news views Fall 2016
A Publication of the Department of Nursing and Patient Care Services University of Maryland Medical Center
Lisa Rowen’s Rounds:
The Power of One Voice The email from Arlene Davis, RN, BSN, OCN, was brief but unforgettable. Arlene, a nurse coordinator in the Stoler Pavilion, shared a poignant story about how our lack of wheelchairs at the main entrance negatively impacted a patient’s and family’s experience.
Lisa Rowen, DNSc, RN, CENP, FAAN Chief Nurse Executive University of Maryland Medical System Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services & Chief Nursing Officer University of Maryland Medical Center Associate Professor University of Maryland School of Nursing
Arlene wrote: “My patient, with increasing pain from bone metastases, was due for a bone scan. The patient arrived to the main entrance of the hospital at 10:10 AM for a 10:30 AM appointment in Nuclear Medicine. The patient’s family was told there were no wheelchairs available, and there were four patients already waiting for a wheelchair. We had no wheelchairs available in the Stoler Pavilion or Infusion Center. I told the family I would look for a chair. When I found a wheelchair and returned to the main entrance the patient had already attempted to walk to Nuclear Medicine because of her worry about being late to her appointment. I went to Nuclear Medicine with the chair, as I knew the patient was having increasing difficulty with weight-bearing due to hip and leg pain. The patient’s brother had actually carried her down the hall to Nuclear Medicine, because she was not able to tolerate walking.” I read the final sentence with tears in my eyes. This is not the kind of experience we want for any patient or family. In fact, it’s hard to even imagine this scenario but it was true. Arlene’s story was heartbreaking and put names and faces to our failure to provide something more than reasonable for our patient; a simple wheelchair. It was simply unacceptable. Arlene’s email was a powerful voice that asked for change and a call for action. And I’m happy to report that we have taken action and made change. A multidisciplinary team formed to address the first floor wheelchair challenge, led by Marianne RowanBraun, MSM, vice president for patient experience and
David Hunt, MSN, MBA, RN, vice president for patient access and emergency services. The team conducted an immediate assessment of the wheelchair situation and measured the number of available wheelchairs at any given time on the first floor. We learned we had only 27 available wheelchairs to accommodate patients at the Main, Gudelsky, and Trauma entrances. The goal was to make rapid change and a positive impact as quickly as possible. Instead of spending months collecting data on the exact number of wheelchairs we needed, we used our collective wisdom and agreed to increasing our first floor wheelchair fleet continued on page 6.
The Coordinated Care Center
at the University of Maryland Medical Center
Zina Kendell, BSN, MSA, LNHA, Program Manager, Transitional Care Coordination Program and Dale Rose, DHA, MS, RN, CENP, PCMH CCE, Director of Ambulatory Nursing
MISSION: To provide individualized intensive, comprehensive, coordinated ambulatory care for vulnerable (high-risk, rising-risk) patients; to facilitate their medical and social stabilization, and their ability to obtain ongoing care in standard primary care and subspecialty care medical homes.
To holistically address our patients’ needs to improve health and well-being through coordinated medical services, with emphasis on social determinants affecting health outcomes.
VISION:
Service Overview The Coordinated Care Center (C3) opened its doors on September 13, 2016. It is staffed with an expanded cohort of clinical support designed to provide diseasespecific primary and specialty care for patients until they are stable enough to be cared for in the traditional patient-centered primary or specialty care medical home. The medical home is a model for achieving primary care excellence so that care is received in the right place, at the right time, and in the manner that best suits a patient’s needs. Patients’ complex medical needs are met through high-quality primary care with access to more frequent and longer medical visits according continued on page 8.