FY12 Annual Report - St. John Health System

Empowered to Lead
Nursing Annual Report FY2012

2
Our nursing vision
We are a community of nurses devoted to creating a healing environment through therapeutic presence and relationship-based care.
Thanks to our many colleagues
Teamwork is everything. St. John Providence nurses are part of an extraordinary team
of healthcare professionals. We are able to provide the best nursing care because of the
unparalleled support we receive each and every day. Thank you to our esteemed peers and
colleagues. We are grateful for all that you do.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Our mission, vision, values ............................................3
To our nursing team ...................................................4-5
Transforming leadership .............................................6-7
High-reliability organization .....................................8-13
Patient experience ..................................................14-19
Education and innovation ....................................20 - 23
Living our values ....................................................24-25
Honoring clinical excellence ........................................26
President’s message ....................................................27

Our hospitals
St. John Providence Health System is one of the largest providers of inpatient care in southeast Michigan and one
of the largest employers in metro Detroit. We provide comprehensive prevention, primary care and advanced
treatment programs in more than 125 office practices and six hospitals spanning five counties.
Our mission
St. John Providence Health System, as a Catholic health ministry, is committed to providing spiritually centered holistic care
which sustains and improves the health of individuals in the communities we serve, with special attention to the poor and
vulnerable.
Our vision
St. John Hospital and Medical Center, Detroit
Providence Hospital, Southfield
Providence Park Hospital, Novi
St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital, Warren and Madison Heights
St. John River District Hospital, East China Twp.
Brighton Center for Recovery, Brighton
Our passion for healing calls us to cultivate trust, advocate wellness and transform healthcare.
Our values
Service of the Poor: Generosity of spirit, especially of
persons most in need
Reverence: Respect and compassion for the dignity
and diversity of life
Integrity: Inspiring trust through personal leadership
Wisdom: Integrating excellence and stewardship
Creativity: Courageous innovation
Dedication: Affirming the hope and joy of our ministry
3

4
To Our Nursing Team
Maryann Barnes
Maria Strom
Please join us in honoring the nurses across St. John Providence Health System in our first annual report. As we reflect on the
past year, there are many accomplishments to celebrate, and the following pages highlight just some of them. You will see
examples of teamwork, successful projects, awards and points of pride shared by our community of nurses from across the
health ministry. Although they reflect the uniqueness of our clinical sites and specialties, they also demonstrate our shared vision
and philosophy of nursing at St. John Providence Health System. We cannot possibly hope to capture all of our nurses’ amazing
achievements and activities, but here are a few examples that were driven by our strategic plan for nursing:
• We committed to a shared vision and philosophy of nursing.
• We selected Relationship-Based Care and Jean Watson’s Caring Theory as foundational to our work.
• We developed a Shared Governance structure.
• We revised the structure and process for performance evaluation.
• We implemented pilot projects for purposeful rounding and bedside reporting.
• We began unit-based nursing research driven by staff nurses.
In the dynamic environment of health care, we are challenged to be exceptional stewards of our resources while delivering
quality patient care. Daily, we feel, see and hear the commitment of our nurses to clinical excellence, quality and safety while
delivering spiritually centered holistic care.
We are deeply grateful to work alongside the outstanding nurses at St. John Providence Health System to provide exemplary care
for our patients and look forward to travelling the path of excellence together in the future.
Sincerely,
Maryann Barnes, RN, MS, HNB-BC Maria Strom, RN
Chief Nursing Officer, East Region Chief Nursing Officer, West Region

Our nursing philosophy
Rooted in the mission of St. John Providence Health System, we, as compassionate nurses, believe in:
• The importance of self care.
• Committing to uplifting, supporting and caring for one another.
• Collaborating as equal members of the care team to advocate for our patients and society.
• Respecting each other’s knowledge base, experience, and our contributions to the healing environment.
• The commitment to promoting professionalism through leadership, education, coaching, mentoring and authentic communication.
• Creating a culture of safety for patients, families, our team and ourselves through empowerment and accountability.
• Incorporating intuition and anticipation in co-creating an individualized plan of care with the patient and the family.
• A professional, unconditional, therapeutic presence recognizing and cherishing the uniqueness and value of each patient, family
member and each other.
• Creating a healing environment integrating the art and science of nursing.
• Setting the standard as a leader in the community by participating in advancement of the profession through contributions to
practice, education, research and evidence-based care.
5

