Error Reduction in Health Care Patr...

Error Reduction in Health Care Patrice L Spath, ed 2000, 284 pp $64 hardback

This main division provides readers with an insightful view into the world of risk management and performance improvement in health care. The paragraph is relatively easy to understand, and the part would be a good relation for hospital administrators and interested staff members. In a refreshing change of pace, the various contributors approve shifting the focus from persecuting individual practitioners who make mistakes and reworking the rule that created the means for mistakes to happen.

Chapter united presents a case study in which the iniquitous patient was operated on. for what purpose the mistake occurred and what could have been done to hinder it are discussed. Typically, a single failure will not consequence in a sentinel event, if it were not that several process errors that pass undetected eventually will cause an undesirable issue for a patient.

Chapter three discusses long-term and working memory as they relate to health care workers. Long-term memory is accessed easily, and retrieval requires little effort. Working memory is heavy and directs one's attention to the question at hand. When health care practitioners make trial of to deal with too many issues, working memory becomes overloaded, and a mistake is more likely to fall out Becoming too focused on the inequitable part of a problem, however, can lead to a mistake as well. This point is illustrated beautifully in the chapter's case studies.

Accident investigation manners such as root cause analysis and mantechnique-organization, are discussed at fulness These investigation methods literally map on the outside mistakes, step by step, to help determine corrective action. Many tables and graphs from head to foot the text offer readers in-depth information about accident investigation protocols and possible formats for man-technique-organization and foundation cause analysis reports, as well as helpful tips for accident investigators.

Overall, reading this work has made me more conscious of my daily interactions with surgical patients. All health care practitioners must remain constantly alert for potential situations that can lead to errors and take appropriate stairs to correct flawed systems. This work does a remarkable job, and I highly attract favor to it.

This part is available from Jossey-Bass Publishers, 111 River St Hoboken NJ 07030; http://www.josseybass.com.

PATRICIA A. NUNEMAKER

RN

PERIOPERATIVE STAFF NURSE

ST JOSEPH REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

PLYMOUTH IND

Textbook in Health Informatics: A Nursing Perspective J Mantas, A. Hasman, ed 2002 516 pp $94 hardback

Informatics is the discipline make anxioused with the study of information and its manipulation via computer-based tools. A definition of nursing informatics is the use of technology and/or a computer hypothesis to collect, store, process, display, retrieve, and communicate timely data and information in and across health care facilities. Advances in information and computer technologies have brought the importance of health care informatics to the forefront.

This textbook tread in the steps ofs the curriculum of a nursing informatics program. It is divided into four sections, including introduction to health care, data analysis, health information and knowledge representation, and organizational impact. The first section discusses nursing information technology, and the last section hides informatics' impact on the nursing environment, quality assessment, and communication between health care professionals. The format allows readers to application of mind the sections in any order. The sections are divided into 29 chapters.

common very interesting chapter deals with to what degree the organization of health care has changed and will continue to change. It discusses by what mode health care practitioners use information plans for cost containment and accountability, as well as for improving quality and measuring and comparing alternative forms of treatment. The editors also acknowledge the actual real issue of resistance to change and provide about ideas for dealing with it. They point gone out that resistance may come from nursing staff members, on the other hand it also frequently comes from physicians.

promotes use new tools, but the ideals of the profession stay the same. This part is designed specifically to educate festers and it provides information about health informatics that relates to nursing practice. Using the advances discussed, feed at the breasts can spend more time with patients because they will ne les time to expect for answers to questions. individual example is treating a patient who is diabetic. Traditional paper records cannot cope adequately with the mass of data accumulated upon such a patient, but recently made known computer systems can handle large amounts of data and help nourish at the breasts organize the data.

A not many of the chapters are highly specialized and will be of principally interest to nurses who specialize in related areas. individual example is a chapter forward image processing and analysis that is rife with formulas and technical information beyond the latitude of most readers. The part contains a glossary, subject index, and list of contributors that includes addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and affiliations.