Exemplary Professional Practice
Exemplary Professional Practice is driven by robust implementation of our Professional Practice Model. It influences how we collaborate and communicate with patients and our interprofessional team, and compels professional development.
Throughout 2023, nurses across the organization took the initiative to address challenges and bring about meaningful change. They demonstrated their commitment to professional nursing by:
- Creating training solutions for preceptors and nurses on the Clinical Resource Team.
- Developing an End-of-Life program through an interprofessional initiative that provides terminal patients and their families an environment more comfortable than the intensive care unit (ICU).
- Implementing Care Coordinators to educate families and prevent disease escalation for mid-acuity patients.
Two preceptor coaches create solutions for clinical resource team
Nurses on the Clinical Resource Team (CRT) lack a dedicated unit to gather and receive just-in-time training, so Lauren Kellum, BSN, RN, and Raji Pathak, BSN, RN, CPN – selected for the first preceptor coach roles on the CRT– developed solutions to connect, train and support CRT preceptors and nurses.
“CRT doesn’t have a lot of our own supplies because we float,” Raji said. “So, we created a robust education closet just for CRT.”
For easy access, the closet is centrally located and includes training supplies, medical equipment and mannequins to help nurses practice skills and allow preceptors to work on competencies with orientees.
Additionally, Lauren and Raji filled skills gaps and leveraged engagement opportunities by creating a sedation training video, launching a CRT-specific Teams channel and introducing a quarterly award to honor CRT nurses.
“It's hard not to have a home base,” Lauren said. “We have about 100 nurses, and we want to be able to recognize one another because we don't see each other often.”
Pulmonary nurses collaborate with interprofessional team for improved end-of-life care
An interprofessional team collaborated to establish an End-of-Life (EOL) program providing a more comfortable environment for patients and families experiencing loss. The program operates on the pulmonary unit, where nurses spearheaded the effort so health care professionals with additional EOL-specific training can provide a better experience for patients and families navigating this difficult time. The EOL program also offers relief for providers and staff who experience moral distress because of intense emotions and inexperience with the end-of-life process.
The program provides a more peaceful setting than the ICU for patients experiencing final moments with their family. At this stage, patients can be transferred to the pulmonary unit from ICU to receive palliative care.
An example of the interprofessional team’s valuable collaboration was their support of an 8-year-old patient at the end of his life and his family. Nurses, palliative care providers, Child Life specialists, social workers and Spiritual Care staff created a personalized environment, offered counsel, and incorporated cultural and spiritual aspects of the family’s Indian and Hindu heritage.
“Our nurses go above and beyond every day, and this was no exception,” said Christina Smith, BSN, RN, CPN, CPPS, Advanced Clinical Nurse, Inpatient Pulmonary and Integrated Therapy Unit. “They sought to anticipate what the family needed throughout the hardest days of their lives and ensured all their physical, cultural and spiritual needs were met.
Care coordinators address challenges for rising-risk patients
The Enterprise Care Management team established a Rising Risk Program to help mid-acuity patients navigate medical conditions and prevent disease escalation. Once the clinic refers a rising-risk patient, a licensed registered nurse care coordinator collaborates with the patient family to define and address their care needs.
A rising-risk patient falls between low- and high-risk criteria with some medical complexities that could lead to a poor outcome if not managed properly. These patients might be using specialists as primary care providers, missing appointments, forgetting medicine refills or facing other challenges.
The Rising Risk care coordinator thoroughly investigates each family’s specific issues to provide health coaching, goal setting and education for 40 to 60 days.
Rising Risk Patients – Initial 12 Months:
“Feedback from families has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Christa Combs, BSN, RN, CCM, Senior Director of Enterprise Care Management. “They are so grateful to have extra support navigating health care.”
The role launched in the Gastroenterology clinic and has since expanded to include Diabetes, Renal and Pulmonology.
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