New Penn study shows dramatically higher CPR survival rates
December 2015 — The Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (University of Pennsylvania) released a study this month finding that for each extra patient assigned to a nurse, the survival rates of patients on medical-surgical (med-surg) floors who needed cardiopulmonary rescusciation (CPR) decreased by 5%. According to the report, about half of all hospital cardiac arrests occur on med-surg floors. Lead author Matthew McHugh and colleagues also found that hospitals with poor work environments–such as low nurse participation in policymaking and leadership, and low institutional support for nursing–had 16% lower survival odds for patients requiring CPR on a med-surg floor. See the report here and learn how we can help you strengthen nursing at your workplace.
Dear Ms. Summers,
Thank you for your work on promoting the image of nursing. I am referencing your work in an upcoming presentation and was reviewing your website. This article caught my eye, not for the content but for the use of the word ‘floor’ to describe a specialty nursing unit. As we continue to advocate and work to improve the professionalism and image of nursing, I would suggest to consider the use of pro-nursing language. This would include using terms such as nursing unit instead of floor, advanced practice registered nurse instead of midlevel, etc.
Thank you very much for your time,
Dianna Copley
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Hi Dianna, Thank you for your comment. I must admit I had never considered that the word "floor" might be derogatory. We have a section of our website devoted to language changes, including dispatching with the terms "orders," "medical centers," "mid-level," "physician extenders" and more https://www.truthaboutnursing.org/faq/nf/index.html.
We will take your perspective into consideration. Thank you again for sharing it with us