Working Nurse

COMPUTER LITERACY FOR NURSES

How are your computer skills? I don’t mean Facebook or family email. I mean how are you at using computers for patient care, patient records, research analysis or interdisciplinary communication?

The NLN board of governors is worried about nurses’ lack of these skills, and it has launched an effort to ensure that nursing education addresses this issue. The federal government plans for all of us to have an Electronic Health Care Record (EHCR) by 2014. In light of this, the NLN has issued a position statement, “Preparing the Next Generation of Nurses to Practice in a Technology-Rich Environment: An Informatics Agenda.”

In studies leading up to the paper, three critical areas emerged: computer literacy, information literacy and informatics. Surveys show that only 60 percent of nursing programs have a computer literacy component and only 40 percent have an information literacy requirement. Not even 60 percent had informatics incorporated into the curriculum.

Since there’s confusion about what defines informatics, the numbers are not surprising. For the past 30 years nursing has shown minimal interest in joining federal and private initiatives to prepare for a more technologically sophisticated practice environment. That situation cannot continue.

Recommendations include: establishing a uniform definition of informatics, incorporating informatics into all nursing curricula, using ANA-recognized standard nursing language and terminology (uh-oh), and  requiring that all students graduate with up-to-date computer knowledge so that they can deliver evidenced-based quality care.     

USING PROTECTIVE GEAR CORRECTLY  

It’s easy to assume that if you are correctly  swathed in all the various protective gear that the isolation cart provides, you are avoiding contact with contagious organisms. Not so, says a new study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In fact, you might be spreading contagion, and in more than one way. Droplet- or airborne-transmitted diseases are particularly tricky because viruses can survive for hours on surfaces and easily spread by surface-to-hand contact and by hand-to-hand contact.

In an article from Emerging Infectious Disease (August 2008), researchers report the very real possibility of transferring viruses from protective gear to employees’ skin and clothing during the process of removing and disposing of those items. This can happen even while correctly using current CDC protocols designed to minimize wearer contamination. 

The recent outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), in which healthcare workers accounted for about 20 percent of the cases, points to the urgency  of establishing improved routines for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the necessity of adequate staff education.

Several solutions, not yet validated, might be double-gloving, use of surgical protocols for PPE removal, and PPEs impregnated with antimicrobial agents. The study also emphasizes the continued need for hand hygiene. Absolutely NOTHING substitutes for good hand washing. Remember: at least 15 seconds with soap and vigor. If using an alcohol-based cleanser, rub until dry. And in both cases, lotion frequently to protect the integrity of your skin.      

SALMONELLA'S BACK: WASH YOUR VEGETABLES

Salmonella is around again. In fact, it never goes away. It alternates with E. coli in all its various permutations as a perennial public health scourge. Both have the potential to cause serious illness (think Reiter’s or hemolytic-uremic syndrome), especially in the usual groups of the very young, the very old and the immune-suppressed. Most recently it was tomatoes, which harbor the bacteria; in 2006, spinach was the culprit.

Of course, other foods can make you sick. But because they grow in a natural environment, the FDA has identified five commodity groups that account for most food-borne illnesses: green leafy vegetables, including lettuce, herbs and sprouts; green onions; tomatoes; and cantaloupes.

As a nurse, you know the basic precautions, such as washing all fresh produce; but here are several suggestions from the FDA that were new to me. Use them to protect yourself and your patients. Don’t let that innocent piece of fruit from a visitor’s backyard lead to more illness.
 
1. Bagged fruits and vegetables labeled “pre-washed” are safe without washing again, but only if the bag is unopened. Once you break the seal, wash.

2. Even food you are going to peel needs to be washed, preferably under running water and with a brush. Drying also removes additional micro-organisms.

3. Organic and home grown produce needs just as much care as conventionally grown food.

4. It is impossible to clean raw sprouts adequately, even ones you grow yourself. Avoid unless cooked. 

5. Use disinfectants and detergents to clean surfaces, not to prepare produce.  

For Our California Nurses: BRN FINGERPRINT REGULATIONS

 As of June 1, 2008, the California Board of Registered Nursing started requiring examination applicants to have background checks from the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

There are now two ways to fulfill the fingerprint requirement. If you reside in California or close by, the board suggests you use Live Scan to submit your prints. The time to process your application will run one to two weeks rather than the usual one to two months, although the DOJ and FBI each take different lengths of time.

The second method is to submit a fingerprint card (hard card). Use this method if you cannot physically get to a Live Scan site. Your application packet contains all the instructions.

A revised fee schedule also applies. With LIVE SCAN, the application fee plus interim permit is $105, not including any fees payable at the Live Scan site. Using a fingerprint card or hard card requires an additional $51 fee, plus any fees charged by the law enforcement site which administers the fingerprints.    

1 COMMENTS

• Mr. Wonderful

  Outside of food, Salmonella is also very prominent in certain pets like turtles. These kinds of pets should never be handled without gloves.

  Oct 02, 2008