PatCREATING NEW REALITIEhS FOR NURw SING Decembayser 2011/January 2012 to Excelle nce Message from the • The Nursing Dashboard focused on quality metrics was launched. Chief Nurse Executive • More than 7,500 nursing students completed clinical rotations at UPMC hospitals in a year. As we are on the heels of the season of giving, I am proud to share • UPMC nurses precepted 107 summer student nurse interns. how much our UPMC nurses have given to each other, to our pro - fessional practice, and to our patients and families throughout this • More than 1,300 nurses were hired, attaining the lowest job past year. Our highlights of nursing accomplishments are amazing: vacancy rate and nurse turnover rate in years. • UPMC Hamot joined the UPMC system. • At the 2011 Southwestern Pennsylvania Organization of Nurse Leaders Conference, more than 50 percent of the • UPMC ranked 12 on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll posters were from UPMC nurses covering a broad range of of America’s Best Hospitals. topics including SmartRoom, Innovative Strategies for High Alert Medication Error, Mentoring Nurse Leaders, and • UPMC Northwest was designated as a Primary Stroke Improving Patient Satisfaction. Five won awards. Center by The Joint Commission. • The UPMC Center for Nursing Excellence and Innovation • UPMC Horizon was the recipient of The Joint Commission and the Center for Inclusion were showcased as a best Award based on quality and core measure excellence and practice in the American Organization for Nurse Executives the HAP award for patient safety focused on developing (AONE) Toolkit for Diversity in Health Care Organizations . “A Best Practice for the Prevention of Hospital-Acquired Clostridium Difficile.” • UPMC nurses were selected to showcase our outcomes with four podium presentations and six poster presentations • The UPMC Shadyside Surgical ICU achieved the silver level at the AONE 44th Annual Meeting and Exposition , more of the Beacon Award for Excellence™ by the American than any other hospital or health system at this national Association for Critical Care Nurses. conference. • My Nursing Career , UPMC Nursing’s inclusive career ladder • UPMC Nursing was showcased in two podium presentations integrated nurses within the Physician Services Division and focused on nursing grand rounds and academic service Hospital-Based Clinics, wound care, and research nurses. partnership at the 2011 Sigma Theta Tau International • More than 750 nurses celebrated National Nurses Week at Biennial Convention . the UPMC 2011 Nurses Week Conference: Caring and • The eRecord PACU/Frequent Assessment Documentation Compassion in a High Tech Environment . Optimization project achieved a 31 percent reduction in • Approximately 1500 contact hours were awarded for nurses’ required documentation fields. participation in continuing education at UPMC Nursing • UPMC nurses self-reported 335 podium and professional System Grand Rounds . presentations at various international, national, regional, and local conferences. Continued on page 2 what’s inside: UPMC Nursing Vision UPMC Nursing will create the best patient experience, nationally and internationally, through the selection, development, retention, and reward My Nursing The Daisy UPMC of the highest-performing nurses, while creating systems and programs Career Foundation East Update Page 2 Page 6 Page 7 that create consistency and excellence in patient care. Pathways to Excellence • UPMC nurses published 39 articles, two books, and seven • Bedside Medical Device Integration: As requested at the 2011 book chapters. UPMC Nurses Week Conference, focus on the integration of medical devices (i.e. cardiac monitors, pulse ox, NIBP) with the • UPMC nurses volunteered at various community events electronic health record. and programs throughout the region. • Reliable and Variable Rounder: Redesigned care model that These are just some of the featured accomplishments across separates the work of patient care technicians based on task UPMC. As we embark on a new year, I am refocusing nursing predictability resulting in improved care outcomes. at all levels as we re-pledge ourselves to shared priorities that impact the patient experience. These priorities include the • ECG Alarm Reduction: The process for minimizing alarm fatigue following initiatives: by eliminating non-lethal nuisance alarms, making any ECG alarm an important alarm. • Your Care, Our Commitment: An initiative to bring life and transparency to our organization’s core values and You will be hearing more about these initiatives throughout the year at guiding principles your facility from your chief nursing officer, in this newsletter, and at Nursing Grand Rounds. I am excited to see where this year leads us on • Rest Assured: An initiative