Documentation of consent for blood transfusion.

In 2012, 110 hospitals reported on consent policy against national guidelines, with 105 (95%) including a statement on blood transfusion. Of the 103 hospitals (1788 transfusion episodes) that participated in the consent practice component, 89 specified the method of consent used; 46 (52%) had a specific transfusion consent form and achieved compliance of 90% compared to 43-69% for most other methods. The consent audit shows that a specific blood consent form achieved a high rate of medical record documentation compliance.

Providing better access to health care: a pediatric nurse practitioner WIC-based clinic for one-stop health care.

The University of Texas Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Well Child Clinic was established in January 1992 to provide high-quality "user-friendly" health care to children in Houston, Texas. As the name implies, the traditional services of the WIC nutritional program are coupled with primary care to offer more comprehensive and greater access to care. The services are provided by pediatric nurse practitioners and focus on health maintenance, with an emphasis on anticipatory guidance and immunizations. Acute care and management of chronic illness are also provided. The clinic serves as a teaching site for pediatric nurse practitioner and medical students. This article addresses the rationale for and planning of a WIC-based clinic and the implementation of the plan and addresses issues concerning reproducibility in other settings.