Development of a Nurse-Led Competency-Based Program for Therapeutic Endoscopy: The Formation of the Nurse Product Procedure Group.

Therapeutic endoscopy is emerging as an innovating alternative to gastroenterology surgery. Due to the increase in new technologies, endoscopy clinical staff require ongoing education to develop safe, competent practice for new equipment and supplies. Maintaining competencies with new equipment and supplies can be challenging.

Validation of Autoclave Protocols for Successful Decontamination of Category A Medical Waste Generated from Care of Patients with Serious Communicable Diseases.

In response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014, many hospitals designated specific areas to care for patients with Ebola and other highly infectious diseases. The safe handling of category A infectious substances is a unique challenge in this environment. One solution is on-site waste treatment with a steam sterilizer or autoclave.

Effect of a Nurse-Managed Telemetry Discontinuation Protocol on Monitoring Duration, Alarm Frequency, and Adverse Patient Events.

Telemetry monitoring is a limited resource. This quality improvement project describes a nurse-managed telemetry discontinuation protocol aimed at stopping telemetry monitoring when it is no longer indicated. After implementing the protocol, data were collected for 6 months and compared with a preintervention time frame.

The Creation of a Biocontainment Unit at a Tertiary Care Hospital. The Johns Hopkins Medicine Experience.

In response to the 2014-2015 Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa, Johns Hopkins Medicine created a biocontainment unit to care for patients infected with Ebola virus and other high-consequence pathogens. The unit team examined published literature and guidelines, visited two existing U.S.