Top 10 Cancer Hospitals
The U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals 2010-11 report compiled a list of the top 50 cancer hospitals and ranked them by score. However, the U.S. News & World Report list only contains...
View ArticleHospital Cleaning Checklist
Hospitals can be risky places for catching germs. Hospital cleaning protocols are important to establish because the high numbers of patients, visitors and employees allow bacteria and viruses no end...
View ArticleHow to Perform a Successful Venipuncture
Venipuncture is the process of puncturing a vein with a needle for the purpose of drawing blood or establishing an intravenous line for medication. Most venipuncture is done on the inner elbow area in...
View ArticleHow to Find a Person in a Hospital
Having a loved one, friend or family member in a hospital can be a stressful and difficult time for everyone involved. WebMD states that it is important for the patient to have a friend or relative who...
View ArticleComplications in Venipuncture Collection
Venipuncture refers to drawing blood from a vein by means of a puncture. Performed by a trained professional known as a phlebotomist, this procedure requires skills in identifying a vein, inserting a...
View ArticleWhat Is the Typical Drug Screen Used by Hospitals for Employment?
Hospitals use several drug-screening methods for job applicants, but the most common tool used is urinalysis. It is the preferred method by major hospitals due to its accuracy in detecting the presence...
View ArticleStep-by-Step Instructions on How to Make a Closed Hospital Bed
It's vital that hospital staff know the proper way to make a hospital bed. Patients are admitted into a hospital for a variety of reasons, but they all need to have a comfortable bed to rest in....
View ArticleHow to Find Someone's Place of Birth
There are many reasons why someone would want to find someone's place of birth. With the use of internet databases and office records, you can search for that answer locally or around the world, all...
View ArticleHow to Perform a Medical Aseptic Hand Washing
Health care providers practice aseptic hand washing techniques as an effective means of preventing the spread of diseases like respiratory infections, wound infections and gastroenteritis. Medical...
View ArticleCan a Hospital Refuse Treatment Without Insurance?
Lacking health insurance may keep you from getting hospital care in certain situations. A government funded hospital cannot turn uninsured patients away regardless of their care requirements or health...
View ArticleHow to Calculate ALOS
ALOS is the average length of stay measured in days. This metric provides guidance to hospital management on the care delivery efficiency in different diagnostic categories, such as how well capacity...
View ArticleHow to Calculate Admits Per 1000
The hospital industry utilizes a concept known as admits per thousand. This number looks at the number of people who go to the hospital seeking help, then looks at how many of these people actually get...
View ArticleHow to Chart Skin Color in Black Patients
It takes experience to learn how to assess the skin of a dark-skinned patient. Many times the changes in a dark skinned patient's color will be far more subtle than in a lighter-skinned patient. For...
View ArticleHow to Read Lab Tests in Dehydration
Dehydration is a complex and challenging syndrome to diagnose. It can be particularly debilitating even at mild levels if it is not caught in time. Some medication such as water pills can cause fluid...
View ArticleWhat Is the Difference Between a CCU & ICU?
Hospitals can be intimidating, and the alphabet soup of specialized departments can be especially confusing. Two of the areas treating the most critically ill patients are the ICU and CCU. The ICU, or...
View ArticleHow to Measure & Calculate Creatinine Clearance
Creatinine clearance is a way for doctors to check if the kidneys are working properly. Some medications are processed out of the body by the kidneys. If the kidneys are not working as they should, the...
View ArticleContraindications for PICC Placement
A peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) line is a minimally invasive way to deliver medications to the central venous blood system, usually inserted at the bedside by a specially trained nurse....
View ArticleNursing Tips for Dealing With an Aggressive Patient
Patients come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes they can be aggressive. Whether they are mentally ill, intoxicated or angry, the challenge remains the same. A nurse has to keep her wits about her...
View ArticleThe Long-Term Effects of Artificial Ventilation
In times of emergency, artificial ventilation is a life saver. It is a procedure in which a doctor puts a tube, called an endotracheal tube, down a patient's windpipe and connects him to a ventilator....
View ArticleThe Difference Between Negative or Positive Room Air Pressure
Air pressure in a room is influenced by whether air can enter and leave a room through gaps around windows, above and under doors, around light fixtures and electrical outlets as well as through open...
View ArticleMethods of Geometric Dilution
Geometric dilution is the process of diluting something based on its measured size. Most often, scientists and doctors employ this method when combining fine powders of unequal amounts to ensure equal...
View ArticleTypes of Hospital Wards
A hospital ward may be referred to as a section, unit, or even a floor of the hospital. The wards are typed according to the patients within the ward and their specific needs, diseases, or even their...
View ArticleGrants for Nonprofit Community Hospitals
While large for-profit hospitals tend to get the most press and public recognition, small nonprofit community hospitals also play an important role in providing access to health care, particularly for...
View ArticleHow to Put on a Hospital Gown
When confronted with a hospital gown for the first time, most people need a little help, according to research from North Carolina State University, which reports that 74 percent of nurses get involved...
View ArticleWhat Is an Acute Care Hospital?
