Chart Attacks a Leading Cause of Death Among Nurses.

Boston, MA -- Nursing is one of the most dangerous jobs in America, but the reasons may surprise you.  Most nurses have been kicked, punched, scratched, spit on, pooped on, bit on, hit on or called names at some point in their career, but physical assault was not the reason nurses cracked the top ten list for most dangerous jobs in America.Charting now feared as workplace hazardAn epidemic of chart attacks is sweeping through hospitals with alarming speed, afflicting thousands of nurses with deadly consequences.  A chart attack - often mistaken for a heart attack - is the collection of signs and symptoms that occur during nurse charting opportunities, defined by researchers to include any nurse at work and any nurse with a computer at home.Symptoms include the sensation of an elephant sitting on the chest,  left arm pain, shortness of breath, nausea, diaphoresis, lightheadedness, syncope or being irritated by something.  An elevated troponin is often found with ECG changes, including tomb-stoning ST elevation and runs of VT-VF alternans.After reviewing data from thousands of hospital EHR systems, researchers found a direct correlation between nurses who had presumed heart attacks and nurses who chart, leading journalists to  publicly declare that charting causes chart attacks and labeling chart attacks as a cute new leading cause of on-the-job injury in America.Researchers discovered hundreds of cases where hospital rapid response teams (RRT) were cal...
Source: The Happy Hospitalist - Category: Internists and Doctors of Medicine Authors: Source Type: blogs