Thousands of patients are dying in hospital each year because of bad handwriting, mistakes in maths and poor monitoring by nursing, according to a study. The death rate at two hospitals fell by 15 per cent after nurses were given electronic devices in place of handwritten paper notes to record patients’ heart rates and breathing.
Researchers calculated that 750 deaths were prevented in a year at two hospitals surveyed. Across the National Health Service in the UK, this means 37,000 deaths could be avoided if nurses were given the devices rather than relying on traditional handwritten notes from nurses.
At present, nurses are meant to measure patients’ heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels and take certain other readings and note them down on a board at the end of the bed. Often these readings aren’t taken regularly enough and in some patients there are gaps of between eight and 12 hours between measures. In other cases, nurses’ handwriting is illegible or they don’t note down all the figures meaning it is not clear for their colleagues to check the development of patients.
To deal with the problem, hand-held devices were given to nurses in 2007. They were handed either iPhones or iPads – small computers – installed with an app that takes patients readings and reminds nurses when they are next needed. An alert flashes up on the screen if patients are deteriorating and in some cases they will urge nurses to call in a doctor.
Researchers compared the death rates for every year from 2004 – before the devices were used – to 2010. The annual death rates fell by 397 and 372 in 2010 compared to 2004.
Dr Paul Schmidt said: “Observing patients and making accurate records provides a safety net to guard against their deterioration. We believed traditional paper charts were not doing the job well enough so we designed an electronic system to support staff. This study shows its introduction was followed by a significant drop in deaths.”
本时文内容由奇速英语国际教育研究院原创编写，禁止复制和任何商业用途，版权所有，侵权必究！
13980503458
13980503458
admin@qisuen.cn
