NURSING IT INNOVATION AWARD
discharge Web site. The goal, says Bailey, is to
ensure that finance staff are “communicating
appropriately with patients.”
So far, the patient response to the service
has been positive—with an improvement in
satisfaction scores on the topic of clear com-
munications. The hospital also witnessed a 7
percent drop in readmissions in Burks’ step-
down unit after six months of deployment.
That came as no surprise, says Jim Weidner,
CEO. “Many times readmissions are caused
by patients not following instructions,” he
says. “We’re seeing fewer complications.”
Other benefits did surprise the hospital, the
CEO adds. “There is a psychological impact
at discharge. When the nurse says, ‘I will re-
cord our conversation,’ patients tend to pay
more attention.” And the tool has helped with
quality reviews by nurse executives, he says.
Now, nursing leaders listen to the discharge
sessions and give feedback to their staff.
SILVER PRIZE
TEXAS HEALTH
RESOURCES
Location: Arlington, Texas
Size: 14-hospital health system
I. T. Project: Urinary tract
infection prevention
Catheter-associated urinary tract in- fection is a condition that is relative- ly easy to prevent—removing the
catheter within two days greatly reduces the
chance of infection, according to medical literature. But acting on that well-established
principle is not necessarily easy, particularly
in a complex inpatient setting. Texas Health
Resources tackled the problem by modifying its order entry system, gaining physician
buy-in to a new role for nurses, and then empowering nurses to remove catheters when
medically appropriate. Within 90 days post
go-live of the set-up in early December 2011,
THR saw a 26 percent decrease in catheter-
Nurse Ellen Batch played a key role in modifying the order entry
system at Texas Health Resources, winner of the Silver prize.
Photos by Dan Sellers
