MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
May 15, 2014
LONDON, Ont. –As a part of National Nursing Week, LHSC’s designation as a Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO) of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) was celebrated earlier today.
Dr. Doris Grinspun, Chief Executive Officer, RNAO, spoke at LHSC about best practice guidelines and recognized the work LHSC has done since becoming a BPSO in 2009.
LHSC was honoured for the implementation of best practice guidelines including the Best Practice Guidelines in Caregiving Strategies for Older Adults with Delirium, Dementia and Depression, as well as LHSC’s adoption of the RNAO’s Professionalism in Nursing Best Practice Guidelines.
In October 2013, an interdisciplinary team on the Sub-Acute Medicine Unit at Victoria Hospital implemented a reality board orientation project for their patients, which included the use of white boards and flat screen televisions to enhance their patient’s environment in order to help increase their level of understanding of what is going on in the world around them.
Wayne Ottnad, a patient in Sub-Acute Medicine, uses the information on the whiteboard to help him engage with other patients and family members as part of much needed social interaction for patients with dementia. “I would read off the
fun stuff on the whiteboards, like a quote, to my fellow patient on the unit and her husband,” says Ottnad. “We would then have something to talk about.” Ottnad, like many patients, also found the flat screen televisions in the common areas a great way to provide structure to his day. “The televisions have been great,” he says. “I can plan my day around the hockey game that will be on later in the evening.”
RNAO’s Professionalism in Nursing Best Practice Guidelines
In 2011, under the guidance of Dr. Vanessa Burkoski, Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive, Quality, Patient Safety and Professional Practice at LHSC, structures and processes for shared governance as a means to achieve continuous quality improvement. The creation of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) councils was guided by the RNAO’s Best Practice Guidelines, Professionalism in Nursing.
Driven by nurses, the CQI councils are an interprofessional team approach to identifying, formulating, executing and evaluating initiatives that elevate the quality and safety of patient care. Nurses along with their colleagues at the point-of-care are directly involved in shaping care delivery.
“The CQI model provides a structure aimed at engaging and empowering front-line nurses and interprofessional colleagues to make changes in their practice and work environment that will improve patient health outcomes and enhance the patient and family experience,” says Burkoski.
To date, LHSC has 70 CQI councils and over 150 quality improvement and patient safety initiatives at various stages of implementation and evaluation. These improvements range from evidence-based practice integration ‘firsts’ to staff-led process and system redesign.
“The nurses who use our guidelines are elevating patient care to a higher level of excellence,” says Grinspun, adding “health organizations that are interested in improving their performance also recognize the important role these guidelines can make in their health facilities. Congratulations to LHSC on being a Best Practice Spotlight organization for the past five years.”
About London Health Sciences Centre
London Health Sciences Centre has been at the forefront of medicine in Canada for 139 years and offers the broadest range of specialized clinical services in Ontario. Building on the traditions of its founding hospitals to provide compassionate care in an academic teaching setting, London Health Sciences Centre is home to Children’s Hospital, University Hospital, Victoria Hospital, the Kidney Care Centre, two family medical centres, and two research institutes – Children’s Health Research Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute. As a leader in medical discovery and health research, London Health Sciences Centre has a history of over 65 international and national firsts and attracts top clinicians and researchers from around the world. As a regional referral centre, London Health Sciences Centre cares for the most medically complex patients including critically injured adults and children in southwestern Ontario and beyond. The hospital’s nearly 15,000 staff, physicians, students and volunteers provide care for more than one million patient visits a year. For more information visit www.lhsc.on.ca
-30-
For media inquiries contact:
Sarah Muto
London Health Sciences Centre
Corporate Communications and Public Relations
519-685-8500, ext. 77062
After-hours assistance:
Call LHSC Switchboard at 519-685-8500 and ask to page the communication consultant on-call
