August 03, 2007

A Healthy Partnership

Nurses complete St. Ambrose-Genesis program to improve critical thinking

DAVENPORT, IOWA - Each workday, nurses make many crucial decisions to deliver safe and effective care to their patients.

Now, a second group of Genesis Medical Center nurses has completed a program designed to increase their clinical reasoning skills and cultural sensitivity toward their patients and fellow co-workers.

The program is a collaboration of St. Ambrose University and Genesis Medical Center that is funded through a five-year, $723,600 U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration grant. The grant, awarded in August 2005, enabled St. Ambrose to establish a 12-credit certificate program in clinical reasoning for associatelevel GMC nurses in targeted patient care areas.

The program aims to improve patient care while also increasing nursing retention and satisfaction. "By gaining skills in critical thinking at the bedside, this program should ultimately improve patient outcomes,” says Mary Clarke, Ph.D., R.N., director of nursing practice, research and innovation at Genesis, Davenport. “This program also puts nurses on track to complete a bachelor of science in nursing, which additionally impacts the quality of care provided to Genesis patients.”

“This program is a perfect example of how a partnership between a university and the health care industry benefits all,” says Delores Hilden, Ph.D., R.N., who is professor and chair of the St. Ambrose Nursing Department.

There were 32 Genesis nurses who graduated from the program on Thursday. Graduates like Susana Reeves, R.N., who works on the Pulmonary Unit at the West Central Park campus, say the program has helped.

“This has been a great opportunity,” she says. “As long as I’m at Genesis, I always want to be improving my skills and doing a good job for my patients.”

Reeves has been a nurse at Genesis for 15 years, and the majority of the time she has worked on the Pulmonary Unit. “I love touching peoples’ lives. It’s very rewarding to see patients come to us on a ventilator and later leave our hospital walking and talking and going on with their lives.”

Many of her patients have serious health issues, and the program has helped her to look at their broader treatment picture.

“The program has helped me look beyond the acute disease and take care of my patients as a whole person,” Reeves says. “It requires involving different disciplines and making sure you consider every aspect of their care.

“For example, ventilator patients come to us in acute respiratory failure, and our goal is to wean them off the ventilator. That involves many aspects – from working to make sure their nutrition isn’t compromised to involving physical therapy so they will have the strength to get off the ventilator. It requires looking at their spiritual needs and planning their discharge from the hospital to ensure they have support at home.”

Enhancing nursing care

Enhanced critical thinking skills can only lead to enhanced nursing excellence, Clarke said. “Nurses have to think on their feet as they’re taking care of patients. Yes, they have orders from which to work. But sometimes, they have a gut feeling or intuition that something isn’t right with their patient. This course helps nurses fine-tune their criticalthinking skills.

“In addition, these nurses now have 12 hours of college credit toward their bachelor’s degree.”

Increasing the number of nurses with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing is a goal at Genesis, Davenport – the first and only hospital in the Quad Cities to be designated as a Magnet nursing facility. The honor recognizes the hospital for providing the very best in nursing care. Less than 3 percent of U.S. hospitals have achieved Magnet recognition.

Recent graduates of the critical thinking program are: Patricia Beaver; Jennifer Marie Boyd; Dee Brand; Brenda Chacon; Heather Claussen; Sara Daily; Kimberley Donald; Rachel Douglas; Sharron Gephart; Doreen Glynn; Jeffrey Gomez; April Hedrick; Susan Hein; Heather Himes; Denise Johnson; Marilyn Kremer; Melissa Larson; Jennifer Mirfield; Brooke Mitchell; Amy Ortega; Susana Reeves; Robin Roberts; Patricia Said; Linda Schlapkohl; Kelly Schmidt; Joanne Schwartz; Keri Shelton; Carol Wakeland; Tara Weston; Paula Wikle; Deborah Wright and Lynda Verhelst.

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