SE15
Recognition of Interprofessional Group SE15
Provide one example, with supporting evidence, of the organization’s recognition of an interprofessional group (inclusive of nursing) for their contribution(s) in influencing the clinical care of patients.
Example: Service Hero Award for Emergency Department for Reducing Blood Culture Contamination and Patients Leaving without Being Seen
Interprofessional Group Including Nursing Influences Clinical Care of Patients
Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) St. Vincent Hot Springs (SVHS) Emergency Department (ED) leaders and champions were instrumental in influencing the clinical care of ED patients in 2022. These included Nurse Manager Kayla Bullard, BSN, RN; Physician and Medical Director Joshua Keithley, MD; Clinical Nurse/Blood Culture Champion Carmelita Chavez, RN; Physician Assistant David Moore, PA; and Advanced Practice Nurses Missy Puckett, FNP-C and Tori LaDuke, MNSc.
At the beginning of April 2022, ED blood culture contaminations averaged 3.7%. Chavez and Bullard developed a remediation process to improve this, with a hospital goal of 3%. Chavez also developed a remediation form to be used for coaching coworkers who have blood culture contaminations. (Evidence SE15-1, Blood Culture Collection Remediation Form) When Bullard received the monthly blood culture reports she added them to a blood culture contamination spreadsheet with a running total for each nurse. Chavez handled remediation for nurses who had more than one blood culture contamination in the month and/or two or more contaminations for two consecutive months. Remediation and coaching were effective, as evidenced by the ED contamination percentage being reduced to 2.8% over nine months (to January 2023). The remediation process ensured the nurses were properly trained and held accountable for the way they drew blood culture labs. (Evidence SE15-2, Blood Culture Contamination Report)
While working to reduce the blood culture contamination rates, the ED team also began working to reduce the rate of patients who left without being seen (LWBS) in the ED. The interprofessional group reduced the LWBS rate from its high of 10.5% in June 2022 to 1.6% in February 2023 through collaboration between nursing and Keithley. They had developed a Provider in Triage (PIT) plan in which midlevel providers, an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) or a physician assistant (PA), would see every patient who came through the ED triage while they were on shift. Patients were seen by a midlevel provider and returned to the waiting area until a room became available, which reduced the ED LWBS to 1.6%. (Evidence SE15-3, Left Without Being Seen Data) The ED sees more than 100 patients daily; the new PIT plan enables them to be evaluated by a provider before a room to treat them becomes available.
Organizational Recognition
Service Hero Awards
CommonSpirit Health (CSH) CHI SVHS strives to provide excellent nursing care while practicing the ministry’s core values of compassion, integrity, inclusion, collaboration, and excellence. CHI SVHS knows the importance of recognizing coworkers who demonstrate these core values. A Praise and Celebration Committee is dedicated to recognizing coworkers who live the mission and exhibit the core values. CHI SVHS finds and implements meaningful opportunities to recognize coworkers for exemplifying the core values and meeting the Living Our Mission metrics.
Opportunities for recognition include the Service Hero awards for those who meet quality of practice standards. Employees are encouraged to collaborate with nurse managers, directors, educators, and other nursing leaders to find stories of coworkers or teams of coworkers being Service Heroes in the organization. Service Hero stories must meet a superior level of quality standards. Evidence of a story is first submitted to the Praise and Celebration Committee for initial review, with the committee then submitting its recommendations to the CHI SVHS president for final selection.
For a Service Hero story to be selected, it must recognize coworkers performing above the level expected for the job. The committee reviews nominations of coworkers and/or teams of coworkers monthly and carefully chooses ones for public recognition. The ED interprofessional team received a Service Hero award in 2023 for reducing ED blood culture contaminations from 3.7% to 2.8% and reducing LWBS from 10.5% to 1.6% over nine months.
Leadership Forum
Once a superior Service Hero award story is selected, leaders from throughout the organization recognize and celebrate the individual or team for their contributions in influencing the clinical care of patients at the monthly Leadership Forum. The coworkers from the award recipient’s department are also invited to the forum to participate in the celebration, during which their nomination is read aloud. The award recipients receive a trophy and have a picture taken with department coworkers in attendance, their department leaders, and/or executive leadership. The ED interprofessional team was recognized at the Leadership Forum on April 19, 2023. (Evidence SE15-4, Leadership Forum Minutes, Roster and Nomination, April 19, 2023)
Electronic Platforms
The ED interprofessional team’s picture and nomination summary were posted to the OneSpirit Blog on the CHI SVHS Insider website and shared by email with every employee in the organization. The OneSpirit Blog is updated by Marketing as new events and recognitions take place. (Evidence SE15-5, Service Hero One Spirit Blog-Insider)