Clinical Care Connection
How Parkland's Preparing for nH1N1 Flu
Connecting Parkland's clinical staff with the latest information and patient care updates OCTOBER 2009
In this issue 2 3
nH1N1Response Continued BadBugsBeware NursingCareandtheLaw
4 AllHandsOnDeck… 100%Excellence 5 EPICUpdates SpontaneousBreathingTrialsin theBurnICU 6 Pharmacy&Therapeutics CommitteeUpdate 7 SafeuseofFentanylPatches BeyondJointCommission Requirements 8 Practicescenario-Research andJointCommissionSurvey BenefitsofTurningpatients 9
GlycemicControl TakethePatientSafety CultureSurvey Defibrillatorupgrades SiblingVisitationintheNNICU AreYouGivingMoreThan aBath WhatdodofortheFlu
The June declaration of a pandemic by the World Health Organization is an indication of the spread of the flu virus. Each year in Texas, it's estimated that influenza viruses produce illness in 1 to 5 million people. More than 16,000 individuals are hospitalized and approximately 3,000 people die. To date, the nH1N1 virus has produced over 5,000 documented illnesses, 270 hospitalizations and 28 people have died. Our health care region has had more than 800 confirmed flu cases, 55 admissions and no deaths. The definition of a pandemic is a disease outbreak occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population. It is not based on the severity or mortality of the disease. Of the nH1N1 cases reported to the Department of State Health Services, 49 percent are male and 51 percent are female. Sixty five percent of the cases are between the ages of 5 and 18 years of age with an additional 19 percent in the age range of 19 to 45. Eighty eight percent of the confirmed nH1N1 cases resulted in a fever greater than 100 degrees, sore throat and cough. The young adult may experience higher than expected mortality from a new strain of influenza virus and the severity of illness may be lessened by prior exposure to a genetically related influenza virus.

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