An acute care hospital provides 24-hour inpatient care to people for brief, but severe, episodes of illness. These episodes include conditions related to trauma, and recovery following surgery. (Ref. 1.)
View ArticleWhat Are a Patient's Rights When in the Hospital?
While in a hospital, patients retain a number of rights that pertain specifically to medical situations and aren't necessarily covered under more traditional laws. These rights are outlined in the...
View ArticleHow to Get Records From a Hospital
If you need to get your medical records from a hospital, the process isn't as daunting as you might have thought. You might need your medical records to apply for a government program, settle a legal...
View ArticleKinds of Dextrose IV Fluids
Not all IV fluids are the same. There are three basic major categories, based on which ingredient is the key component: sodium, dextrose and multiple electrolytes. Within each, there are other numerous...
View ArticleCan You Be a Nurse If You Are HIV Positive?
A nursing career offers you the chance to apply for one of thousands of jobs all over the world. But is a nursing career an option for an HIV-positive person? The answer to that question is yes.
View ArticleHow to Set Up an Operating Room
Operating rooms are an important part of a hospital and allow surgeons and other operating room staff members to provide life-saving treatments to patients. Setting up an operating room properly can...
View ArticleHow to Calculate IV Drip Rates
Nurses, emergency medical technicians, trauma doctors and other health care professionals who may need to infuse patients with intravenous medicines regularly need to calculate IV drip rates....
View ArticleWhat Is an Acute Care Setting?
In an acute care setting, patients receive short-term medical treatment for acute illnesses or injury, or to recover from surgery. In this setting, medical and nursing personnel will administer the...
View ArticleNuclear PET Scan Side Effects
Nuclear PET (positron emission tomography) scans help diagnose and treat many different diseases, including cancer and heart disease. Before the scan, the patient often receives an injection of a small...
View ArticleHow to Transfer a Patient From One Hospital to Another
A patient might require a hospital transfer for a number of reasons. The patient or the family might want a second opinion, the current hospital cannot address the needs of the patient, or the new...
View ArticleList of Hospitals in Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the nation's third-largest city, with over 2.8 million residents. The city contains hundreds of museums, art galleries, restaurants and cultural institutions, and attracts visitors from all...
View ArticleHow to Access a Port With a Huber Needle
An implanted port, usually referred to simply as a port is often placed in patients requiring long-term IV treatment cancer patients receiving chemotherapy come to mind as they receive multiple rounds...
View ArticleHow to Use a Y-Site on Primary IV Tubing
Y-ports, also known as piggybacks, provide a second access point in patient IV tubing for additional IV medications to be given. The most common setup is to have maintenance fluids, such as normal...
View ArticleEmergency Rooms & Required Urine Drug Tests
Every minute is critical when a patient is in the emergency room. There may be several people waiting for help and not enough medical personnel. Emergency room doctors must make quick decisions....
View ArticleHospital Housekeeping Procedures
To prevent the spread of infections diseases, hospitals adhere to protocol for cleansing and removing tools, equipment,and other items that have contact with a patient. In addition, hospitals have...
View ArticleWhat Is the Difference Between a Vial & an Ampule?
Ampules and vials rest on the shelves of pharmacies or chemical laboratories. Both types of containers play an active role in storing chemical fluids or solids that will be mixed with others or...
View ArticleHow to Recover After a Pacemaker
No matter what type of pacemaker (or defibrillator for that matter) you now have implanted, the follow-up care is the same as far as recovering from surgery and maintaining your new device. There are...
View ArticleLargest VA Hospitals in the Country
There are hospitals all over the country that specialize in treatment and care of the Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. These hospitals have distinct differences in the care they provide based on the...
View ArticleWhat Is a Progressive Care Unit?
A Progressive Care Unit (PCU) is a hospital unit that specializes in treating medical and surgical patients whose needs are not serious enough for the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) but too complex for the...
View ArticleHospitals Known for Diagnostics
Most successful hospitals known for diagnostics are academic or teaching hospitals with a variety of specialists and well-staffed research facilities. Research into new techniques to diagnose medical...
View ArticleReasons for Hospitalization
According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 35 million inpatient hospitalizations occurred in 2006. People require hospitalization for many reasons, including preventing and treating serious...
View ArticleOrganizational Structure of a Hospital
Hospitals, like any other business, have organizational structures that keep them operating smoothly. Organizational structures in hospitals serve as the main chain of command. The unique thing that...
View ArticleWhat Does Critical Condition Mean?
"Critical" is one of the five words that can be used to inform other medical professionals, family members or members of the media of a patient's condition. It is the most serious of the five...
View ArticleThe Best NICU Hospitals
Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) specialize in intensive medical care for ill or premature newborns. In its annual hospital rankings, "U.S. News and World Report" magazine recognizes the five U.S....
View ArticleHow to Use Nasal Cannula
Sometimes people need extra oxygen whether they suffer from serious medical conditions or just need temporary help. Many types of equipment help deliver oxygen and each vary in terms of placement,...
View ArticleSurgical Staples Vs. Sutures
The main concern with any wound, whether it's accidental or an opening for a surgical procedure, is to get it closed as efficiently as possible so that the body may begin the healing process and avoid...
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