Poor Outcomes Reported For CCI Patients Leaving Hospitals On Ventilators
Patients, discharged from hospitals on ventilator support and with cognitive impairments, fare poorly four months later. Researchers from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University report these findings in American Journal of Critical Care. "Survival alone is not the only important outcome for patients, " says Barbara Daly, the lead researcher on the National Institutes of Health-funded study, "Composite Outcomes of Chronically Critically Ill Patients 4 Months after Hospital Discharge." She adds that having a better quality of life by living at home, breathing free from the ventilator and having normal cognitive function are also important factors constituting a positive outcome in the aftermath of a hospital stay.
Total Medical Solutions Discharges Home Health Care Comp Patients Earlier Than Doctor Orders
Thirty percent of the home health care workers' compensation cases managed by Total Medical Solutions (TMS) were discharged prior to the "order-end date, " the last date the physician had anticipated that services would be required. The figure comes from an internal review of 250 cases with an intake date between March 1 and July 15, 2009. Of the early discharges, 27 involving RN or LPN services were discharged an average of nine days early. Twenty four of the cases involved physical therapy and were discharged an average of 10 days early and 10 cases involved home health care aides and nine involved intravenous or infusion services. "With home health care adding hundreds of dollars a day to a claim, earlier discharge represents significant savings for our clients, " said Cara Barde, president of TMS.
NMC Response To The CQC Report On Care Homes In England
In response to the report by the Care Quality Commission that one in four care homes in England are providing a poor service to older people, NMC Chief Executive and Registrar Dickon Weir-Hughes said: "Poor care is never acceptable and nurses working in care homes have a responsibility within the NMC code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives (2008) to act without delay if they believe they, a colleague or anyone else may be putting someone at risk. This includes issues relating to the environment of care. "We know that we need to do more to help safeguard the health and wellbeing of patients and the public. These issues are being addressed through projects like our review of pre-registration nursing education which will set new standards for future nursing students.
Efforts To Expand Adult Day Care Programs Threatened By Recession-Driven Cuts
Kaiser Health News, in a story produced in collaboration with The Washington Post, reports on adult day care. It "may soon become harder to find and afford. The almost 4, 000 state-licensed centers around the country rely heavily on funding from state legislatures and charities, which have been hit hard by the recession. Advocates for adult day-care programs are pushing to include them in federal health-care overhaul legislation while also lobbying state legislatures and suing state regulators to keep centers from shutting their doors" (12/2). Read entire story. This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J.
Free Personal Care For Older People In Their Own Home, UK
Alzheimer's Society has today welcomed the recognition of people with dementia in the Queen's speech and called for dementia to be a priority for all political parties. Responding to proposals to give people with the highest needs free personal care, Alzheimer's Society called for more detail and warned that both money and improved quality of home care was needed to make proposals a success. 'Free personal care at home for those with the highest needs is a welcome development but the challenge to implement this proposal will not be easy. Money is needed to make sure people with dementia aren't being pushed into full time care earlier than needed. Quality also needs to be driven up for people to see real benefit.
Emeritus Senior Living Provides Holiday Tips To Alzheimer's Caregivers
The holidays are a time for families to gather and celebrate generations coming together to enjoy each other's company. Though for those caring for loved ones with Alzheimer's or dementia, this time of year can bring increased anxiety as they strive to create a calm holiday environment while keeping family traditions alive. For that reason, Emeritus Senior Living, a national provider of assisted living and Alzheimer's and related dementia care services to seniors, has put together helpful guidelines and suggestions to make this holiday season a memorable one for the whole family. "The holidays are an important time of year for families to come together, and keeping our loved ones who are suffering from Alzheimer's involved in family traditions continues to be critically important, " commented Crystal Scott, Director of Memory Care for Emeritus Senior Living.
Magazine Compiles Rankings Of U.S. Nursing Homes
U.S. News & World Report examines government data from more than 15, 500 nursing homes to determine which are the nation's best: "At the core of the rankings is the data and ratings found on Nursing Home Compare, a federal website created by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The CMS collects and analyzes information on almost all nursing homes - all that accept Medicare or Medicaid residents - and rates the facilities on numerous measures, from safe food preparation to the amount of nursing care per resident" (Comarow, 10/5). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
'Back-Breaking' Work Beliefs Contribute To Health Workers' Pain
Whether from heaving, twisting, bending or bad lifting postures, it's well known that caring for the sick or elderly can lead to back pain. This often results in time off work or dropping out of caring professions altogether. Now Danish research published in the online open access journal BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders suggests that the fear of getting back pain from care work is predictive of actually developing it. Among healthcare workers, studies have found LBP rates during a 12-month period of 45-63 percent compared with 40-50 percent in the general population. Rather than avoiding physical activity, medical guidelines based on LBP research recommend staying active and continuing normal daily life, including going to work.
New Study Reports Three Times More People Receiving Health Care Support At Home Rather Than In Nursing Homes Or Assisted-Living Facilities
American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance and Homewatch CareGivers, the largest, most experienced international provider of home care for people of all ages, teamed up to conduct a study examining trends in long-term health care and the utilization of associated support services. Among the conclusions of the study is the dramatic growth of people receiving support care at home and the significantly greater percentage of those with long-term care insurance who are able to receive home-based care and stay in the their homes longer. According to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, approximately 7.5 million individuals currently receive long-term care at home because of an acute illness, long-term health condition, a permanent disability, or terminal illness.
TV Time For Young Children May Be Doubled By Daycare May, Study Finds
In a new study, the amount of television viewed by many young children in child care settings doubles the previous estimates of early childhood screen time, with those in home-based settings watching significantly more on average than those in center-based daycares. This study is the first to examine screen time in child care settings in more than 20 years. The study looked at television use in 168 child care programs in four states, and was guided by lead researcher Dimitri A. Christakis, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.