Council Connections – July

Clinic Practice Council

Mentor: Tiffany Bell
Chair: Sade Kelly
Co-Chair: Joy Yuan Fey

• ICU is piloting the Dignishield. More time and device usage is needed to gather sufficient data.
• The Safe at Home project, created by the delirium champions, was presented. 27% of our patients are being screened for delirium. This project will provide an instructional guide for care givers regarding delirium risk at home for either patients who experienced it in the hospital or have a high probability of developing it at home.
  • The two sided flyer and education would be provided to the care giver by the bedside RN or case manager (CM)/social worker (SW). The purpose is to reduce readmissions and provide support. The intent is to proactively help our patients be safe at home. The instructional guide provides general safety and med safety tips. It is planned to be implemented on all med-surg units. The RN/CM would speak with care giver to create awareness, decrease falls and readmissions. The flyer could be given at any time during the admission or at time of discharge.
  • Combine this education with the medication education we already give (5 Brazos has an example) After council recommendations are provided and document is revised and approved, education will be needed for all nursing staff on how to provide the education to care givers.
• Safe Patient Handling Action Plan
  • A project focusing on safe patient handling is underway. The gaps in our current process were evaluated and an action plan was created.
  • Plan to pilot the project on 6W and 4W because these are the units with the most staff-related injuries. Plan to also partner with OR.
• Lab Update
  • Lab has a list of the mislabeled/unlabeled labs and will provide them per unit in the next council meeting. Most of the errors in mislabeled/unlabeled labs occur due to RN mislabeling or the lab relabeling.  Best practice is to scan the barcode on the label. Tamika and Susan Laws will work together to assess the barcode scanning capabilities within the Epic system.
  • AM labs are currently printing in the department where the order was placed. That process is being changed which will mean that the RN’s will have to manually print each AM label instead of them being printed automatically.
• A poster to use in the staff meetings for staff education was presented. A paper copy of the poster will be distributed to the unit managers after poster completion.

 Wound Care Council

Mentor: Ann Maguire
Chair: Rose Joseph
Co-Chair: Honey Ignatius

• Wound council meeting is moving to a central location (Administration Board Room) starting August 2018. Meeting at 7:45 a.m. every 2nd Thursday of the month. The next meeting is August 9, 2018.
• We continue to perform monthly PUPP audits to identify the prevalence of HAPI’s.  (Next one July 12, 2018)
• Polymem –Unlike foam dressings, whose primary purpose is to absorb, Polymem dressings enhance autolytic debridement (debride and constantly cleanse the wound bed) while also managing exudate. (Non-traumatic debridement approaches can result in improved patient cooperation with their wound care regimen). Need to educate staff on this property of Polymem.
• Upcoming PCA education – Date to be announced soon.

Infection Prevention Council

Mentor: Andrea Dalcour-Cotton
Chair: Cara Bretz

• Please note new signs by coffee stations that instructs patients and visitors to ask staff to brew fresh coffee. This reduces the spread of bacteria and other harmful organisms.
• An isolation grid was distributed to all units. The grid specifies what type of isolation is needed based on what infection a patient has. Look for this grid near the charge nurse computer on each unit.

Professional Development Council

Mentor: Tricia Lewis
Chair: Fiona Smith
Co-Chair: Irene Smith

• The Shining Star selection committee is formed and currently reviewing the 2018 nominations. Stay tuned for the awards announcements!
• You can find a link to all HMSL awards in Chris’ Employee and Volunteer E-Newsletter. Click on the “Employee Award Nomination Forms” link to access these nomination forms, I CARE Award, DAISY Award, PALS Award, Shining Star Award or go to www.hmslnews.org/award.

Workplace Environment Council

Mentor: Terri Gonzales

• The Workplace environment council has moved their meeting to the 4th Thursday of the Month, 7:45–8:45 a.m.
• The council also welcomes Ramona Williams, MSN, RN as the new chair.

Research & Evidence-Based Practice Council

Mentor: Betty Gonzales
Chair: Luz Malit

• All Employees are encouraged to enter their quality improvement, evidence-based practice or research projects in the Science and Practice BRAIN: Building Research and Advancing Innovative Networks, located in the Intranet Home Page under frequently accessed pages. The Research and EBP council has mentors available for your projects. Please contact Luz Malit at LVMalit@houstonmethodist.org, if you need a mentor for your project.

Magnet Champions

Mentor: Mary Harris
Chair: Karen Cothran
Co-Chair: Julie Pickle

• The Magnet champions will finish their book study “How to Win Friends and Influence People” during the July Magnet Champion meeting.
• Everyone is invited to be a Magnet Champion Meeting Crasher. The next Magnet champion meeting is July 18, 2018, 8-9 a.m. in Brazos BC.

Policy & Procedure Council

Mentor: Tiffany Bell & Daisy Del Rosario
Chair: Philomena Valson
Co-Chair: Robin Smith

Below is a summary of the polices that PPC approved in June 2018

Achieved Policies

• NU 298 Suctioning: Maintenance of a Patient with – Refer to PCPS 050 Suctioning and Airway Maintenance
• WC025 Standard of Practice
• WC023 Scope of Service – Refer to the scope of practice available on the intranet

Updated Policies

• NU 228 Rectal Tubes: A subcommittee will revise and submit to the council for review.
• NU 225 Care after Death: Currently being revised by a subcommittee.

Renewed Policies

• NU202 Allergies: Safeguarding a patient with: Changes to verbiage and added reference.
• NU 254 Irrigation: Changes to verbiage and added reference.