Each year 33 million patients/residents pass through U.S. acute-care and long-term healthcare facilities. Healthcare environments are marked by rising costs and staffing difficulties.

The safety of these patients/residents has become a major concern of several agencies. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) and the Veterans’ Administration (VA) have focused on highlighting harmful events and offering specific improvements in patient safety. Many of these harmful events such as falls, urinary incontinence and infusion pump alarms can be found in every institution

Although these events are numerous and prevalence rates are high, many of the potential problems can be prevented by having adequate monitoring systems in place that enable staff to provide better care and greater patient safety.

Preventable falls are common in every institution. Up to 20% of acute hospital patients fall during their stay, and about 50% of residents in long-term care institutions fall each year. Most falls occur in the patient’s or resident’s bedroom or bathroom. Falls commonly result in serious injury and increase staff workload. There are clinical indicators that can help indentify the risk of falls: previous history of falls; mental status; medications; toileting habits, etc. There are also environmental factors to consider such as slippery floors, old/faulty equipment and poor lighting to name a few. And neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, can cause nighttime disorientation, delirium and confused wandering. In many instances, despite the best attempts to modify the risk of falls, individuals will remain at significant fall risk.

Nurse Assist Fall Management Monitoring Systems can provide added safety in the prevention of falls by immediately alerting staff when patients/residents are attempting to exit the bed or chair.

 

Urinary and fecal incontinence is a significant problem for healthcare facilities. Nurses or caregivers can spend half their time dealing with incontinence and its ongoing effects. Half of all incontinent episodes are never reported by patients/residents, but are left to be found by the nurse or caregiver much later. Major consequences include urinary tract infections, perinea infections and skin sores. The causes of incontinence are generally divided into transient causes (such as delirium, infections, psychological problems, endocrine disorders and restrictions in mobility) and established causes (such as urge and overflow incontinence). Despite the cause, with appropriate management and early detection with Nurse Assist’s Bed Tender® or Chair Tender,® the patient/resident can be kept dry and free of harm as much as possible.

 

Improving the effectiveness of infusion pump alarms, the new RN+ IV•Alert Wireless Signal Unit and Console extend the infusion pump alarm to a dedicated console at the nurses station. In addition to the pump’s local alarm, this dedicated console lets nurses know exactly when and where to provide care, without the confusion of other nurse call signals. A digital display corresponds to a patient’s name and number recorded on the console board. In critical seconds, the dedicated IV•Alert™ from Nurse Assist can provide added patient safety.
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Quantum cables are manufactured with Santoprene,™ a unique environmentally friendly plastic rubber that can be incinerated with minimal toxic residuals. Quantum cables are more pliable and drape gently over the hand. Because of our high stranding of copper wire, Quantum cables deliver more power to the instrument and perform longer without failure. Our lock-in molding process eliminates wire pull-out, and our insert-molded connectors are completely sealed to reduce the chance of fluid or debris migrating into the connectors. Quantum cables will also adapt to any form of sterilization.

Quantum Hospital-Grade Power Cords are the only power cords with strain relief on both ends, and meet the UL 817 certification for all North American medical equipment. All Quantum Hospital-Grade Power Cords are backed by a 1-year limited warranty.

Nurse Assist is fortunate to have a well seasoned management team, that is led by a highly experienced outside Board of Directors. Combined, this group has 126 years experience in medical device manufacturing and marketing. This experience has taught us that success comes from continual innovation and superior customer service. We are dedicated to an aggressive product expansion program, through internal development as well as acquisition of leading technology. To continue our rapid growth, we need experienced medical and surgical distributors in all parts of the world. If you have any interest, please call us at (817) 231-1300, or e-mail us at sales@nurseassist.com.