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Biomedical subjects

H Rittenmeyer

Publications and source records attributed to H Rittenmeyer.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

A statistical method for predicting postanesthesia care unit staffing needs.

When predicting staffing requirements for postanesthesia care units (PACUs), nurse managers are expected to satisfy standards, meet patient care needs, staff PACUs to accommodate surgeons' and facilities' needs, and contain costs. The authors present a statistical method that offers reliability and accuracy in forecasting future patient numbers and related PACU staffing requirements. Nurse managers can use this method to decide how frequently they will satisfy staffing standards, how many shifts of RNs to schedule each day, and how many months in the future to schedule staff members. Future peak numbers of patients for each daily shift are based on previous daily peak numbers of patients, and staffing requirements can be planned from these predicted peak numbers of patients, using a facility's PACU staffing standards.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗
PubMed1997

Pain management: a quality improvement project.

Pain management in the PACU is vital to patient care and favorable outcomes. Understanding all aspects of pain management is essential when caring for surgical patients. Most PACUs have quality improvement (QI) and/or risk management projects that involve pain management. This article discusses a QI project on the management of pain and the effect it had on nursing practice. The QI committee developed an improvement program that identified a patient care need and changed practice to improve patient care. The project began with the question "Are we accurately assessing patients' pain, or is the pain assessed only what the nurse perceives?" The QI data collected indicated that 100% of patients were discharged with adequate pain relief. The question was answered by following the recommendations of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations for the QI process, in addition to using a model for linking outcomes to care processes developed by Windle and Houston.

Humans↗
PubMed1997

Measuring productivity of the phase I postanesthesia care unit.

Most of the costs of operating a PACU are for the salaries of the nurses. Therefore, the only way to significantly decrease costs of a PACU, without decreasing salaries, is to increase labor productivity. This article discusses the benefits of measuring labor productivity of the PACU. Approaches that a nurse manager of a phase I PACU can use to increase productivity are considered. One way to measure a PACU's productivity is described, which uses data that some PACUs already collect for billing purposes. The measure of productivity considers heterogeneity in nursing requirements among patients (ie, patient acuity). Measuring productivity in this manner encourages hospital managers to maintain quality, in part by following ASPAN standards.

Bias↗
PubMed1994

Carbon dioxide toxicity related to a laparoscopic procedure.

Laparoscopy has become a routine part of many major and minor surgical procedures. During laparoscopic procedures, carbon dioxide (CO2) is insufflated into the peritoneal cavity to allow visualization of the abdominal viscera. Delay in the elimination of CO2 during the intraoperative and postoperative phases of a laparoscopic procedure has recently been identified. This case study discusses a patient with CO2 toxicity related to the insufflation of CO2 during a laparoscopic procedure. Nurses in the PACU must be alert to the signs of CO2 toxicity after a laparoscopic procedure and be able to correctly interpret arterial blood gases.

Acidosis, Respiratory↗
PubMed1986

Intracranial interstitial radiation.

Primary malignant brain tumors are fatal, with 90% of patients having these tumors dying within two years following diagnosis. Cranial interstitial radiation therapy, a technique under investigation to control these tumors, involves implantation of radioactive iodine 125 seeds into the tumor bed by stereotaxic technique. The interstitial radiation technique, monitoring of radiation, and nursing care of patients are discussed. Case histories are presented, along with discussion of results attained using this therapy, and its future.

Adult↗