Kenmore Mercy Hospital
Kronicle
News and announcements for Nursing Staff at Kenmore Mercy Hospital
Spring 2019 In honor of Nurses Week in May and the nursing staff at Kenmore Mercy Hospital, I would like to share this prayer.
Associates Honored During Nurses’ Week
Nurses Prayer Lord help me to be the nurse that you created me to be. Give me strength to love those who are hardest to love, And the heart to serve those who don’t want to be served. Give me tears to cry when I need to mourn And the gift of laughter to help me through each day. Let me be touched by every patient we serve. And remind me that each encounter is a blessing. When I am tired restore my mind and soul and take away my worries. Lord, let me be your instrument in all that I do. Help me to remember that you are the healer. Keep me humble in all that I do and let me always remember, that I am a servant of yours. Amen Thank you for your unending compassion and dedication to our patients. It is truly an honor to work with all of you throughout my 25 years here at Kenmore Mercy Hospital. May God bless you always, ~ Cheryl
This year’s nursing honorees and their managers - Christopher Dowd, Kristen Parisi, Anne Creighton-Hedges, Jason Meder, Linda Butski, and Elisa Malonado.
Kenmore Mercy Hospital capped off National Nurses’ Week by recognizing some of its best nursing staff during a special ceremony held on May 9. This year’s Nurse of Distinction is Christopher Dowd, BSN, RN, CCRN. Originally hired as a nurse on 2 West, Chris has been with Kenmore Mercy for fourteen years, twelve of which are in the Intensive Care Unit. He obtained his certification in critical care and has been an advocate for CCRN. Chris has been involved in Catholic Health’s med system committee, ICU unit practice council, is a regular charge nurse, preceptor, and mentor. He is currently in school pursuing his goal of becoming an advanced nurse practitioner. This year’s Outstanding Staff Nurse is Jason Meder, RN. He has been with Kenmore Mercy for 21 years and currently works in our Operating Room. Jason’s various roles, above being an OR nurse, include Health & Safety Representative, and co-chairman of Safe Patient Handling Committee and Shared Governance Safety. He is also an active member of the hospital’s Shared Governance team, and was a major contributor in the hospital’s journey to Magnet excellence. This year’s Outstanding Nurse Attendant is Elisa Malonado. She has been with Kenmore Mercy for 17 years, working in the Operating Room. She is known for doing a thorough job and demonstrating tremendous commitment to our patients, team. Thank you to all of this year’s award winners for their care and compassion and for demonstrating our mission and values.
Holly Grimm Takes on New Role
Nurses Celebrate Certifications
Congratulations to our new orthopedic clinical advisor Holly Grimm, BSN, RN. In Holly’s new role, she focuses on planning the care and education of orthopedic and spine surgical patients; coordinating and providing pre and post-operative education; collecting and reporting data on clinical outcomes for all elective orthopedic or spine procedure patients; implementing performance improvement initiatives; and chairing the interdisciplinary orthopedic committee meetings. Holly graduated in 1992 with an Associate’s degree in Nursing from Niagara County Community College and was part of the Catholic Health “RN to BSN” cohort with Niagara University, graduating in 2016. Holly also recently received her orthopedic certification.
Susan McClure Promoted Congratulations to Susan McClure, MSN, RN, who has been promoted to nurse manager of the Emergency Department.
Did you know that March 19 was Certified Nurses Day which is celebrated nationally? Kenmore Mercy nurses represent more than 20 types of certifications who were celebrated with a special breakfast that morning. Certified Nurses Day began in 2008 as a way to bring public recognition and appreciation to all of the nurses who choose to pursue certification in their specialties. Margretta “Gretta” Madden Styles was the pioneer and inspiration behind nursing certification, so Certified Nurses Day is held on her birthday, March 19, every year. “With the many opportunities available in nursing, certification can give you an edge in achieving a variety of career goals,” said Cheryl W. Hayes, RN, MS, ANP, NEA-BC, vice president of Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer. Thank you to our Kenmore Mercy Hospital nurses who have given their time and energy to earn specialty, subspecialty and advanced practice certifications!
Magnet Update
Sue began her career as an orthopedic nurse at Kenmore Mercy 27 years ago. She then moved on to the Emergency Department where she spent 20 years as a charge nurse and a preceptor.
