NEW YORK NURSE: September 2011
Debra Hanna, PhD, RN, CNRN, Associate Professor at Molloy College in Rockville Centre, NY, is conducting a survey about the conditions nurses face as they work to prevent pressure ulcers. A random sample of 2,000 nurses will be selected from the NYSNA database to receive a short survey in the mail which will collect vital information about turning certain types of patients at risk for pressure ulcers.
The survey will ask staff nurses about their ability to turn patients who are obese, on a ventilator, on isolation precautions, and in restraints, as well as the amount of time and number of staff needed to turn these patients. The Institute of Medicine report, s (2004), gives statistics on nurses’ work hours, work environments, staffing levels, noise levels, and interruptions per hour or failures of material or human resources per hour. These facts show how hospital processes can affect nurses’ work. Hanna’s survey will ask about issues that are important to nurses’ workflow, but that have not yet been studied.
The survey should take less than 30 minutes to fill out and a stamped envelope to return the survey will be included. Participants do not need to provide a return address, keeping the responses anonymous.
NYSNA nurses should look for the “Learning about Turning” survey to arrive in the mail in October.
Page, A. (Ed.) (2004). Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.