STPH on Pathway to Excellence

This story appears in the Winter 2014 issue of Heart to Heart, which can be found online by clicking here.

COVINGTON - A positive nursing environment isn’t just good for nurses. It’s also vital to patient health and safety. A 2012 study in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship added new evidence on that point, concluding that nurses in positive environments are more likely to identify and prevent medication errors before patients are potentially harmed.

It’s a finding that resonates with the commitment to nursing excellence at St. Tammany Parish Hospital, which is working to attain designation as a Pathway to Excellence hospital from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Just more than 100 of the nearly 5,000 hospitals in the United States are designated as Pathway to Excellence facilities. STPH will apply for the designation in 2014.

To apply, hospitals must submit detailed documentation that shows they meet 12 standards concerned crucial to an ideal nursing environment.  The standards include providing nurses with opportunities for professional development and visible nursing leadership.

Shared governance is another pillar of nursing at hospitals that achieve the Pathway to Excellence designation. It also lies at the heart of STPH nursing.

The term refers to the role nurses play in shaping patient care. Under STPH’s shared-governance model, nurses representing four divisions of the hospital meet regularly to analyze and improve bedside care.

Nurses and other members of the clinical staff are encouraged to research emerging best practices and report back to the shared-governance team, said Lacylynn Mcgehee RN, a surgery nurse and champion of the Pathway to Excellence process. The team then decides whether STPH should adopt the practice as a clinical protocol.

The idea is to provide an organized way for nurses to shape the care they provide while ensuring that care is backed by research, said Kerry Milton RN MHA, chief nursing officer.

“It brings value to nursing to know that what you do has evidence behind it,” Milton said. It also means “nurses drive care,” added Diana Brovold RN MSN director of women’s and children’s services.

The application process requires months of carefully documenting hospital procedures. However, the rigorous process has validated STPH’s existing practices in determining they are in step with ANCC standards, Brovold said.

Taking a close look at every aspect of the nursing environment provides another opportunity for further discussion and improvement, Milton said.

The Pathway to Excellence recognition would also provide STPH with another chance to celebrate its nurses.

“We know we’re great, and we want the community to know that, too,” Brovold said.

A full-service acute care facility committed to providing world-class healthcare and the latest technology, St. Tammany Parish Hospital delivers today’s life-improving procedures with the utmost care to area residents with emphasis on wellness, preventive care and disease management close to home. STPH is a self-supporting not-for-profit community hospital; it receives no tax funding. STPH.org