April marked two years since Kenmore Mercy received its Magnet recognition! That puts us at the half way point for re-designation, which also means that we need to submit our interim report. The nursing outcomes listed below are then presented to our ANCC Magnet analyst.
A graduate of Trocaire College, she received her Associate’s degree in Nursing in 1992 and went on to obtain her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Nursing in 2016, followed by her Master’s of Science in Nursing from Chamberlain University in 2018.
• Patient Satisfaction Rates (This data comes from our patient experience surveys)
Sue became part of the nursing leadership team as the senior clinical advisor for the ED and the ICU in 2016, where she has used her nursing experience to affect change, implement and support performance improvement, skill development and education for peers and bedside nurses.
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• RN Satisfaction Rates (VOA scores)
• Nurse Sensitive Quality Indicators (Falls with Injury- inpatient and outpatient, HAPI stage 2 and above, CAUTI, CLABSI, and adverse outcomes of care in the ambulatory setting- this includes wrong site, side, patient, procedure, implant or device). • BSN rates • Turnover Rates • Vacancy Rates • Certification Rates Magnet is looking to see that we surpass the national average for the majority of the nursing units over the past two year. We are proud to announce that we have met those expectations. We will soon begin the document writing process for our 2021 submission date so stay tuned for updates on how you can play a role in our next Magnet document.
Kenmore Mercy ICU Nationally Recognized for Patient Outcomes
Welcome To Our New Nurses From March - May March Nicole Diminuco, RN - Emergency Department Qing Mleczak, RN - Emergency Department Daisia Holtz, NA - Emergency Department Grace Rivera Colon, NA - 3 East Emily Stoll, NA - Emergency Department April Amanda Trudell, RN - Emergency Department Kelly Whitmire, RN - 3 East May
Registered nurses Sandy Conti, Kristen Parisi, Maureen Audino, Beth Woods, Mary LaMartina, Michelle Marella, and Christine Rose are just a few members of critical care team that helped make Kenmore Mercy’s Beacon Award possible.
The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Kenmore Mercy Hospital did it again, earning a third Silver Beacon Award for Excellence. Presented by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), this award recognizes the nation’s highest performing hospital ICUs. Kenmore Mercy was the first hospital in the Buffalo area to receive the Beacon Award in 2012. Currently only 54 hospitals in New York State have received this award, which is given to ICUs that consistently exhibit high quality standards, exceptional care of patients and families, and healthy work environments. Created to recognize individual nursing care units that distinguish themselves in the care of patients and their families, the Beacon Award for Excellence is a significant milestone on the path to exceptional patient care and a healthy work environment.
Robert Sneker, NA - Operating Room Brittany Lindberg, RN - Float
Congrats Julie Baumgartner, RN, from the Emergency Department, completed her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Nursing from Chamberlain College.
Happy retirement to Paula Patel, RN! Thank you for your 32 years of service to Kenmore Mercy Hospital! Paula was most recently a nurse in our Ambulatory Surgery Unit.
“We pride ourselves on delivering high-quality patient care outcomes through essential staff training and effective recruitment and retention of our nurses,” said Kristen Parisi, RN, CCRN-K, BSN, nurse manager of the Kenmore Mercy ICU. “Beacon represents collaboration of all staff members and providers who care for patients in the ICU.” The AACN requires that national standards and benchmarks for quality and safety in the delivery of critical care medicine are met and exceeded for the Beacon Award to be granted. Ventilator-associated pneumonia, hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, patient falls, blood culture contamination, and catheterrelated sepsis are just a few of the quality indicators the AACN reviews in evaluating a critical care unit for a Beacon Award. Patient outcomes in Kenmore Mercy’s ICU consistently exceed national benchmarks. To earn the distinction, Kenmore Mercy submitted a 50-page document that summarized progress made in the ICU in the past three years since it last received the Beacon Award. “Recipients of the Beacon Award set the standard for excellence in health care,” said Cheryl W. Hayes, RN, MS, ANP, NEA-BC, vice president of Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer at Kenmore Mercy Hospital.
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Reminders Entering Blood Gas Orders
When entering orders in Soarian Clinicals, be sure to verify during the ordering process whether your specimen is an ARTERIAL or VENOUS sample.
