Lourdes inpatient nurses focus on
holistic, relationship-based care of patients and their families.
Nursing units include Intensive Care, Medical Telemetry, Oncology,
Inpatient Hospice, Women's & Children's Services, General
Surgery, Surgical Telemetry, Orthopedic Services, and General
Medicine.
Many inpatient Unit-based Practice Councils have integrated
Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB) activities to facilitate
the involvement of all staff in improving patient outcomes and
increasing patient and nurse satisfaction.
Transforming Care at the Bedside
The TCAB initiative is a nursing research project originally
funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It is supported by
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Ascension Health.
Lourdes has multiple inpatient units participating in this
project.
The goals of TCAB are to:
- Improve the quality of patient care;
- Develop more effective care teams;
- Improve staff satisfaction and retention;
- Allow nurses to spend more time with patients and less time on
administrative tasks; and
- Ultimately, save lives.
Technology and Innovation
Nurses, physicians, and staff at Lourdes are working with a
leading healthcare information technology company to implement an
Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. This technology is being
phased in over the next few years. Two staff nurses are leading the
committee responsible for implementation of the system, as it
relates to nursing documentation. The first phase of this process
has been completed and improves the efficiency and safety of
medication administration. Pharmacists, nurses and physicians are
linked throughout the entire medication process.
Nurses creatively respond to regulatory and quality initiatives
and have a critical role as patient advocates. Evidence-based
nursing care has enabled Lourdes nurses to continuously improve
quality care. One example is the use of open crib phototherapy to
treat healthy newborns who develop jaundice.
