Since the opening of HUP’s Nursing Renewal Center in November, “it has become an unbelievable success,” said Victoria Rich, PhD, chief nurse executive, UPMC, at last month’s Meal with An Administrator. “We needed to do something for self-care. We have to stay sharp to take care of very sick patients.”
While the Center was initially created for the nursing staff, Rich said that “we don’t turn anyone away. It’s open to all employees. It’s a safe place, somewhere you can go and be alone for a while.”
She again thanked Chuck Aitken, assistant executive hospital director, who received the first Friend to Nursing Advocacy Award. “Chuck facilitated the fish tank move from the ED to the Renewal Center in a cost-effective way.”
Judy James, associate chief HR officer, thanked everyone for participating in last fall’s employee survey, with over 83 percent participation. The next step, she said, will be to receive and share results with department managers, who in turn will review with their staffs and create action plans.
She also urged employees to go to the HR and You benefits page. “Click on Wellfocused and you’ll find all types of wellness programs to help you stay healthy.” One of the programs focuses on helping people break the smoking habit. “Everything is free to help you quit,” she said. “We’re working toward a nonsmoking environment.”
The Push to Eliminate Preventable Re-admissions
The discussion turned to Penn Medicine’s goal to eliminate all preventable re-admissions within 30 days by July 2014. One participant commented that “ it’s a big gap from how we do business now and where we need to be.”
“We take the 2014 goal very seriously,” Rich responded, “and we’re looking at it from every possible point of view, trying several different approaches throughout the organization to find the best one.”
One of the approaches is innovation tournaments, which will engage employees to submit ideas on how to improve clinical outcomes and the overall patient/family experience. Out of all the ideas, a group will choose “the most can-do, out of the box, effective ideas to change business as usual,” she said.
Rich spoke of our success in eliminating bloodstream infections. “In 2006, we had 60 to 70 BSIs a month. Now we have units that have gone over 1,000 days without any,” she said. “Dr. [PJ] Brennan and I share this story when we speak to groups around the country and we get a standing ovation. We have among the sickest patients in the country and we can do that.
“We’ve searched the literature for the best practice for 30-day readmissions and no one has an answer,” she said, “but we believe it can happen working together.”
