Friday, January 11, 2008

Nursing Grand Rounds at St. Joseph Hospital (written by Sharon Kleinheinz, RN, MSN)

On November 19, 2007, St. Joseph Hospital held the second annual Nursing Grand Rounds dedicated to Nursing Research and Evidence Based Practice projects being conducted at the hospital.

St. Joseph Hospital’s Nurse Research Facilitator, Dana Rutledge, RN, PhD, led the seminar on the use of evidence-based practice in guiding health care decisions and improving patient outcomes.

This 4-hour program featured 10 St. Joseph Registered Nurses providing updates on nursing research studies and evidence-based practice projects that are currently underway at St. Joseph. Projects included the following outcomes and learnings:
· Outcomes of a hospital based MET team (Medical Emergency Team) in terms of decreased codes and decreased transfers of patients from med/surg units to ICUs.
· How adding a sedation protocol and vacation to a ventilator bundle has impacted the intubated patient.
· How preoperative preparation and education for the outpatient surgical patient can decrease cancellation of surgery.
· Reasons for and realities of implementing a study comparing the use of a temporal artery thermometer with oral/ axillary or rectal thermometers in the Emergency Department pediatric patient population.

Also featured were the results of a survey on the nurse’s knowledge and attitudes on breastfeeding, the implementation of education for nursing staff providing smoking cessation information to patients, and an overview of the progress of existing end of life programs for patients.

Dr. Rutledge presented the Iowa model and principles of evidence-based practice that is utilized at St. Joseph. Julie Smith, the manager of the St. Joseph Burlew Medical library provided an update on the EBP Blog and the numerous resources available to assist staff in nursing research and evidence-based projects.

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