Starting Our Epic Journey In February, Catholic Health announced a major investment of more than $100 million in state-of the- art technology that will connect our hospitals, home care, long-term care, clinician offices, health centers and ancillary services with patients throughout the area. Over the next year, Catholic Health will be transitioning to Epic, the most advanced Electronic Health Record (EHR) system available. An EHR replacement of this magnitude requires a significant financial investment; a dedicated implementation team of clinical, business, and information technology experts; and months of rigorous planning, building, and testing before it can be rolled out system-wide.
Care of Patients Signing Out AMA
If a patient signs out against medical advice (AMA), it is still our responsibility to provide them with discharge instructions, follow up appointments and scripts. When notifying the physician that your patient is signing out AMA, please remind them that they must provide these patients with discharge information.
Great Catch Congratulations to registered nurse Tonya Holscher, from the Intensive Care Unit, our latest Catholic Health Great Catch Award winner! The Great Catch program is a Quality & Patient Safety initiative designed to help Catholic Health catch and avoid situations that have the potential to cause harm to our patients.
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As we prepare to build our Epic EHR, it’s vital to have input from the people who know our system best. Many familiar faces from Kenmore Mercy will be joining the It’s Epic implementation team. They will include clinicians, current staff and new IT recruits, who are going to build and test drive our new EHR. More than 80 members from Catholic Health have been added to the team, with another 70 still to come.
Your feedback is important us! 2019 KMH Professional Nursing Practice VOA Survey July 8 – July 26, 2019 Your opinions matter and your voices are powerful. Please keep the line of communication open by participating in this confidential Nurse Voice of the Associate survey, specifically designed to address the needs of our nurses. Questions focus on: autonomy, professional development, leadership, interprofessional relationships, quality of nursing care adequacy of resources and teamwork. Thank you for your anticipated participation in the 2019 Professional Nursing Practice Voice of the Associate Survey. We are listening — and want to hear from nurses. How to Take The Survey On July 8, you will receive an email through your Catholic Health account, with instructions and a secure link to complete the 2019 Professional Nursing Practice Voice of the Associate Survey. It is very important to the Nursing team that you participate in this survey. The anonymous survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and will provide Kenmore Mercy with valuable information to help improve your work experience as a registered nurse. If you have questions, please contact the Press Ganey Help Desk at hdesk@ pressganey.com or by calling 800.849.2292. Phone support is available 8 a.m. - 8 p.m., Monday - Friday. Nurses who complete the survey and provide a printout or phone print screen will receive a choice of one of the following: • $5.00 voucher good for a meal in the Kenmore Mercy cafeteria. OR • A medium hot drink (coffee or tea) or a 20 oz soda and either a donut or bagel (w/ or w/o cream cheese) from the Kenmore Mercy Tim Hortons.
Retirement Celebration! Cheryl Hayes
Vice President Patient Care Services & Chief Nursing Officer
Please join us in celebrating Cheryl as she begins the next chapter in her life.
Friday, June 28, 2019 from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Community Room
Performance Improvement What is it? Performance Improvement (PI) is the continuous study and improvement in the way we provide healthcare services to meet the needs of patients and staff. The process involves setting goals, implementing systematic changes, measuring outcomes and making improvements as needed. As nurses you play a huge role in these improvements every day and your involvement is essential to achieving excellence in clinical care. There are many PI stats that we track which include falls, pressure injuries, CAUTI, CLABSI, CDIFF, VTE, surgical site infections, call light response, and quiet at night, just to name a few. We continuously strive to improve these aspects of nursing care and without the help and dedication to quality care from our bedside nurses we would not be able to make these improvements. PI data is tracked and broken down at the unit level and is posted in each nursing unit as what we call the Nursing Dashboard. Our data is also submitted to a national database called NDNQI where our data is compared at a national level. As a Magnet hospital, we need to exceed the national average in all of the PI data that we show (see our Magnet update for the full list of PI data submitted).
Marketplace Opening Soon Starting June 17, Kenmore Mercy will begin offering its new Marketplace, located on the second floor, room 2035 (near the chapel). Choose from delicious items like prepared & frozen meals, beverages, candy, and healthy snacks on open shelves in your very own convenient micro-market, open 24 hours a day. Complete with touch screen kiosks, this new food option allows employees easy access to purchases without having to leave their workplace - a great option for third shift associates who don’t have other options. Access the Kenmore Mercy Marketplace with your badge, pay with your credit or debit card.
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