Publications by authors named "Katherine Paquette"
Despite largely unproven clinical effectiveness, incentive spirometry (IS) is widely used in an effort to reduce postoperative pulmonary complications. The objective of the study is to evaluate the financial impact of implementing IS. The amount of time nurses and RTs spend each day doing IS-related activities was assessed utilizing an online survey distributed to the relevant national nursing and respiratory therapists (RT) societies along with questionnaire that was prospectively collected every day for 4 weeks at a single 10-bed cardiothoracic surgery step-down unit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patient adherence is a critical factor for success of patient-administered therapies, including incentive spirometry (IS). Patient adherence with IS is not known, so we sought to evaluate providers' perspectives on the current state of IS adherence and elucidate possible factors hindering patient adherence.
Methods: Respiratory therapists (RTs) and nurses across the United States were surveyed via social media and online newsletters.
Background: Incentive spirometry (IS) is widely used to prevent postoperative pulmonary complications, despite limited clinical effectiveness data and a lack of standardized use protocols. We sought to evaluate health care professionals' perspectives on IS effectiveness and use procedures.
Methods: An online survey was distributed via social media and newsletters to relevant national nursing and respiratory care societies.
Background: Over the past two decades, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has evolved from a hospital-associated infection to a significant public health threat in the community, causing outbreaks of soft tissue infections in otherwise healthy individuals. The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of nasal MRSA colonization in low acuity Emergency Department (ED) Fast Track patients in order to better characterize the epidemiology of this pathogen.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of adult patients from our ED Fast Track.
Study Objective: Few studies of the prevalence of nasal colonization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in emergency department (ED) health care workers have been conducted. To better understand the epidemiology of this pathogen, we seek to determine the MRSA nasal colonization rates in the ED health care workers in our hospital.
Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study on a convenience sample of ED health care workers, including nurses, physicians, and technicians.