Nursing administration quarterly
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Health care organizations have focused considerable effort and resources on improving patient safety and health care quality. Yet, despite these efforts, patients continue to experience harm events within our institutions. Family engagement is a powerful and often untapped resource to improve the quality and safety of organizations. ⋯ For successful implementation, organization leaders must establish family engagement as a system-level priority. Roles to support the development of a family engagement program, methods to evaluate the level of family engagement, and strategies to enhance and sustain family engagement are described. Although there is limited evidence-based knowledge related to the best practices for family engagement, opportunities exist to drive the family engagement agenda at a regional and national level through participation in networks such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Partnership for Patients campaign Hospital Engagement Networks.
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Defensive medicine is taxing our health care system more and more each year. Emergency departments are at more risk of malpractice claims due to their quick pace, lack of patient-physician relationship, and patient expectations and demands. ⋯ There are health risks and monetary and emotional consequences that result from the use of defensive medicine. Eradication of defensive medicine can begin with the use of evidence-based medicine and by ensuring that hospital policies and procedures are followed.
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Editorial Biography Historical Article
From the editor. Looking back on more than 37 years as founder and editor-in-chief of Nursing Administration Quarterly.
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The current complex and rapidly changing health care environment calls for new approaches to leadership, particularly for clinical leaders as they assume greater responsibility for identifying and managing the clinical leverage points that create value. The chief nursing officer-chief medical officer dyad as a co-leadership model is one such approach. ⋯ On the basis of Catholic Health Initiatives experience, attention to the design of such partnerships is critical for their success, and a number of guiding principles have emerged. In addition, leadership development interventions, with attention to both the individual and the partnership, can play a critical role in supporting the evolution of strong and effective clinical dyads.