The Nursing staff has contributed to the advancement of nursing practice within our organization to achieve positive patient outcomes. Staff Education and continuous quality improvement drives their practice. Some of the major nursing Best Practices developed by the staff include:

•  A Breast Feeding Program that increased the number of mothers Breast Feeding their newborns from 17% to 70% within fourteen months

•  Peer Review - Emergency Department nurses review approximately 600 nursing triage documents a month

•  Development of a monthly report card for patients to monitor criteria specific to the ERSD population

•  A redesign of responsibilities in determining need for 1: 1 observation resulting in a reduction of 31, 000 hours of 1: 1 within 1 year

•  Development of Violence Assessment and Suicide Assessment tools to enhance predictability of outbursts or suicide attempts and provide prevention and/or early intervention

•  Ambulatory Care nurses participated in redesigning the Anticoagulation Therapy program. Nurse Practitioner support staff is ensuring point of care testing followed by timely anticoagulant prescriptions, enhancing patient safety

Nursing has applied this focus to the exhilarating process of preparing for survey by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, with the goal of achieving Magnet Recognition. This enormous effort, of moving the department through the Magnet process, has only been possible through the collaborative efforts of the entire nursing staff, in partnership with their colleagues. The amount of creativity that has emanated throughout our journey has been truly phenomenal.