6
Transforming Leadership through Shared Governance
Professional Nurse Practice Councils support autonomy and accountability
Shared Governance at St. John Providence Health System ensures that nurses’ voices are heard, their input is valued, and nursing
practice is supported. Professional Nurse Practice Councils at each hospital , below, are led by staff nurses and composed of staff
nurse representatives with advisors from education and leadership. The Councils focus on issues that affect professional nursing
practice and patient care. Members work collaboratively to improve safety, quality, efficiency, and their practice environment. Since
professional development is an expectation for council members, classes are offered with discussion groups and journal clubs to
enhance their collective leadership skills.
Empowering nurses on every unit
Unit Practice Councils provide a structure for all members of the direct-care team to have a voice in decision-making. The goal is to
empower nurses at the bedside to make improvements in their practice environment at the unit level. The members work together to
translate accepted principles into action plans, including:
• Bringing the principles of relationship-based care to life in daily practice.
• Managing changes in assignments, job duties, communication, reporting, documentation, intentional caring behaviors,
self care, work environment, schedules and continuity of care.
• Living our commitments to each other as colleagues.
St. John Hospital and Medical Center St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital St. John River District Hospital Providence/Providence Park Hospitals
“I like the patient population that I care for, and I like the environment here. I truly love my role as a preceptor and teaching new employees.
It keeps me learning and growing.”
—Cynthia Piwowar, Providence

Providence/
Providence Park Hospitals
C. Baker
D. Binienda
A. Bowers
M. Brake
G. Brown
H. Enriquez-Chang
L. Chiesa
D. Daniels
M. Dombrowski
L. Fanfalone
A. Finney
A. Fox
J. Franks
J. Frederick
K. Gawronski
D. Hamel
T. Harrell
D. Hartley
B. Houze
L. Johns
K. Karnas
P. Kechan
L. Kitchen
A. Kote
E. Kovacs
J. Kroon
D. Kurth
S. Lahbiki
M. Leginza
J. Merwin
L. Michael
N. Michael
C. Murphy
S. Pedigo
K. Oranchak
B. Pietila
K. Pillitteri
A. Riley
D. Robertson
M. Sadler
K. Scheff
S. Sieben
D. Sinkovich
R. Steele
L. Stebbe
K. Teets
E. Theisen
A. Tronzo
T. Walker
Our Professional Nurse Practice Councils
St John Hospital and Medical Center
Karen Altea
Chris Bowman
David Brown
Marissa Brown
Vicki Boyce (Coach)
Onalee Corkum
Katie Delf
Erika Dries
Lori Emrich
Gino Fanazzo
Mary Fisher
Julie Gorczyca (Executive sponsor)
Maria Gibbons
Danielle Gwyn
Stephanie Halicki (Chair)
Delores Harris
Jackie Jamroz
Melissa Klauza
Lisa Hoeft Karastis
Alison Leich
Jill Lesperance
Mary Jo Mack
Julie McLaughlin
Jackie Michalowicz
Lauren Miller
Joyce Monts
Susan Passage
Rachel Peabody
LeaAnn Pugh (Co-chair)
Katherine Repp
Jennifer Cruz-Reyes
Claudia Rowland
Mary Stieber
Rosalind Tait
Kristin Trybus
MaryEllen Tsvetkoff
Angela Waszkiewicz
Debbie Wayne
Courtney Ziaja
Amy Zavala
Marion Zoss
St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital
Richard Aguiar
Amanda Bilot
Sue Bush
Tammy Cass
Jessica Crowley
Gail Fahey
Kimberly Foster
Anita Glaser
Renee Hoelzeman
Allysha Johnson
Tamara Khazbieva
Jessica Kondziolka
Lynda Lauer
Karen Lawrence
Sharon Lipnicki
Eileen Marrone
Susan Matthew
Barb Mitchell
Sandy Mondry
Donna Moran
Mary Nash
Cindy Pollack
Pat Renaud
Marisa Rhein
Melissa Roels
Amanda Smith
Kelly Shivers
Carolyn Stecher-Wood
Amelia Wilson
St. John River District Hospital
Amiee Nelson
Audrey Overpeck
Betty Holladay
Christine Tomaszewski
Jennifer Smith
Karen Recker
Katy Mccullough
Kelly Matthews
Marcie Walker
Theresa Brazier
7

