May 2005
 Resource Nurses: Lending a Hand
More than a year ago, executives at Johns Hopkins Bayview
Medical Center in Baltimore brainstormed on ways to help with the problem of
running overcrowded emergency rooms more smoothly. The result was the creation
of a new position at the hospital-a critical care resource nurse who primarily
would help patients in emergency care, but could also be sent to help in other
areas of the hospital, if needed. This "floating" nurse would provide overall
relief to other nurses suffering from patient overload, thus boosting employee
retention, said Andy Magalee, the hospital's director of nurse staffing and
resource management.
"They can work in the critical and most intense area of the
hospital and also in other areas," Magalee said. "They go where the fire needs
to be put out."
The position was implemented in May 2004. Since then, things
have been running with improved efficiency and employees at the hospital have
been taking notice.
For example, the nursing staff was flooded with praise after
one incident in which an elderly patient in one of the hospital's clinics
needed to be transferred to a critical care area, but all the beds were full. A
resource nurse, Krista Harkum, was dispatched and cared for the patient-who had
an extensive medical history-until the hospital was ready to make the transfer.
Harkum was able give her full attention to the unstable patient, something no
other medical care provider would have been able to do at the time.
Because the resource nurses respond to emergency situations
all over the hospital, all of the employees are happier.
"It provides the floor that they go to a tremendous amount
of relief around the critical event that's occurring on the floor," Magalee
said. "Many times, the individual employees have two patients already and more
knocking on the door. For those people, it's a retention factor, because they
feel like there's some relief [by the resource nurse]."
Also the resource nurses enjoy the job because it provides
excitement and an opportunity to work in different areas.
"Those nurses are usually very highly skilled, and they like
the variation," Magalee said. "The variety of floating is an attraction."
When the position was created, Harkum was offered one of the
jobs because she had previous intensive care unit and emergency room
experience. The job requires two years of critical care experience in addition
to being a registered nurse.
Hopkins Bayview has four nurses who have the specific title
of critical care resource nurse. Magalee said the hospital usually tries to
schedule one on duty per day, per shift.
A typical day for a critical care resource nurse at Hopkins
Bayview starts in the ER, where the nurse will manage patients and evaluate
what actions need to be taken. The nurses help transfer patients to a specific
unit or can take them to get CAT scans or MRIs, if necessary. If the nurse is
not needed in the emergency room, he or she will walk around the hospital to
let everyone know they are available to help, Harkum said.
Harkum said that resource nurses must possess several
qualities. “You need to be able to think critically, prioritize, be
organized, and be a good communicator,” she said.
Other hospitals sometimes have admissions nurses who do
administrative work to help with patient flow in the emergency room, but
usually do not have resource nurses trained in critical care.
Magalee said that Hopkins Bayview has an opening for an
admissions nurse, but since the critical care resource nurse position seems to
be working very well, officials are considering replacing the admissions nurse
with another resource nurse who will help with the high volume of ER patients.
“I know that the ER staff absolutely loves the resource
nurses because our patients just don’t stop coming in,” Harkum said
Contact:
Andy Magalee
Director of Nursing
Staffing and Resource Mangement
410-550-0190 (Back to the top)
 Maryland Hospitals Adopting Concierge
Services for Busy Employees
Traditionally, concierge services are provided by hotels to
assist their guests with running errands or making reservations and
recommendations.
But now workplaces, including some Maryland hospitals, are
attempting to improve employee satisfaction and retention by offering
concierge-type services to their employees—and many workers are happy to
save time on necessary but time-consuming errands such as car washing, ordering
flowers, or finding tickets to an event.
MedStar Health, which is comprised of four Maryland
hospitals and three Washington, D.C. hospitals, contracts with Baltimore-based
Business Health Services (BHS) for its concierge services. The company, which
calls itself an employee assistance program and “workplace wellness”
vendor, offers a program called “Convenience Care Services.”
Through this program, employees can request information on
anything from booking air fare to party planning to pet care.
Wendy Marshall, director of Corporate Benefits at MedStar
Health, said that offering convenience services to employees is beneficial to
everyone involved, since it simultaneously offers help to the workers and
increases productivity and satisfaction.
“It gives a clear message to the employee that MedStar
Health does care about them and does understand that they have a life outside
of work,” Marshall said.
In addition to everyday tasks such as arranging for a
baby-sitter, making restaurant reservations, or booking hotels, employees also
can ask for help with more unusual requests. Requests for information on
scholarships and financial aid for employees’ college-bound children are
very popular.
After receiving an employee request, BHS care coordinators
send a packet of at least three referrals or options to the employee within 12
hours by e-mail or snail mail. Then they work together to connect the employee
with the service and make sure he or she is completely satisfied.
MedStar pays a base fee to receive BHS services for its
employees and their household members, but then the employees must pick up the
charge for the actual service, such as the bill for concert tickets or payment
for a flight.
Other Maryland hospitals offer different types of concierge
services. At Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, when employees or
patient family members need a car wash or dry cleaning services, they are
offered these services.
“Our employees really love that,” said Earnie
Standley, the director of plant operations for the 102-bed pediatric
rehabilitation hospital in Baltimore.
For example, every Thursday employees can get their cars
washed, waxed or detailed for prices ranging from $15 to $100 while they are
working.
Linda Zeitzoff, a nurse practitioner at the hospital, has
used this service and likes its convenience. “I work Monday through
Friday, and sometimes I get here as early as 8 a.m. and leave at 6 p.m. Most
car washes are closed after it gets dark and on weekends you have to sit in
line for over an hour,” Zeitzoff said.
Also, dry cleaning services are available to employees at
Mt. Washington. They can drop their clothes off on Mondays and they will be
sent out, cleaned, and returned on Thursday. The hospital also provides the
services of a notary public to employees. This comes in handy to the
patients’ families as well.
The hospital created on-site car washing and a dry cleaning
service mostly to benefit its staff members, so that they wouldn’t have to
rush away from their jobs to do errands during breaks, Standley said.
“It’s a lifestyle perk for our employees,”
Standley said. “One of the reasons we initiated all this is we want them
to be focused on good patient care.”
Also, Standley said that providing these services allows
employees to take their minds off errands and use their free time to do things
they enjoy, like spending time with their families.
Contact:
Earnie Standley
Mt. Washington
Pediatric Hospital
Director of Plant Operations
410-578-5213
(Back to the top)
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