The Latest Healthcare Industry News

 Taking a cue from the retail world, hospitals are using "secret shoppers" to improve infection control measures. These covert clinicians observe the hospital staff during the course of their day to see how effective a facility’s infection prevention methods are working—particularly their hand hygiene measures.

With cost a constant concern for health care administrators, the adoption of new technology—including electronic health records (EHRs)—often takes a backseat to a facility’s immediate needs already accounted for in the budget. In fact, cost is perhaps the greatest barrier to a widespread adoption of EHRs in hospitals across the country.

Can hospitals start to breathe easier about the nursing shortage?  Not yet, according to the authors of a new workforce report published in Health Affairs

 As economic woes continue to plague U.S. hospitals, one of the areas seeing the deepest cutbacks is infection prevention. Leading epidemiologists point out that these budget cuts could become detrimental to both patient care and the financial health of hospitals.

Texas nurses are about to become a more integral part of hospital staffing decisions, thanks to a recent state bill. As a collaborative effort between the Texas Nursing Association (TNA) and the Texas Hospital Association (THA), Senate Bill 476 (SB 476) would require that all Texas hospitals’ nurse staffing committees be comprised of at least 60 percent bedside nurses, among other guidelines.