Nursing Committee Update
Informatics and Clinical Innovations Committee
The Informatics and Clinical Innovations Committee continues to provide feedback on the clinical systems technologies currently in use at BWH. Recently, the group brainstormed a potential solution for the scheduling of vaccines in eMAR in an effort to improve compliance to meet the standards set by the Joint Commission. Scheduling a default time of the day after admission was proposed as a standard to allow staff time to assess patients’ need for the vaccines. This change has been made. Other proposals include discussing vaccine myths at hospital competency day as a way to enhance staff knowledge around administration of these vaccines and improve documentation as to why vaccines are not given.
Another system issue that the group gave feedback on is the display of a discharge order on the Pod monitor. Currently, the word “final” will display when the discharge order is written even if there are some contingencies in the order which need to be met before the patient leaves the hospital. Many staff have found the term “final” misleading. After review by the committee, a recommendation has been made to change the order status display term to “final with conting (contingency)” to inform the clinical staff nurse that the discharge is not final.
A new clinical systems project that is underway is the physician notification process for critical lab results. The informatics committee validated the current workflow that occurs when critical lab results are reported. Many suggestions were made by the committee to improve this process. The goal of the new notification system would be to minimize the workload around critical lab reporting for personnel involved (lab techs, nursing) and ensuring that the “right” clinician is notified in a timely manner. The Informatics Committee will continue to meet monthly with Partners IS to brainstorm and review potential solutions for the new system.
There is work that is underway to replace the current epidural pump. A new epidural smart pump was trialed in the OR, PACU, CWN 5 and Tower 11. Many committee members participated in the trial and reported their favorable feedback to the committee. The smart pump committee is deciding whether to purchase this pump or trial it further.
If you have any questions/concerns regarding our committee or its projects please contact Co-chairs Heidi Smith Doucette, CNRN, or Carol Booth, MSN, RN.
Quality Safety and Care Improvement Committee
The Quality, Safety and Care Improvement Committee started the new year by focusing on four important nursing department quality goals: hand hygiene, falls, pressure ulcers and restraint management. A sub group of the committee diligently developed a proposal for a hand hygiene program for the nursing department that is creative and works with other areas to support a culture of awareness and action. The QSCI committee just approved the final recommendations which will be shared with nursing leadership for final approval. Data on falls, pressure ulcers and restraint management were reviewed, key areas for improvement were identified and the recommendations for improvement were discussed. Quality program managers are the leads for each of these care issues and will integrate the Committee’s recommendations into their yearly strategic improvement plan. Keep an eye out for information on each of these important care issues.
If you have questions, contact committee Co-chairs Stephanie Capello, RN, and Mary Antonelli, MSN, RN.
Standards, Policies and Procedures Committee
Standards, policies and procedures are in place to help bedside Nurses care for patients in a safe, effective and consistent way. All policies and procedures are reviewed and many are revised every three years. In addition, many new policies and procedures are developed throughout the year as practice develops, new technology and interventions are introduced and regulatory changes occur. This is to ensure that our care is evidence- based and accurately reflects current practice with existing equipment.
The Standards, Policies and Procedures Committee has re-launched the “New to You, Time to Review” e-mail communication. You will see a grid identifying the policy/procedure, who it affects and the substantive changes. We encourage you to review those that are a part of your practice in their entirety. While we realize that all of us receive a great deal of e-mail, we feel in this case that it is an effective way to communicate to the approximately 3000 Brigham Nurses. Please take a moment to read the grid and incorporate appropriate changes into your daily practice. The Standards, Policy and Procedure Committee encourages your input and comments. Please feel free to contact the co-chairs or members.
If you have questions, contact committee Co-chairs Cindy Jodoin, MHA, BSN, RN, and Sharon Swan, BSN, RN, CCRN.
Patient and Family Education Committee
The Patient and Family Education Committee is working to improve the accessibility and quality of educational resources available through the Patient and Family Education Web site and to identify the most effective ways to communicate patient and family education information to BWH staff.
We are pleased to announce the addition of a new feature to the Patient and Family Education Web site, the Nurse-to-Nurse Resource button. The Nurse-to-Nurse Resource is a list of all the specialty units at BWH. The list includes contact information for the educators for those areas and for the units themselves. This feature makes it easier for a nurse to call another specialty area for nurse consultation.
Our goal this year is to make the Patient and Family Education Web site the place to go for all patient education resource information! The committee is exploring the possibility of consumer representation on the committee in addition to filling some vacancies.
If you have any questions, contact committee Co-chairs Cindy Loring, RNC, CNS, and Deb Moody, BSN, RN.
Nursing Practice Committee
Launched in November, the Nursing Practice Committee has focused on becoming familiar with the work of “Finding and Defining the Good” and the role of narratives in uncovering the principles of expert nursing practice at BWH. With almost 40 members, the committee is getting to know each other and becoming familiar with a common language for practice development. Essence nurses who participated in the summer narrative sessions attended the December meeting to participate in the discussion. One of the committee’s goals is to use a common language to make what has been found in the practice of excellent BWH nurses visible and understandable in order to preserve and extend the best of practice. Pat Hooper Kyriakidis, PhD, RN, author, nurse consultant and researcher, has been working with the committee.
If you have any questions, contact committee Co-chairs Mary Beth Mondello, CNRN, and Alice O’Brien, MS, RN.