Nurses' perception of beeper calls: implications for resident stress and patient care

Article Abstract:

Nurses and physicians may perceive the urgency of beeper calls differently. Researchers studied beeper logs prepared by nurses that chronicled all calls made to physicians. Nurses' perceptions of the urgency of the calls were compared to physicians' responses. Of 849 beeper calls, nurses deemed 4% emergencies, 32% urgent, 55% routine, and 9% were not rated. Most calls to physicians were made regarding changes in patients' status. Sixty-one percent of calls generated a physician response in less than five minutes. Of the physician responses to 597 beeper calls, 10% resulted in patient assessment, 35% resulted in verbal orders given via telephone, 23% resulted in other actions, and 32% elicited no action. Emergency calls were more likely than other calls to require patient assessment by a physician. Of the calls that required a patient assessment, 43% were categorized by nurses as routine.

Usage, Nurses, Beliefs, opinions and attitudes, Pagers (Communication devices), Radio paging

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Injury prevention counseling in an urban pediatric clinic: analysis of audiotaped visits

Article Abstract:

Pediatric residents in innercity clinics may not provide adequate counseling in preventing accidental injuries in young children. Researchers analyzed audiotapes of well-child visits between 52 pediatric residents and 178 children aged 0 to 4. Accident prevention counseling was only included in 47% of the visits. Of visits that did, an average of about one minute was spent discussing an average of two topics. House fires and firearms were not discussed despite this being an at-risk population. Physician did not ask for feedback or obtain committments from parents, strategies known to increase compliance.

Wounds and injuries, Injuries, Children's accidents

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Compliance with universal precautions among pediatric residents

Article Abstract:

Many pediatric residents are not compliant with procedures to protect them from exposure to blood while performing invasive procedures. This could place them at risk of contracting blood-borne infections such as HIV infection or hepatitis. Researchers observed 128 invasive procedures performed by 46 residents and 4 medical students on children. Proper precautions were followed in only 54% of the procedures. Compliance with precautions ranged from zero for suturing to 100% for lumbar puncture.

Infection

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