CREATIVE INNOVATIONS Nurses bring expertise to new discharge unit WELLSTAR NORTH FULTON MEDICAL CENTER The problem of emergency department overcrowding was addressed by creating a nurse-staffed discharge unit that’s increasing efficiency and decreasing bottlenecks.
Emergency department (ED) patients who have been treated and given discharge orders are sometimes kept in the ED due to transportation issues, or because family members haven’t arrived to take them home. To remedy that, Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center created a six-bed discharge unit. The new unit is staffed with a dedicated transporter and three North Fulton RNs, Lisa Williams, Heidi Kluesner and Kathryn Myric, who also helped launch the initiative. The new protocol is limited to patients who have scheduled transportation, are not experiencing certain infections and are not in hospice. Extended ED stays contribute to crowding, as well as poor patient outcomes and a less positive patient experience. Also, having a dedicated area for patients to wait means that acute beds can be opened sooner. Getting comfortable with the new arrangement proved challenging for some nurses who were
accustomed to controlling the discharge process and the admission timeframe. Once they realized that the new process decreased their workload, the process became standard. The new unit is meeting stated goals. About four months after it opened, more than 60% of acute care discharges passed through the discharge unit, and 43% of discharges were transferred there, or were discharged by 2 pm. n
50% reduction in time from bed request to bed assigned in FY24 versus FY23
4,140+ ED boarding hours saved in FY24, with an average of 12 hours per day saved
TEAMWORK Nurses share Windy Hill Orthopedic success at national gathering WELLSTAR WINDY HILL Nurses’ presentations on superior care earn recognition at prestigious industry event.
Windy Hill Total Joint Program team members presented award-winning posters at this year’s National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses (NAON) congress. Rhonda Brunner, RN, Nurse Manager Surgical Services, and Amanda Hill, BSN, ONC, RN, Total Joint RN Coordinator, presented Going for Gold! A Retrospective Review of Our Total Joint Program’s Journey for Advance Certification . Their poster won first place in the ambulatory surgery center category. Another presentation by Amanda, Dear Future Drivers , a letter
to new nurse coordinators or those starting a new program, placed third overall in the leadership category. Amanda was also invited to share her experience as a first-time congress participant on the NAON podcast, No Bones About It . She considered it “an awesome opportunity to shine light on the amazing work Windy Hill’s Total Joint Program is doing.” Windy Hill is one of only three programs in the state to hold the Advance Certification for Total Knee and Hip Replacements from the Joint Commission. n
Scan code below to listen to NAON podcast, No Bones About It
20 | WELLSTAR HEALTH SYSTEM
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