to improve the patient our journey toward excellence. experience by reducing noise and providing a restful environment enabling our patients to sleep through the Best wishes for a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year. night. Action items include dimmed hallways, closed doors, earplugs, the use of pen lights, and bundling care • New Electronic Medication Reconciliation process: To decrease medication errors and improve patient safety in the following manner: Holly Lorenz, RN, MSN UPMC Chief Nurse Executive o By obtaining, verifying, and documenting the patient’s current prescriptions and over-the-counter medications when admitted to the hospital. My Nursing Career o By considering the patient’s pre-admission/home medication list when ordering medications during the hospital encounter and continuing home medications as appropriate, and comparing the patient’s pre-admission/ home medication list to ordered medicines. o By verifying the medication list and resolving discrepancies with the provider. o By providing an updated medication list and communicating the importance of managing medication information to the patient when he or she is discharged from the hospital or at the end of the encounter. This new electronic process ensures that the information is accessible to the entire health care team during the current encounter as well as future encounters. Discharge Instructions are re-designed to engage and empower patients in their self-management after discharge by providing expanded information related to their hospital treatment. Diagnostic studies and procedures, lab results, and vital signs are now included with the Discharge Spring of 2012 will mark the second year for My Nursing Career Instructions. When the nurse prints this information (MNC), UPMC Nursing’s inclusive clinical ladder. MNC was for the patient, it is concurrently sent it to their primary designed to be a vehicle for you to have a vast and lifelong nursing care provider or next care provider for more precise management of post-discharge follow-up care career at UPMC. The uniqueness of this ladder is its applicability in all areas of nursing including the bedside, home care, care management, and specialty areas as well as clinics. There have been three phases of implementation over the past year. Continued on page 3 Page 2 CREATING NEW REALITIES FOR NURSING DECEMBER 2011/JANUARY2012 Pathways to Excellence Phase I, Spring 2010 • Procedural (PAP) positions integrated into Inpatient (CAP) Tuition Benefits positions, renamed My Nursing Career UPMC offers a tuition benefit for eligible full-time and flex Phase II, Fall 2010 full-time staff up to $3,500 per academic year ($1,750 • Care managers and administrator on duty/bed-flow part-time and job-share staff). The assistance percentage coordinators integrated into My Nursing Career is 100 percent for courses taken at the University of Pittsburgh, a community college, and UPMC’s proprietary Phase III, 2011 and beyond schools. The benefit provided at other accredited institutions is equal to 50 percent of tuition. • Infection Control, Physician Services Division, hospital- based clinics, wound care, research nurses, cardiopulmonary Certification exams are also covered and are reimbursed at rehabilitation nurses, call center type nurses, educators as 100 percent. Preparatory courses for taking a certification well as advanced practice nurses are currently in process. exam are eligible, provided they are offered at an accredited institution and are preparing for an exam that is eligible The following guiding principles are used when integrating a under the UPMC tuition guidelines. These courses are specialty into MNC: reimbursed at either 100 percent or 50 percent depending on the institution where the course is taken. Multiple • collaborate with nursing and Human Resources colleagues certification exams may be taken and a combination of within each area exams with other coursework is also permissible, up to • align similar nursing positions across the system the academic year maximum. Note: CEs required for your current job are ineligible for tuition assistance, since • assess levels of job responsibilities they are expected as part of your current job duties. • determine the appropriate education/certification for the scope of responsibilities If you are unsure if you qualify, you may submit a Tuition • standardize system job descriptions based on duties Eligibility Verification Form. Upon receipt of this completed form, the UPMC Employee Service Center will verify • create job descriptions based upon the ANCC’s new model eligibility by reviewing your job status and the course/ for Magnet recognition ® and relationship-based care exam information provided by you. • equip leaders with the necessary