Healthcare Management & Administration Blog

Primary Nursing Paves the Way for Safer, More Rewarding Care

I have to admit that I am dumbfounded by the resistance I’ve encountered from direct care providers, right up to the CNO, to Primary Nursing. The first time I heard a colleague share an example of a Primary Nurse explaining his or her role to a patient, I remember thinking, “This is great; I would really feel safe as a patient or family member if my nurse spoke those words.”

New Partnership for Expert Online Compliance Training Courses

HealthStream has formed a strategic partnership with Health Care Compliance Strategies, Inc. (HCCS), a leading provider of online compliance and competency training courses. The partnership enables HealthStream clients to train their staff using well respected online compliance education directly on their existing HealthStream Learning Center platform.

Creating Positive Change in Healthcare Through Appreciative Questions

Appreciative questions are a simple and effective way to inspire people and reinforce desired behavior. They can put a positive spin on huddles, staff meetings or during casual rounds with staff.

Writing a Healthcare Competency: How Detailed Should You Get?

I get many questions from people about how detailed to get when writing a healthcare competency statement. Should you write a competency statement and then add a sub-set of details that reflect all the skill aspects of that competency or details that describe the steps of a given procedure? The answer to this is, “Not necessarily.”

The Hardest Job in Healthcare: Partnership is Key for Clinical Managers

I recently surveyed a group of clinical managers who were identified by their supervisors as exemplars based on these key outcomes:

Nurses Have an Amazing Capacity to Do More

I know if I said “Nurses have an amazing capacity to do more” in a speech before an audience of nurses many would get angry, and some would probably walk out. And yet, it is something that I believe to be true. Not for all nurses, not in all work situations, not all the time, but something we would be foolish to deny.

Nursing: Which is More Important-Butts in Seats or Measurable Change?

To all of my fellow professional development specialists out there: If someone asked you what your outcomes are this month, how would you answer?

Empowering Families to Create Better Patient Outcomes

We need to empower families to be partners with us, not visitors to the room. This is true patient/family empowerment in their care—inviting their input so that we design the best care for that individual and help them to be a healing presence for their loved one.

American Heart Association Instructor Essentials Courses Now Available!

AHA Instructor Essentials courses are new online courses that have replaced the AHA Core Instructor Course, which has been discontinued. The Instructor Essentials courses are a required step to become an AHA Instructor, to add a discipline, and for all AHA Faculty.

Healthcare Mentoring Matters Pt.3: Establishing Mentee Trust & Safety

In Part II of the HealthStream Mentoring Matters series, I defined the three top priorities for developing a successful mentor/mentee relationship as: 1) defining the mentor/mentee goals, 2) formalizing the goals by writing them out and articulating who is responsible for what, and 3) developing an actionable timeline for accomplishing the agreed upon goals.

Getting the Most Out of Patient Rounds

Patient rounds can have unexpected benefits when a few simple techniques are followed. Over time, as I began to refine my approach, I got better results: I noticed that patients became reassured and felt safer, I got meaningful staff compliments, and I learned useful ideas to make care even better because patients felt more comfortable sharing.

7 Tips for Packing Your Bags for Your Magnet Journey

Summer is here, and many of us have a vacation planned in the near future. If you are anything like me (a planner!), you are making lists, buying new outfits, and coordinating activities to ensure a wonderful vacation.

New Medical Devices: Training Should Never Be an Afterthought

If you’re not familiar with the ECRI Institute, you should be. For more than 45 years, ECRI has been using applied scientific research to determine which procedures, medical devices and technology, pharmaceuticals, and processes to help you improve patient care and outcomes.

ICD-10 in the News

We all know ICD-10 is coming. However, studies are showing many groups are lagging behind in readiness for the transition. Below are some of the week’s trending articles illustrating this lack of readiness as well as how to get on track.

Caregivers: The Importance of Taking Care of Our Four Selves

Janet Hagberg once said “If the three elements of body, mind and spirit are in balance, they reinforce one another; if they are out of balance they multiply problems.”