That’s What Friends Are For

Nursing Names Crothall Support Departments as New Best Friends

“EVS is considered a model department for what it means to be innovative, what it means to reach out
and embrace change, see the bigger context, and create a better patient environment.

Rob Fulbright, Administrator/CEO,
Florida Hospital Altamonte

This year, during Nurse's Appreciation Week, Nurses recognized other departments that enhanced their work environment and helped them reach their goals. This practice of sharing the spotlight by honoring "friends" is evidence that hard-pressed clinical resources are turning to support services departments for critical help. With success, the resulting relationship finds trust and a new level of respect between departments, paving the way for collaborative innovation.

Nursing Goals at the Forefront

Crothall departments at several hospitals were recognized as "Friends of Nursing" for helping them attain Patient Throughput, Infection Control, and Patient Care goals. At St. Vincent Hospital, PT Director Dave Edwards and his team received the award for providing the greatest amount of support in the delivery of patient care. Riverview Medical Center nurses honored EVS/PT with a Galaxy Award for supporting Nursing and improving the cleanliness of the facility. General Mechanic Chris Roper won a "Friend of Nursing" award from Brookwood Medical Center nurses for getting the Women's OR to Joint Commission standards.

Florida Hospital Altamonte:
Communication, Innovation, and Sacrifice

At Florida Hospital Altamonte, EVS Director Jerome Williams and his team won the "S.O.S. Award" (See It, Own It, Solve It) for helping Nursing achieve infection control and patient throughput goals. According to Client Rob Fulbright, Administrator/CEO, "Our new goal was getting ED patients admitted and up to open patient beds within 90 minutes." Using data from TeamCHIMES and the TeamCare bed tracking system, Williams found that peak discharge time was from 2 PM to 8 PM, 7 hours after his well-staffed 1st shift started work. He and his staff created a new shift to accommodate the goal.

Williams worked with Nursing and Administration to further troubleshoot throughput problems caused by lack of communication and a need for more resources. "A high level of positive communication between EVS, Nursing, and Administration contributed to our initial and ongoing success," comments RM Mark Giuliani. "This facilitated a clear understanding of expectations and potential barriers for all. Nursing's willingness to support timely notification of needs remains critical to the success of the overall process." Having valid data to present to Administration cleared the way for Williams to show logically the need for more resources to meet throughput goals and take some of the burden off Nursing. Administration responded with the support they needed.

The results have been phenomenal. In the year and a half since, the percentage of turnarounds meeting the 60-minute goal has risen 24%, from 54% in March 2007 to 78% in July 2008.