Shining the Light on St. Michael’s Best Practice Spotlight Organization Achievements This annual newsletter highlights some of St. Michael’s best practice achievements with examples of how our nursing teams are implementing, evaluating and sustaining best practice guidelines (BPGs) into standardized processes that support evidence-based nursing practice.
From Champion to Manager: How experience leading change initiatives shaped mentorship and support for BPG Nurse Champions A unit culture that fosters professional development and empowers nurses and teams to lead change initiatives is an environment Vasuki Paramalingam is accustomed. It was an environment she wanted to expand while interim Clinical Leader Manager (CLM) for Inpatient Mobility (Orthopedics/Neurology/ENT). Vasuki’s permanent role is Clinical Nurse Educator for the Trauma Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit (TNICU).
October to March 2018, Inpatient Mobility implemented the following BPG initiatives with support from Vasuki and the BPG Mentor Lory Lee who was the unit’s Clinical Nurse Educator.
Vasuki began her nursing career at St. Michael’s as a Registered Nurse in TNICU. As a staff nurse Vasuki Championed many unit level quality initiatives. As a Clinical Nurse Educator in TNICU she became a BPG Mentor, and supported her nursing colleague’s and team to implement best practices. “Through these wonderful professional growth opportunities, I developed a strong appreciation for the impact BPGs have on staff, patients and, families” said Vasuki.
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RN to RN Bedside shift-to-shift Transfer of Accountability (TOA): BPG Nurse Champion, Maria Fernanda Bacerra Gomez, created a new nursing Kardex to reflect the components of TOA and safety checks.
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PACU to Inpatient Mobility TOA: This initiative was initially started two years ago by BPG Nurse Champions Louie Juanchu and Peter Quan Van Lee. BPG Nurse Champion Jennifer Wong, lead the development of a new tool. The tool is now part of the patients chart.
When Vasuki became interim CLM for Inpatient Mobility in August 2017 a priority for her was to encourage and motivate the unit to lead new BPG initiatives to further enhance nursing practice and quality care. “When I asked the nurses if they wanted to be part of this opportunity, I had a large number of nurses who were interested and came forward –it was amazing!” said Vasuki. From
1. Falls Prevention: BPG Nurse Champion, Denis Aleynikov, implemented intentional rounding on nights. This led to an impressive reduction in falls during the night.
As interim CLM, Vasuki reflected on her own experience implementing quality initiatives and this guided her on how she could effectively support the BPG Nurse Champions, BPG mentor and team. “When I championed quality initiatives at the unit level, I appreciated the support and guidance from the leadership Continued on page 3
BPSO stands for Best Practice Spotlight Organization, the designation awarded by the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) to organizations upon successful implementation, evaluation and knowledge translation of established nursing best practice guidelines (BPGs). St. Michael’s has been a proud designated BPSO since 2012.