Nurses Make a Difference At Downstate Medical Center University Hospital of Brooklyn
Margaret G. Jackson, MA,RN
Assistant Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer
I am proud of our dynamic nurses at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, University Hospital of Brooklyn. This year we made pivotal achievements and national recognition which improved patient outcomes and patient satisfaction.
Our Nursing Services was designated as a participant in the Department of Defense Patient Safety/Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Team STEPPS initiative. Team/STEPPS=Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety. It is an evidence based teamwork system aimed at optimizing patient outcomes by improving communication and teamwork skills among health professionals. This year all medical surgical clinical units participated in this initiative. Our department was selected to be a member hospital by the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) 2011-2012 Center for Care Innovation and Transformation (CCIT). Our neurosurgical/neuroscience/stroke unit will serve at the CCIT innovation unit where best practices will be tested and successes disseminated throughout other medical surgical units and nationally as part of the AONE CCIT Robert Wood Johnson initiative.
Our communication with our patients and patient satisfaction scores improved substantially this year and we know it was due to consistent team patient rounds, nurse unit council meetings led by our Ambassadors of Excellence. Our Department continues to be a member of the Advisory Board Company Center for Frontline Nursing Leadership. The Frontline Nursing leadership program is designed to harness the leadership potential of nursing staff by equipping them with the skills to drive unit and organization performance. This year, our Frontline Nursing leadership alumni focused on campaign strategies to achieve Magnet strategic plan for 2011-2012. Their projects focused on falls prevention, customer service excellence, patient education, nursing certification, nursing research and evidence based practice.
Our nurses' fall prevention strategies resulted in patient falls remaining far below the range for other academic medical centers and magnet facilities.
In collaboration with Information Services, our nurses input in the design and configuration and clinical support for end users supported the hospital's successful launch of CPOE and clinical documents in the electronic patient health record.
Our perinatal nurses received recognition by Phillips Medical Systems as a finalist in the Mother Baby Impact Award for their "Skin to Skin and Breastfeeding initiatives toward becoming a "Baby Friendly" hospital.
Celebrations and appreciation are important to the growth of our nurses at Downstate Medical Center. Our commitment to fostering retention of new graduates continues with our participation in the UHC/AACN Residency program. The University Healthsystem Consortium (UHC)/AACN Residency program consists of a formal curriculum to ensure a safe transition of new graduate registered nurses into the clinical setting. This year, our graduates presented evidence based practice projects which focused on improving medical-nursing communication, necrotizing enterocolits in premature newborns, early recognition of postpartum hemorrhage, factors affecting hemolysis rate in the Emergency Department. The impact of nursing sedation/analgesic algorhythm in the reduction and usage of restraints and self extubation was recognized and accepted for poster presentation at the UHC/AACN conference meeting in 2012. Our attrition rate is significantly lower than the state and national average!
All in all, it has been an extremely busy year. I look forward to 2012, as our nurses will make even greater strides in improving patient care at Downstate Medical Center.