8
Leading the way to a High-Reliability Organization
Healing without Harm by 2014 is an Ascension Health initiative aimed at eliminating preventable errors that cause serious injury or harm to our patients. Training began at all
St. John Providence hospitals in 2011 to teach safety principles, behaviors and error prevention techniques. This training, combined with daily interdisciplinary huddles, has
supported a culture change – one that is focused on consistently being proactive in identifying safety issues. Nursing adopted the principles in the training and supports an
environment that encourages associates to ask questions, voice concerns, listen to their gut and focus on the activity at hand.
Medication safety: check, check, and check again
St. John River District nurses partnered with pharmacy clinicians to improve patients’ understanding of their medications. After devising a method to determine when patients
are prescribed ‘new meds,’ the team compiled and defined the most common ‘new meds’ on index cards. Each card features the medication, common uses and most common
side effects. Nurses request automatic pharmacy consults when a drug lacks a card or in case of complicated patient conditions. Any admission related to a medication, such as
Coumadin toxicity, also warrants an automatic consult.
St John Hospital and Medical Center’s PNPC improved safety by developing a process and toolkit for minimizing interruptions during medication administration, and both were
piloted on 2 East, a surgical trauma unit. The toolkit contained a journal club article with discussion questions, suggested process changes, sets of key messages for nurses and
other staff, visual cues, and patient/family teaching points. Pre-intervention observation audits found that RNs were being interrupted almost once a minute during medication
administration (13 times during their medication administration, with an average time to pass medications at 15 minutes per patient). The PNPC’s efforts reduced the total time
to pass medications by three minutes per patient and decreased interruptions to one every 28 minutes. Based on the success of the 2 East pilot, the tool kit was rolled out to all
nursing units to improve medication safety.
Providence Hospital’s PNPC completed a project to improve scores for two domains on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey:
explanation of new medications and explanation of medication side effects. The PNPC coined a new acronym for the medication safety effort – M-PASS – explained in the box to
the right. Since the introduction of M-PASS, Providence Hospital’s HCAHPS scores for the indicated domains are beating targets and plans are in development to standardize and
emphasize the project at other hospitals.
“I stay at River District because I appreciate the value of having a strong community-based hospital. I live in this community, and our patients
receive personalized, high-quality care that’s the best available.”
— Kelly Matthews, St. John River District

A daily huddle at St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital.
M-PASS 8 times, 8 ways!
M-PASS stands for Medication, Purpose, Action, Side Effects, and Safety. Recognizing that people learn in different ways, Providence’s PNPC used multiple approaches to
convey the meaning behind M-PASS and the urgency around drug safety.
1. Teams started discussing the HCAHPS scores at daily huddles.
2. Medication teaching was added to the rounding checklist, and feedback to nurses became mandatory.
3. Medication information was made available on each unit in binders, the nursing newsletter News Notes, and on bulletin boards.
4. Nurses started playing the ‘telephone game,’ in which one nurse talks to two nurse co-workers, who in turn talk to two other nurse coworkers, and so forth.
5. Stickers were printed with ‘ALWAYS’ over an M-PASS background.
6. Completing an M-PASS presentation became mandatory for all existing nursing staff, and became a required portion of new nurse orientation.
7. “We Always” posters were posted and signed by all nursing team members on every unit.
8. Table tents in the cafeteria stated: “We Will Always”.
9

10
Leading the way to a High-Reliability Organization
Collaborative shift changes lead to safety improvements
Literature shows that every hand-off, whether from shift to shift or unit to unit, is a potential root cause for errors. Units at St. John Macomb-Oakland, Providence Park and
St. John Hospital and Medical Center began piloting a new process for conducting patient hand-offs at the bedside during shift changes. Supported by education and scripting,
the units began using new Standard Operating Procedures designed to address barriers that had been thwarting effective hand-offs and most importantly, actively include the
patient in the process. Key components of the new SOP included:
• Nurses would try to resolve their patients’ pain before the end of their shifts.
• A private brief, nurse-to-nurse report would precede
bedside reports. Bedside reports include goal setting with
each patient and last two to three minutes. Reports would
begin within 10 minutes of shift start.
• Nurses would turn their in-house phones off during bedside
reports. Calls would go to unit coordinators and patient
care technicians.
• It became mandatory to complete the white boards in all
patient rooms.
• Patients and family members would receive
information about the hand-off process.
• Certain blocks of time were designated as
protected time for nursing, with ‘no admissions’
and ‘no procedures.’
• Breaks would not occur in the hour prior to shift change.
Nurses meet at St. John Hospital and Medical Center.
“My colleagues have special qualities that make them great nurses. I am proud to call them my co-workers and friends.”
—Donna Moran, St. John Macomb-Oakland, Macomb Center

