Patient Safety Week

 

In honor of National Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 3-9), Saint Luke's leadership wants to raise awareness of our commitment to patient safety. This year's theme is 7/365: 7 Days of Recognition, 365 Days of Commitment to Safe Care, which reflects the necessity of active commitment between patients and their providers to achieve a truly safe health care environment. SLH supports this initiative and invites patients, staff members, and physicians to join in the observance.

 

Promoting patient safety is everyone's responsibility and a core value of Saint Luke's. We will take the opportunity this week to focus on the importance of effective communication, infection control, fall prevention, medication safety, and other related topics to enhance our culture of safety. According to Dennis Beers, senior director of Quality and Patient Safety, "Patient safety is at the heart of our compassion for our patients and our professionalism as health care providers. Above all else we need to practice the time honored standard of 'first do no harm.'

 

Look for the Patient Safety Awareness display table highlighting some of the patient safety initiatives at Saint Luke's Hospital outside the cafeteria Monday - Friday from 11 a.m. - noon.

 

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Patient satisfaction highlights

 

Congratulations to the nursing staff on East 7 for achieving 100 percent on patient satisfaction scores during third quarter 2012.

 

Susan Kramer, clinical nurse manager for East 7 Medical/Surgical, states, "the secret to their success is the nursing staff who truly care about our patients. This is evident in every patient or family contact they make." Kramer also notes, "they pride themselves on their teamwork, and together, they have made a difference that matters to every patient they care for. They are really an incredible group. They also care about each other. Their compliments to their co-workers serve to strengthen their skills and team efforts."

 

Patients are surveyed on the following questions and asked to score on a scale of 1 to 5:

 

• Courtesy & Respect: During this hospital stay, how often did nurses treat you with courtesy and respect?
• Careful Listening: During this hospital stay, how often did nurses listen carefully to you?
• Patient Education: During this hospital stay, how often did nurses explain things in a way you could understand?
• Response Time: During this hospital stay, after you pressed the call button, how often did you get help as soon as you wanted it?
• Pain Management Part 1: During this hospital stay, how often was your pain well-controlled?
• Pain Management Part 2: During this hospital stay, how often did the staff do everything they could to help you with your pain?
• Likelihood to Recommend: Would you recommend this hospital to your friends and family?

 

Thanks to all the nursing staff on East 7 for demonstrating that SLH is The Best Place to Give Care, The Best Place to Get Care!

 

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Magnetizing KC Day

 

We had great representation from SLH nurses at the annual Magnetizing KC Day on Feb. 20. Hospitals from across the Kansas City area participate each year. This was an excellent opportunity for SLH nurses to showcase their research and evidence-based practice projects. The following nurses presented their project posters:

 

• Evidence for Optimizing Therapeutic Hypothermia after Cardiac Arrest - Marci Ebberts, R.N., CVICU.
• Congratulations to Ebberts for taking first prize in the category: Exemplary Professional Practice.
• Activity Level During a One-hour Labor Check Evaluation: Walking Versus Bed Rest - Chris Selby, R.N., L&D.
• Case Study: Intraventricular Nicardipine for the Treatment of Postpartum Cerebral Angiopathy - Donna Hunt, R.N., NSICU.
• Effects of Napping on Perception of Sleepiness and Selective Attention and Concentration in Nurses on Night Shift - Janet Emerson, R.N., (represented by Jacque Carpenter, Ph.D., R.N., research mentor).
• Facilitating Change through Performance Data and Innovative Processes - Lana Grady, R.N., system EPT.
• Connecting Mission, Vision, and Values to a Nursing Professional Practice Model - Jason Purcell, R.N., and Debbie White, R.N., SLH CNO.
• Operationalizing the Nurse Researcher Role in Three Hospitals - Co-presenter Jacque Carpenter, Ph.D., R.N., Nursing Research (with Truman Medical Center and North Kansas City Hospital).

 

Thanks to everyone who presented their posters and everyone who attended the conference to support your peers!

 

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Epic validation sessions kick off for many employees

 

 

Nearly 100 validation sessions have been completed at Saint Luke's Health System, looking at workflows and other critical processes required for installation of Epic, Saint Luke's new electronic health record. During the sessions, participants previewed Epic's functionality, modeled workflows, and provided feedback to the Information Services Epic team.

 

"Our validation sessions were a great success. The team implementing Epic should be proud of this accomplishment," said Denise Mogg, director, Patient Care Services. "I was amazed at the information presented, the team's ability to answer questions rapidly, and their interaction with our team. The IS staff was incredibly supportive, upbeat, and available to our team. It was a great three days."

 

The validation sessions mark the beginning of the implementation phase with Epic's ultimate launch date scheduled for first quarter of next year.

 

The sessions involve multiple personnel from numerous departments, and include heavy involvement from more than 500 subject matter experts (SMEs) who have been identified to help with the project.

 

Saint Luke's announced plans for implementation of Epic in October 2012. Design and build for the first phase of the Epic system will take place throughout 2013 with go live in March 2014 for metro hospitals (including Crittenton, Cushing, and Smithville).

 

Support for Horizon Clinicals will continue uninterrupted, although most of the support will be outsourced during this time as Saint Luke's Information Services staff works on the Epic implementation.

 

Questions about the new system can be directed to the Epic Leadership Team via email at Epicslhs@saint-lukes.org. Find more information on Sharepoint, under the SLHS Site Epic Implementation, or by clicking here.

 

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