice of nursing, organizations with progressive evidence-based practice programs implement structures and processes whereby nurses are engaged in the review of existing research and in the development of clinical practice documents to better align nursing practices with the best available scientific knowledge. At our academic hospital system, clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) took th...

Background The Primary Nursing is a nursing care policy based upon an individualized patient-nurse relationship, with a particular attention to the communication and the continuity of the health care. This model has been implemented in all the structures of the ASL of Biella in 2013. The nurse becomes the coordinator of the patient’s assistance. The Primary Nursing objective is to develop the p...

CRITICALCARENURSE Vol 27, No. 2, APRIL 2007 53 Angela Smith Collins has more than 30 years of experience in nursing, the past 13 years as an advanced practice nurse. She is an associate professor of nursing at the Capstone College of Nursing in Tuscaloosa, Ala, where she teaches pharmacology, critical care nursing, and perioperative nursing. She holds APN certification as a medical-surgical cli...

Hospital wards must be staffed 24 hours a day by a limited number of nurses. With a well documented shortage of nurses in many countries, effective rostering of nurse shifts is crucial. Recent research on nurse rostering has focused on creating flexible rosters that are attractive to nurses, with the joint aims of improving the quality of care and increasing staff retention. To achieve this, so...

BACKGROUND the EU Directive states the requirement of staff working in trials to be qualified by education, training and experience [14]. This includes the research nurse; however, in the transition from ward nurse to research nurse, new and highly developed skills and knowledge are required in order to work effectively. METHODS an educational programme was developed, which included a review ...

BACKGROUND The nursing staff working in psychiatric care have a demanding work situation, which may be reflected in how they view their psychosocial work environment and the ward atmosphere. The aims of the present study were to investigate in what way different aspects of the ward atmosphere were related to the psychosocial work environment, as perceived by nursing staff working in psychiatric...

OBJECTIVE To study an established triage nurse x ray requesting system to determine whether sending defined groups of patients for radiography before assessment by doctors or emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs) resulted in shorter waiting times for patients without compromising quality of care. METHODS Prospective randomised controlled study of "walking wounded" patients attending a district...

BACKGROUND With the increasing acuity of student health problems, growing rates of poverty among urban families, and widening racial/ethnic health disparities in child and adolescent health indicators, the contributions of school nurses are of increasing interest to policymakers. This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of school nurses on promoting a healthy school environment and healt...