HEALTHY HABITS
May 6-12 is National Nurses Week TEAM RADY Celebrating Nurses
N URSES ARE THE HEART—AND OFTEN THE EYES, EARS AND HANDS—OF THE HOSPITAL. These skilled and compassionate health care heroes play a vital role in nearly every facet of Hospital operations. From the bedside to the board room, Rady Children’s nurses are committed to providing exceptional care for kids in the San Diego community and beyond. “When people come to Rady Children’s, they’ll be meeting ‘Team Rady.’ Whether they go to one of our urgent care centers, our emergency department, a surgical department or a clinic, they’re going to meet a friendly face, somebody who wants to help them, who wants to listen and understand what they’re going through and be a hand to hold along the way,” says Lindsey Ryan, PhD, Associate Chief Nursing Officer at Rady Children’s. “We pride ourselves on getting to know our patients and families and establishing strong relationships with them while making sure that they’re able to get the care they need.” Bedside nurses are often the first person a patient sees when they wake up and the last person they see before bedtime. At Rady Children’s, typical nursing shifts are 12 hours and start out with a huddle where nurses from the previous shift fill them in on the day’s happenings and share any team shout outs
like birthdays, anniversaries or compliments from patients or families. Nurses are then briefed on their specific patients. After an introduction, nurses look over the patient to make sure that what they’re seeing matches what the other person reported, double check and dispense medications and talk with the patient’s family to see if there are any concerns that need to be addressed or escalated their doctor. Nurses at Rady Children’s also work with other staff members to coordinate care. “We collaborate with a lot of different disciplines throughout our shift,” says Dr. Ryan. “Our child life specialists help prepare our patients and families for any procedures that may be happening and help our kiddos process what’s going on during the hospitalization. We also have our social work team who help us navigate the hospital course. We have our providers who are helping direct the plan of care in conjunction with our nursing staff. Our respiratory therapists, physical therapists and occupational therapists also work with our patients and families. We make sure we’re all working toward the same goals, and are communicating consistently with our patients and their families.” And much in the same way nurses make patients feel welcome, the Hospital takes steps to make new nurses feel welcome, too. Rady Children’s has launched a
10 HEALTHY KIDS MAGAZINE SPRING 2024
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