Background: In recent years, a number of residency training programs have adopted “procedure teams” that supervise residents in performing and troubleshooting invasive bedside procedures. These services have been shown to increase resident comfort and self‐perceived knowledge with procedures, but their effect on patient satisfaction is unknown. We sought to measure patient satisfaction and levels of [...]

Background: When residents are exposed to tobacco‐dependence treatment (TDT) training, the teachings are mainly geared toward performing such practice in outpatient settings. However, hospitalized smokers may be more responsive to smoking cessation interventions than nonhospital‐iied smokers. In fact, the Joint Commission will likely soon start to track not just if hospitalized smokers were asked about [...]

Background: Communication among health care providers is critically important to provide safe care, as poor communication represents a major etiology of preventable adverse events (AE) in hospitals. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an intervention, structured interdisciplinary rounds (SIDRs), on preventable adverse events on a medical teaching unit. Methods: The [...]

Background: Research reveals deficiencies in teamwork on medical units involving hospitalists. The aims of this study were to assess the impact of an intervention, structured interdisciplinary rounds (SlDRs), on nurses' ratings of collaboration and teamwork and on hospital length of stay (LOS) and cost. Methods: The study was a controlled trial involving an intervention and [...]

Background: Research reveals deficiencies in teamwork on medical teaching units. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an intervention, structured interdisciplinary rounds (SlDRs), on hospital care providers' ratings of collaboration and teamwork and on hospital length of stay (LOS) and cost. Methods: The study was a controlled trial comparing an intervention [...]

Background: Communication between nurses and physicians is instrumental in providing quality patient care. Nurse‐physician relations have been linked to nursing satisfaction and collaboration is associated with positive patient outcomes. Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center (BGSMC) is an urban 658‐bed leaching hospital that uses an information sheet containing the name, pager number, and after‐hours contact information [...]

Background: The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey was developed by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) as a standardized tool to allow objective and meaningful comparisons among hospitals on patients' perspectives on their care. Since 2008 CMS has been [...]

Background: Over the past decade, several studies reported a sharp increase in the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in the hospital setting. Between 33% and 65% of these prescriptions were found to be noncompliant with the guidelines, 50% of which were continued after discharge. Besides being expensive, PPIs have been associated with increased risk [...]

Background: Clostridium difficile infection (GDI) is one of the most common hospital‐acquired infections, and its prevalence and severity have been increasing. It is crucial to make a timely and accurate diagnosis so that treatment and containment strategies can be implemented appropriately. The stool enzyme immunoassay (ElA) for toxins A and B is the most commonly [...]

Background: The 200S CHRISTOPHER trial validated a diagnostic algorithm for pulmonary embolism (PE) using the Wells score, D‐dimer, and CT angiography (CTA). Thirty‐two percent of patients had a combination of low Wells score and negative D‐dimer ruling out PE with a negative predictive value of 99.4%. Two recent studies concluded that clinicians are not using [...]