Patients At Risk

Patients at Risk: The Rise of the Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant in Healthcare exposes a vast conspiracy of political maneuvering and corporate greed that has led to the replacement of qualified medical professionals by lesser trained practitioners. As corporations seek to save money and government agencies aim to increase constituent access, minimum qualifications for the guardians of our nation’s healthcare continue to decline—with deadly consequences. This is a story that has not yet been told, and one that has dangerous repercussions for all Americans. With the rate of nurse practitioner and physician assistant graduates exceeding that of physician graduates, if you are not already being treated by a non-physician, chances are, you soon will be. While advocates for these professions insist that research shows that they can provide the same care as physicians, patients do not know the whole truth: that there are no credible scientific studies to support the safety and efficacy of non-physicians practicing without physician supervision. Written by two physicians who have witnessed the decline of medical expertise over the last twenty years, this data-driven book interweaves heart-rending true patient stories with hard data, showing how patients have been sacrificed for profit by the substitution of non-physician practitioners. Adding a dimension neglected by modern healthcare critiques such as An American Sickness, this book provides a roadmap for patients to protect themselves from medical harm. WORDS OF PRAISE and REVIEWS Al-Agba and Bernard tell a frightening story that insiders know all too well. As mega corporations push for efficiency and tout consumer focused retail services, American healthcare is being dumbed down to the point of no return. It's a story that many media outlets are missing and one that puts you and your family's health at real risk. --John Irvine, Deductible Media Laced with actual patient cases, the book’s data and patterns of large corporations replacing physicians with non-physician practitioners, despite the vast difference in training is enlightening and astounding. The authors' extensively researched book methodically lays out the problems of our changing medical care landscape and solutions to ensure quality care. --Marilyn M. Singleton, MD, JD A masterful job of bringing to light a rapidly growing issue of what should be great concern to all of us: the proliferation of non-physician practitioners that work predominantly inside algorithms rather than applying years of training, clinical knowledge, and experience. Instead of a patient-first mentality, we are increasingly met with the sad statement of Profits Over Patients, echoed by hospitals and health insurance companies. --John M. Chamberlain, MHA, LFACHE, Board Chairman, Citizen Health A must read for patients attempting to navigate today’s healthcare marketplace. --Brian Wilhelmi MD, JD, FASA

"This book is an exceptionally worthwhile contribution to the Canadian health-care debate. Martinuk breaks the "cone of silence" which prevails over health care and exposes it for what it is - an outdated, bloated, bureaucratic, government-controlled monopoly where patients rank well down the list of priorities and health-care workers are trapped in a regulatory maze over which they have no control. As such, it presents a compelling and irrefutable case for change. It's time for hospital executives across Canada, who are well aware of the serious shortcomings documented in this book, to speak up and stand up for change." --Amazon.com.

Hospital staff and caregivers are regularly exposed to biomechanical overload risk, particularly at spine and shoulder level—a risk factor that will continue to rise with the progressive aging of the population. Patient Handling in the Healthcare Sector: A Guide for Risk Management with MAPO Methodology (Movement and Assistance of Hospital Patients) details the analysis of patient handling risk using the MAPO method in different areas of healthcare and helps you develop strategies to mitigate them. Focusing on the organization of work, this approach gives you the tools to: Rapidly analyse the problem Rapidly identify solutions Effectively monitor the results of preventive actions One of the special features of this approach is that it employs tools that allow you to allocate financial resources to estimate what investments are needed to achieve specific results. This means taking the decision-making process out of the hands of ergonomics experts and putting it into those of healthcare facility administrators.

"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/

This book describes the approach to anesthetic and perioperative management in different categories of high-risk patient scheduled to undergo elective noncardiac surgery. Individual sections focus on patients with conditions entailing cardiac and hemodynamic risks, respiratory risks, renal and metabolic risks, neurological risks, and other forms of risk. For each condition, up-to-date guidance is provided on risk evaluation, risk stratification, and intraoperative and postoperative anesthetic management. This is the first time that such different clinical situations have been gathered together in a single textbook of anesthesiology. All of the authors are international experts with extensive clinical experience. The aim is to provide trainee anesthesiologists with clear guidance that will prove invaluable when managing a wide range of patients with serious illnesses or conditions that pose a significant anesthetic risk. The book will also serve as a valuable reference for more experienced anesthesiologists and intensivists.

Lives at Risk identifies 20 myths about health care as delivered in countries that have national health insurance. These myths have gained the status of fact in both the United States and abroad, even though the evidence shows a far different reality. The authors also explore the political and economic climate of the health care system and offer alternatives to the current health care public policies.