The term “precision medicine” is most commonly associated with targeted therapy selection, or the practice of using biomarkers or genetic data to identify the most effective drug for a specific patient. While targeted therapies have been instrumental for oncology patients in particular,...
Although healthcare has always been fast-paced and complex, the pandemic has amplified these challenges and introduced dynamics that can put patient safety and quality care at risk. Mounting staff shortages due to unprecedented levels of burnout are forcing hospitals and health systems to care...
RaDonda Vaught, the former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse who accidentally gave a patient a fatal dose of the wrong medicine, was sentenced to three years of supervised probation with no jail time. In March, Vaught was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of...
For many people, forgetting a daily dose of an ADHD, allergy, or other drug might be disruptive but not life threatening. However, for millions of Americans, taking the right medicine at the right time—for diabetes, heart disease, or seizures—can be a matter of life and death. For patients...
Emma Moore felt cornered. At a community health clinic in Portland, Oregon, the 29-year-old nurse practitioner said she felt overwhelmed and undertrained. Coronavirus patients flooded the clinic for two years, and Moore struggled to keep up.
Preventing medical errors requires people to come forward when those errors are made, IHI says. Otherwise, how else will healthcare organizations know there’s a problem? But nurses and other healthcare providers will be less likely to admit to an error if they fear it will send them to prison.
Since 2020, the healthcare industry has lost nearly half a million workers, exacerbating staffing shortages that existed prior to the start of the pandemic. One of the hardest-hit areas is the pharmacy. As of September 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected there would be 43,000 ...
The conviction of former Vanderbilt nurse RaDonda Vaught for gross neglect of an impaired adult and negligent homicide will have a “chilling effect” on the culture of safety in healthcare, Robyn Begley, CEO of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL), said in a statement.
