CHI Health St. Francis Hospital Emergency Department
Grand Island, Nebraska
CHI Health St. Francis Hospital Emergency Department
Francis Hospital emergency department team recognized a need to enhance
pediatric pain management strategies to ensure optimal comfort and minimize
distress for its young patients. A comprehensive, multi-pronged improvement plan was implemented that included nursing education and training, creation of pediatric comfort carts with age-appropriate distraction toys and utilization of parental support. These measures helped decrease the time from arrival to nursing intervention for pain to less than 30 minutes, a 50 percent reduction compared with baseline data.
The 26-bed ED also worked to reduce blood culture contamination for nurse
collected draws, which had reached a high of almost 6 percent. A detailed competency was developed for aseptic collection of BC specimens from a peripheral intravenous start with a goal of reducing the contamination rate to less than 2 percent. ED nursing staff were trained using didactic information and return demonstration, and monthly continual feedback was given to each nurse on technique and contamination rates. Within 18 months of this implementation, blood culture contamination rates for nurses dropped to 1.9 percent and have consistently remained below the industry target.
pediatric pain management strategies to ensure optimal comfort and minimize
distress for its young patients. A comprehensive, multi-pronged improvement plan was implemented that included nursing education and training, creation of pediatric comfort carts with age-appropriate distraction toys and utilization of parental support. These measures helped decrease the time from arrival to nursing intervention for pain to less than 30 minutes, a 50 percent reduction compared with baseline data.
The 26-bed ED also worked to reduce blood culture contamination for nurse
collected draws, which had reached a high of almost 6 percent. A detailed competency was developed for aseptic collection of BC specimens from a peripheral intravenous start with a goal of reducing the contamination rate to less than 2 percent. ED nursing staff were trained using didactic information and return demonstration, and monthly continual feedback was given to each nurse on technique and contamination rates. Within 18 months of this implementation, blood culture contamination rates for nurses dropped to 1.9 percent and have consistently remained below the industry target.