Lourdes inpatient nurses focus on holistic, relationship-based care of patients and their families. Nursing units include Intensive Care, Medical Telemetry, Oncology, Inpatient Hospice, Women’s & Children’s Services, General Surgery, Surgical Telemetry, Orthopedic Services and General Medicine.

Many inpatient Unit-based Practice Councils have integrated Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB) activities to facilitate the involvement of all staff in improving patient outcomes and increasing patient and nurse satisfaction.

Transforming Care at the Bedside

The TCAB initiative is a nursing research project originally funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It is supported by The Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Ascension Health. Lourdes has multiple inpatient units participating in this project.

The goals of TCAB are to:

• Improve the quality of patient care;
• Develop more effective care teams;
• Improve staff satisfaction and retention;
• Allow nurses to spend more time with patients and less time on administrative tasks; and
• Ultimately, save lives.

Technology and Innovation

Nurses, physicians and staff at Lourdes are working with a leading healthcare information technology company to implement an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. This technology is being phased in over the next few years. Two staff nurses are leading the committee responsible for implementation of the system, as it relates to nursing documentation. The first phase of this process has been completed and improves the efficiency and safety of medication administration. Pharmacists, nurses and physicians are linked throughout the entire medication process.

Nurses creatively respond to regulatory and quality initiatives and have a critical role as patient advocates. Evidence-based nursing care has enabled Lourdes nurses to continuously improve quality care. One example is the use of open crib phototherapy to treat healthy newborns who develop jaundice.