Advancing pressure ulcer prevention through teamwork and training
There has been a major focus on standardizing processes to prevent facility-acquired pressure ulcers throughout St. John Providence. The System’s wound-ostomy-continence
nurses share best practices, develop policies, protocols, and evaluate new evidence. Their work has led to a dramatic reduction in pressure ulcers.
Specifically at Providence, the Pressure Ulcer Prevention (PUP) Committee is chaired by a nurse manager and includes nursing representatives from wound, ostomy, and
continence as well as nurses from all units. Their key accomplishments for FY12 included:
• Hands-on mentoring and training on wound staging, products and proper patient positioning.
• A turn team became a Best Practice that was rolled out throughout all medical/surgical units.
• The revised system policy that included brief-free standards and guidelines for wound healing, prevention of skin breakdown, and nutritional needs was implemented.
• Unit skin rounds were launched to help nurses and patient care technicians position patients properly and identify, measure and stage pressure ulcers.
• New skin care products were introduced and specialized dressing became standard for certain high-risk patients to prevent skin breakdown.
• An Online Quick Guide was developed to provide information on various topics.
Providence’s PUP team.
Positive Trends
2.07
738
1.08
394
SJPHS TOTAL PRESSURE ULCERS
0.96
338
0.68
250
0.74
286
0.57
207
0.55
FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13
50
11

12
Leading the way to a High-Reliability Organization
An action plan to eliminate falls
Fall prevention and serious injuries related to falls comprise an area of significant focus for St. John Providence, Ascension Health, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services. SJP formed a Fall Prevention Task Force and local Fall Prevention Teams to standardize fall prevention interventions across the system. They have updated policies,
interventions, de-briefing tools, and data collection methods and implemented them at all hospitals. Their work is now being shared throughout Ascension Health as best practice.
At St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital, Macomb Center, two issues stood out as areas of focus: the majority of falls were occurring during elimination, and only 30 percent of
falls were documented in the electronic medical record. This immediately identified an opportunity to improve processes. Nursing collaborated with disciplines throughout the
hospital, including Environmental Services and Transportation, to form a hospital-wide multidisciplinary Falls Committee. The Macomb Center built a database that provides
greater insight into patterns and identifies trends that can contribute to falls. SJMOH PNPC members now review all falls with serious injury as part of their quality improvement
activities, and since launching these efforts in FY12, SJMOH has seen a reduction in falls and falls with serious injury by 27 percent.
St. John Macomb-Oakland, Oakland Center’s efforts over the last three years have also had a significant impact on the number of falls with serious injury. From 2010 to 2011,
injuries decreased by 50 percent and from August 2011 to September 2012 – a 14-month stretch – there were no falls with serious injury. This achievement is due to the constant
vigilance and hard work of the nursing staff in assessing patients and developing effective plans to keep them safe. Included in this work was assuring that patients understood
their plan of care and educating them about the risks of injury if they were to fall.
Preparing for a patient at St. John
Macomb-Oakland Hospital
Positive Trends
SJPHS TOTAL FALLS WITH SERIOUS INJURY
FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13
“I provide my patients as much bedside time as possible, anticipating their needs and generally making them feel that they are the most
important person in my day.”
—Eileen Marrone, St. John Macomb-Oakland, Macomb Center
0.137
52
0.133
50
0.129
47
0.132
51
0.105
42
0.092
35
0.043
4

Over 800 days without a fall with serious injury
With support from their PNPC, nurses at St. John River District, shown here, have partnered with the Emergency Department to identify all patients who are at risk for falls
before they are transferred for inpatient care. If patients are assessed to be impulsive, two bed alarms are activated to enhance safety. In addition to adopting new
performance standards, staff members exercise vigilant surveillance over high-risk patients. Their hard work resulted in a big milestone in FY12: a clean record for more than
two years with zero falls resulting in a serious injury.
13

