NPs Innovate for Safety
NPs and sisters Catherine Menewisch and Elaine Wozniak practiced on opposite sides of the country, both in primary home care. They were both concerned about the risks of spreading illness such as methicillin-resistant staph aureus (MRSA) while working, and they shared their concerns with one another. This sparked an idea, and two NPs' desire to provide excellent patient care turned into a new product for health care providers. "From being in the trenches, in home health care, you become aware of risks associated with the profession," Catherine told ADVANCE.
"We come into close contact with our patients, and in a particular incident with a patient with a leg wound, I saw that my watch had escaped from my glove, and saw that it had become dangerously close to infective matieral. These germs have the potential to be life threatening, but we as nurse practitioners need our watches, because we time heartbeats, respiration, and contractions," Menewisch said. "Our watches are not a fashipon statement, they are a tool."
Menewisch and Wozniak beleived watches needed to be off the wrist and visible hands-free to avoid transmitting germs.
So, they designed a new watch, which can be worn as a pendant or a lapel pin, incorporated a business, and are seeking a patent for their design. They now produce and sell their watches, which have a patented 45-degree face design, at www.pro-timewatches.com.
"In my research I found that as of Jan. 1, 2008, in England, in all hospitals health care workers are banned from wearing anything below the elbow to avoid the spread of germs," Menewisch added. "This is a worldwide issue; I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar wasn’t implemented in the U.S."
"It was born out of a desire to contain the germs, not to get rich," said Wozniak. She also notes that bringing an idea full circle to reality isn't as difficult as it may seem. "Just by having experience in the trenches, and using technology available today, we were able to start the business, look into getting a patent and learn it all on our own."