New Jersey Hospital Adds 'Fifth Protocol' to Ensure Organ Donation Safety Move is Response to North Carolina Organ Mismatch
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- The heart transplant team at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick has added a new step in a safety checklist to guard against the possible organ mismatch that occurred in North Carolina.
The change adds a fifth protocol to what had been a four-step safety check system to ensure that donor organs are compatible to their recipients.
Under the fifth protocol, two nurses will check on an organ's compatibility when it arrives to the operating room, according to Dr. Ronald Freudenberger, director of heart failure and transplant cardiology at RWJUH.
Previously, ensuring compatibility had been a four-step process, Freudenberger said. The first check is made by the local organ procurement organization, which in New Jersey is The Sharing Network. The second compatibility check is made by reviewing a national database of donor organs maintained by the United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS. The third check is made by a nurse coordinator at the hospital, who is on call 24 hours a day. The fourth check is made by the surgical team.
Source: Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
CDC Strategies Preventing Hospital-Onset C difficile Effectiveness Inconclusive in Testing
April 15th 2024Hospitals using CDC prevention strategies had different incidences of hospital-associated Clostridioides difficile infection compared to those that didn't, but the reasons are not necessarily the strategies themselves.
Unlocking the Power of AI in Hospital Infection Prevention: A Sustainable Approach to HAIs
April 11th 2024Read on about how, as hospitals grapple with the costly burden of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as a game-changer in revolutionizing infection prevention strategies.
Deeds to Reality: A Journey of Immigration and Obstacles With Carole W. Kamangu, MPH, RN, CIC
April 9th 2024Carole W. Kamangu, MPH, RN, CIC, shares her inspiring journey from the Democratic Republic of Congo to health care leadership in the US today. (This is the French translation of the interview with Carole W. Kamangu.)