14
Empowered to Improve the Patient Experience
A focus on call light response
The Seton Cardiac Unit Practice Council at Providence Hospital used Relationship-Based Care as the foundation for an effort to improve call light responses and their patients’
perceptions of their responses. A secondary goal was to reduce noise generated by call lights, another positive for patient satisfaction. The unit’s new Standard Operating
Procedure for call lights involved giving hospital phones to nurses and patient care technicians and asking patients to call them directly when needed. Staff wrote their names and
numbers on the white boards in the patients’ rooms at the beginning of each shift, and unit coordinators began answering call lights to address non-patient direct care issues.
Midway through FY12, an audit showed that, 92 percent of staff names and numbers were on the white boards. Among patients, over 75 percent said they used the phone over
the call light to talk with their nurse. In March 2012, when the team reinforced the SOP with a Call Me button-wearing campaign, results went to 100 percent in white board
completion and 95 percent in use of phone instead of call light. There’s been a big rise in patients who refer to their caregivers by name, and by the fourth quarter of FY12, scores
for staff responsiveness and call lights had increased 13 percent.
At Providence Park, the six-nurse Unit Practice Council on the Cardiac Specialty Care Unit wanted to improve call light response and identified shift changes and teamwork as
opportunities. They created a shift-to-shift reporting form to help make nursing staff more available to patients during hand-offs, and built team spirit through formal and informal
efforts. Between January and July 2012, the team decreased the daytime call light response rate from 2:39 minutes to 1:29 minutes, for a 44 percent decrease, and call light
response on the night shift went from 1:50 minutes to 32 seconds – a 71 percent improvement.
CSCU Team Tenets
• There is no ‘I’ in teamwork.
• Maintain a positive attitude.
• Be open-minded.
• Be aware of your surroundings.
• Take initiative to help others when you see they may be struggling.
• Be open to accepting help.
• Compliment/recognize great teamwork.
• Communicate and use courageous conversation.
A busy unit
at Providence
Hospital.
“Teamwork is such a huge part of nursing, and I see so much of that on my unit and throughout our hospital. There is a sense that we are all
working toward the same goal.”
—Daniell Gwyn, St. John Hospital and Medical Center

The only ER in
Michigan to receive
the 2011 Lantern Award
The emergency nursing team at
St. John Hospital and Medical
Center, some of whom are shown
here, was honored to be the first in
Michigan to receive The Lantern
Award by the Emergency Nurses
Association. This national award
recognizes emergency departments
that exemplify exceptional practice
and innovative performance in
leadership, practice, education,
advocacy and research. It’s a visible
symbol of an emergency department’s
commitment to quality, a healthy
work environment, evidence-based
practice and innovation in
emergency care.
The Emergency Departments at St. John Hospital and Medical Center, a Level II trauma center and heart failure center, and St. John Macomb-Oakland are
accredited as Chest Pain Centers by the Society for Chest Pain Centers. They join Providence Hospital as Primary Stroke Centers.
Treating over 330,000 emergency patients each year
Hospitals across the U.S. can average 12 to 24 hours to move patients to inpatient beds after they arrive in the emergency department. SJP hospitals are well below the national
average at 4 to 6.4 hours. They credit process improvement initiatives, teamwork throughout the hospitals, a robust six-month orientation program, and extensive classroom and
hands-on training as reasons for their success.
15

16
Empowered to Improve the Patient Experience
Caring for kids at St. John Hospital and Medical Center.
Support for parents just a
phone call away
Eastside Pediatrics, an after-hours urgent care
facility for children, invites pediatricians with
privileges at St. John Providence hospitals to
refer after-hours non-emergency parent calls to
a nurse-managed phone triage service. Phone
triage helps parents make appropriate care
choices when their children are ill or injured.
Sometimes the child needs to go to the
Emergency Department, but often they can get
the care they need at home. The Phone Triage
service provides competent, evidence-based
advice from registered pediatric nurses with
more than 150 years of combined experience
and extensive triage training. They undergo
ongoing quality monitoring to participate in the
service.
During FY12, the service took 7,441 phone calls
from nervous parents, advising 1,719 moms
and dads to seek immediate treatment for their
children, with 80 percent going to a SJP facility.
A surprising 77 percent of all callers learned that
their kids could be treated with home care and a
follow-up visit to their primary care physician.
“I create a healing environment for my patients by taking the time to listen and care, and treating them like they are my family.”
— Debra Kurth, Providence Park

