Chatham-Kent Health Alliance’s Medicine Unit gets an Upgrade!

Everyone likes to see their home or workspace become more efficient through a much needed renovation. The same holds true at CKHA as improvements are underway on the Medicine Unit.

The bathroom doors in patient rooms are being widened to make it easier for patients to receive assistance, when necessary, in getting in the washroom.

In addition, staff frequently transport patients to or from the Emergency Department, Diagnostic Imaging or the Intensive Care Unit. Often these patients are on a stretcher. Prior to the renovation, staff went through a double door linking the older section of the hospital to the newer section. This required manually opening the double doors (each door opens in an opposite direction) and then push the stretcher through, which was very onerous for staff. With the renovation, they simply swipe their identification badge; push a button and the doors open. 

So simple and such a big improvement!

 Knowing not every challenge can be resolved, another positive outcome of this experience was that a Manager and staff were able to communicate to the Senior Team about a possible improvement and it was recognized and honoured. And, in return, the Manager and staff of the unit took the time to write a note of appreciation to senior administration for listening to them and getting this done. Another way we show we are Caring People, Caring for People.

Registered Nurses Colleen Cadotte (L) and Kim Russell (R) say Thank You for the renovations to the Medicine Unit. 

Language of Caring

Recently I attended the first in a series of nine skill building workshops designed to “hard wire” skills that make our caring felt. During this session we learned how speaking from the heart can help people become less anxious. I think that’s important, coming to the hospital certainly increases anxiety even in the calmest of people. Being able to make our patients, their families and our coworkers feel less anxious while in a stressful situation is healthier for everybody!

When we speak from the head, people get valuable information, but they don’t feel our caring. Speaking from the heart will allow us to meet our patients’ health care needs and make our caring felt. People don’t care how much we know, until they know how much we care. Powerful words and a powerful lesson learned.

The next session is called ”The Practice of Presence”, I’m looking forward to that one and will tell you about it after I’ve had the chance to participate.

 Thanks for reading!

Quality Improvement Plan

The Excellent Care for All Act (ECFAA) requires that hospital organizations develop an annual Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) for the following fiscal year and make that plan available to the public. The QIPs are an opportunity to highlight an organization's commitment to delivering high quality health care; creating a positive patient experience; ensuring that it is responsive and accountable to the public; holding its executive team accountable for its achievement; and being transparent. The Professional Practice Team, in collaboration with the Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) team, and Quippy, our mascot, provided two-hour education sessions throughout the months of February and March to every Registered Nurse and Registered Practical Nurse at Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA). The QIP Education focused on Pressure Ulcers (bedsores), Falls, Early Warning Scoring System (a system used to identify subtle changes in a patient’s condition) and Clostridium-difficile (C-diff), the most common cause of infectious diarrhea in hospital. CKHA is fortunate to have committed, dedicated and caring staff that are always looking for ways to improve care for their patients. As an “Exceptional Community Hospital, Setting Standards - Exceeding Expectations” we recognize there is always room for improvement. The recent QIP education allowed nurses to share knowledge, develop awareness, engage and empower staff, and, as a result, to raise the bar of service excellence. At times, the sessions were lively, interactive and motivating for the participants and the facilitators. Each and every staff member has contributed to the success of CKHA’s Quality Improvement Plan for 2011/2012. Inpatient Satisfaction has increased to 70%, Pressure Ulcers on Continuing Care have decreased by 3%, Central Line infection rate continues to be zero (for a total of 42 months) and there has been two quarters where the C-diff Infection rate at Sydenham was zero. Congratulations to everyone… YOU have made a difference!

Celebrating Housekeeping Week – June 4-8, 2012

June 4-8 is International Housekeeping Week, a time to recognize Chatham-Kent Health Alliance’s (CKHA) housekeeping team.

They are dedicated hard working professionals who maintain a safe, clean and healthy environment at CKHA on a daily basis. Their contributions to the hospital and the work they do everyday is important in keeping our surroundings safe for patients, families and staff.

At CKHA we know that we can depend on our housekeeping staff. Together, they are a very important 90 of the 1300 reasons why CKHA is An Exceptional Community Hospital … Setting Standards – Exceeding Expectations.

 Learn more about one of our housekeeping staff, how she makes a difference to CKHA and about what being a part of CKHA means to her (click on the people icon): http://www.ckha.on.ca/strategicplan/people.html. 

Please take a moment this week to express your appreciation to our housekeeping staff. I’m proud to have them as a part of my team!