Graduate nurses' perceptions of a critical care nurse internship program.

Graduate nurse internship programs (NIPs) have existed for a number of years as tools for recruiting and retaining nurses. A recent literature review uncovers the rare NIP dedicated to orienting the graduate nurse to a critical care environment. Few have addressed the nurse interns' perceptions of these programs.

Innovative solutions: providing specialized nursing care to the patient with acute neurologic injury in a general critical care unit.

A general critical care unit at a community hospital in the Midwest sought to improve care delivery to patients with acute neurologic injury. Nurses passionate about caring for this patient population were identified. Work groups established a plan and goals for improving care.

Miscoding and other user errors: importance of ongoing education for proper blood glucose monitoring procedures.

Background: This article reviews the literature to date and reports on a new study that documented the frequency of manual code-requiring blood glucose (BG) meters that were miscoded at the time of the patient's initial appointment in a hospital-based outpatient diabetes education program.

Method: Between January 1 and May 31, 2007, the type of BG meter and the accuracy of the patient's meter code (if required) and procedure for checking BG were checked during the initial appointment with the outpatient diabetes educator. If indicated, reeducation regarding the procedure for the BG meter code entry and/or BG test was provided.

Midterm survivorship of a press-fit, plasma-sprayed, tri-spike acetabular component.

Press-fit acetabular cups without screw holes can limit migration of particulate wear debris and reduce risk of acetabular osteolysis and device loosening. The Tri-Spike cup (Biomet, Inc, Warsaw, Ind) includes a titanium alloy plasma spray porous surface and does not require screw fixation. We retrospectively examined the incidence of cup loosening and acetabular osteolysis after implantation of 45 cups (44 patients) with mean follow-up of 7.

Bisphosphonates and osteonecrosis of the jaw: a retrospective study.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) in patients receiving bisphosphonate therapy and in those who were bisphosphonate naïve.

Methods: We undertook a retrospective review of medical records of patients at the New York Harbor Health Care System from 1999 through 2004. Charts were selected for review if patients had a Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code suggestive of ONJ or if they had ever received bisphosphonate therapy.

Innovative solutions: development and implementation of a tight blood glucose management protocol: one community hospital's experience.

Blood glucose monitoring and control are an important component of nursing care for the critically ill patient. This article discusses the efforts of one community hospital in the development of a tight blood glucose management protocol for cardiopulmonary bypass patients.

Managerial ethics training: critical for managerial success.

A manager's ability to make ethical decisions can determine if morale within a department or organization is high or low. It can also have a significant impact on employees' decision to organize. This article describes an in-service program on ethical decision making that has been successfully taught to management at a medium-sized Midwestern hospital.