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When I heard that the 19 y/o suspect had been apprehended and, because of his injuries, had been taken to the hospital, I thought, “Oh brother, God bless the hospital staff that will be treating and caring for him.” Amidst all the public sentiment surrounding the terrible tragedy at the Boston Marathon, and the ensuing . . . → Read More: Boston Bomber #2 Taken to Beth Israel/Deaconess Medical Center Recently, it seems like we’ve had a flurry of facilities whose staff has been unwilling, for one reason or another, to speak with our nurse advocates over the phone. Last week, I was asked to intervene in a case where our nurse advocate was having difficulty getting information DESPITE a signed authorization and consent on . . . → Read More: “Our nurses don’t give medical information.” Through the years of healthcare innovation and reform, even going as far back as the 1990′s, one of the favorite rallying cries of administrators is delivering and offering “patient centered care.” When I first heard the phrase, as a manager in an acute care hospital, I thought, “Um, isn’t that what we WERE delivering?” I . . . → Read More: “Patient Centered Care? Absolutely! I’ll Get to That Right After My Meeting.” In the course of our work at Guardian Nurses, we often (ok, every day) have to deal with the federal healthcare privacy law called HIPAA. Since we are working on behalf of patients, we need to get their written authorization that we can speak with their clinical providers and request records from facilities. Patients easily . . . → Read More: HIPAA GONE WILD! We recently had a case in California which required us to frequently communicate telephonically with the nursing staff. We had the required signed HIPAA release on the chart (multiple times, in fact, as it continued to get ‘lost’) as well as the family’s verbal authorization to speak on their behalf with the clinical team. . . . → Read More: Nurse Practice Act? C’MON……. Last week a good friend had bilateral knee replacements and chose to ‘buy up’ for her recovery by selecting the hospital’s “Concierge Unit.” Many hospitals now offer such a unit, requiring patients to pay out of pocket per night in addition to their expected insurance payment. In my friend’s case, it was $40o each night. . . . → Read More: $400 Per Night and Still No Benadryl Ointment!! There is so much energy, money, and planning that goes into a vacation, especially if it’s a family vacation, that it’s worth taking some time to think about the ‘what ifs.’ No doubt we all want our vacation memories to be positive. So think about adding these seven tips (below) to improve . . . → Read More: Vacation? Don’t Leave Home Without Reading This! I was on the receiving end of healthcare this week. Being a patient, and a nurse, is a little like being a “secret shopper.” I don’t usually admit that I’m a nurse when checking in, filling out the voluminous forms, or being interviewed on my personal health history by the intake nurse. I want to . . . → Read More: New, Ridiculous Policies For many people, organ transplantations are just something we occasionally read about in the news, if at all. (Of course, a donor heart being given to a former vice president always makes the news.) But for the team at Guardian Nurses, organ transplantations are a much greater part of our day to day reality. We . . . → Read More: Even With A New Liver, Sometimes Patients Die Since 1970, January has been recognized as National Blood Donor Month. Here are some good-to-know facts about our country’s blood supply from the American Red Cross: The demand for transfusions is growing faster than donations. Less than 38% of the US population is eligible to donate blood. Blood cannot be manufactured—it can only come . . . → Read More: Resolve This Year To Give Blood |
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