Healthcare Traveler - January 2009 - (Page 16)

N E W S T R AV E L E R S C A N U S E In A Flash Joint Commission releases 2009 National Patient Safety Goals Legislative Corner California passes end-of-life legislation The first of its kind in the nation, the Terminal Patients’ Right to Know End-of-Life Options Act (AB 2747) provides terminally ill patients with full disclosure about all available endof-life care options, including hospice care, life-prolonging treatments, voluntary stopping eating and drinking, and palliative sedation and care. In October, Governor Schwarzenegger signed the act, which also requires that healthcare providers who do not wish to comply with a patient’s choice refer the patient to another provider. T he Joint Commission recently released its 2009 National Patient Safety Goals, which set practice standards for more than 15,000 accredited healthcare organizations. New goals include standards for eliminating transfusion errors and three new requirements for preventing healthcare-associated infections. Clear communication is an underlying necessity in many of the new goals such as creating a list of abbreviations not to use, reading back verbal orders among caregivers, and providing a medication list to patients in an effort to reconcile medications across the continuum of care. Healthcare workers are encouraged to recognize and request assistance for a patient with a worsening condition. Moreover, providers are now mandated to encourage patients’ active involvement in their own care through patient and family reporting of safety concerns. Other goals outlined in the 2009 standards include using two patient identifiers to improve accuracy of patient identification, labeling medications to manage look-alike and sound-alike drugs, and implementing a fall reduction program. Identifying individuals at risk for suicide, and reducing surgical fires, healthcare-associated ulcers, and the risk of influenza and pneumococcal disease in institutionalized older adults are additional requisites. Hospitals, laboratories, ambulatory care, critical access care, long-term care, and office-based surgery are each affected by the new requirements, which must be fully implemented by January 2010. As a healthcare traveler, you may familiarize yourself with the 2009 goals at www.jointcommis sion.org/patientsafety/nationalpatientsafety goals/ so you can be prepared for your next assignment and share your expertise with your coworkers. Did You Know… The 10 Healthiest Airports in the U.S. are: 1. Phoenix Sky Harbor International 2. Baltimore/Washington International 3. O’Hare International Gear & Gadgets For $79.99, Roxio Toast 9 Titanium streams video, like TiVo shows, from your home MAC to iPhone, iPod Touch, or any Internet-connected PC or MAC. Burn your favorite shows to CD, DVD, and Blu-ray discs. Plus, you can create slide shows to share all of your high resolution photos. Roxio Online service costs only $39.99 per year and transforms your digital photos and videos into slide shows with stickers, animations, effects, and music tracks. Visit www.roxio.com for a full list of products. 4. Detroit Metropolitan 5. Denver International 6. Washington National 7. Dallas/Fort Worth International 8. Logan International 9. Portland International 10. Philadelphia International Source: Formichelli, L. (2008, December 2). America’s healthiest airports. Health. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from http://living.health. com/2008/11/24/americas-healthiest-airports/. » ROXIO C L E V E R TO O L S T H AT SI M P L I F Y T H E T R AV E L L I F E S T Y L E These self-heating adhesive pads start warming up as soon as you open the package, and may be worn in shoes and underneath clothing to soothe aches and prevent winter ailments. The regular heat pads last up to 10 hours and cost $22.95 per 10-pack. Lasting 5 hours, the foot pads cost $12.95 per 10-pack. Buy yours today at www.hotteezeheatpads.com. 16 Healthcare Traveler January 2009 » HOTTEEZE www.healthcaretraveler.com http://www.jointcommission.org/patientsafety/nationalpatientsafetygoals/ http://www.jointcommission.org/patientsafety/nationalpatientsafetygoals/ http://www.jointcommission.org/patientsafety/nationalpatientsafetygoals/ http://www.roxio.com http://living.health.com/2008/11/24/americas-healthiest-airports/ http://living.health.com/2008/11/24/americas-healthiest-airports/ http://www.hotteezeheatpads.com http://www.healthcaretraveler.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Traveler - January 2009

Healthcare Traveler - January 2009 Editor’s Desk Contents By the Numbers Paws for Thought Field Notes In a Flash Med Ec-cerpts Dream Destinations Nursing from the Heart Drug Update Professional Update Clinical Tips On Assignment Cityscape Name It Advertiser’s Index Contest Rules When In… It’s in the Bag Dot.com Tax Facts Big Deals Starter’s Kit Going the Distance Allied Corner Classifieds Tales from the Road

Healthcare Traveler - January 2009

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