NICU nursing at St. John Hospital and Medical Center
Comfort and respect for parents facing the saddest loss
Pregnancy loss, stillbirth or newborn death generates feelings of helplessness, shock, numbness and often low self-esteem for parents. Birthing nurses at St. John Hospital and
Medical Center, Providence and Providence Park Hospitals, and St. John Macomb-Oakland, Macomb make sure that they don’t struggle with these feelings alone. Many nurses are
certified in Resolve through Sharing, a bereavement course through Gunderson Lutheran Medical Foundation, and partner with Charlotte’s Wings and Tomorrow’s Child, sponsored by
the Perinatal Bereavement Coalition, to provide grief services. Nurses recognize that caring for these families takes a village and they oblige with a multifaceted approach.
• The hospitals’ Spiritual Care departments help parents hold naming ceremonies and work through decisions about the baby’s body.
• Various patient education brochures and books are available for mothers, fathers, siblings, and grandparents.
• Nurses protect mothers from unintended comments by posting special cards on their hospital room doors to alert people to their loss.
• Mothers sometimes keep their babies with them for hours after delivery, and nurses will often bathe the infants and dress them in garments provided by
charitable community groups.
• Mementos of the baby’s brief life are important keepsakes for the parents. Depending on a parent’s comfort level and desire, nurses take photos of the baby and give
the parents the baby’s hat or blanket. Parent gifts have included the baby’s footprints in plaster or a card, a tiny baby ring that can be worn on a necklace, ceramic
angels, a lock of hair, a teddy bear, and keepsake boxes painted by local artists.
• Perinatal loss ceremonies help families reach closure through prayer, readings, songs and the naming of all babies who died, engaging the parents as possible.
17

18
Empowered to Improve the Patient Experience
Leading the state in patient satisfaction
At the end of FY12, the number of patients who ranked 4-B at Providence Park Hospital “Excellent” for Overall Quality of Care placed the hectic medical-surgical unit in the
nation’s top 10 percent for patient satisfaction. The high scores for this 18-bed acuity-adaptable unit earned it 5-Star Performer status from Professional Research Consultants,
Ascension Health’s Patient Satisfaction surveyor, and made it the only inpatient unit recognized as a 5-Star performer in any of Ascension Health’s Michigan Ministries.
How did they do it?
The American Association of Critical Care Nurses has long recognized the importance of healthy
work relationships in delivering excellent patient care, and the comments from the nurses on 4B,
below, read like a case study.
“Everyone is professional on this unit. There are no cliques- no gossip is tolerated- no negative
comments about each other. We just don’t participate in that type of thing.”
“Everyone is different. That is what makes us a great team, because everyone is valued.”
“All departments are important, and we value them for what they do for us and our patients.
Food Service, Environmental Services, Security, the PAs – they are a part of our team.”
“We have the most talented and professional patient care technicians I’ve ever worked with.”
“Nurses always call patients by name, not room number, and they sit next to the patients to do
their teaching.”
Providence Park’s 4B nursing team
Discharge means graduation for rehab patients
For many rehabilitation patients, the transition back to their community after an inpatient stay can be riddled
with challenges and fear. In early 2012, the Cracchiolo Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit at St. John Hospital and
Medical Center formed a multidisciplinary team to revive an initiative they thought could help. Graduation Day
is the culmination of lots of hard work by patients and their families, and a big step toward functional
independence. On a rehab unit where the average length of stay is 10-15 days, patients and their loved ones
form special bonds with their caregivers, and Graduation Day is a celebration for all of them. Patients struggling
with acute injuries, illnesses, neurologic or congenital conditions, and/or significant physical disability look
ahead rather than behind, realizing that where there was once despair, there is now hope.
“I work here because of the commitment to patient-centered spiritual care. We always keep the patient at the center of what we do.”
—Ellen Theisen, Providence Park

Purposeful Hourly Rounding benefits patients and caregivers
In December 2011 a workgroup of staff nurses, Nurse Practice Council members, nursing leaders, case managers, and environmental services leaders from several St. John
Providence hospitals came together to develop a standardized process for patient rounds. National research shows that when rounds are purposeful, done hourly and follow a
structured process, there are improvements in patient satisfaction, patient safety and surprisingly, caregiver satisfaction. Purposeful Rounding was also considered a way to
improve SJP’s patient satisfaction ratings for responsiveness, nursing communication and pain management in the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Provider Scores.
The work group defined a process that ensured an introduction; addressed personal needs like elimination, pain control, positioning, access to the call light and needed
possessions; encouraged nutritional intake; assessed the safety of the environment; and required the caregiver to ask one final time before leaving the room whether the patient
needed anything. Pilots on two units at St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital’s Macomb Center, followed by three units at Providence Hospital, generated gains in the leading
indicators: decreased call light use, decrease in falls, and positive feedback from patients. Success continued with the improvement of HCAHPS scores on the pilot units, and
PHR will be implemented throughout SJP.
PHR encourages nurses to be more proactive in their management of patient care. It supports ongoing purposeful
contact with patients for a mutually safe and meaningful experience. Patient responses, like those below, reflect
positively on the common themes of partnership, anticipation, safety and caring.
“I feel like a member of the team because they tell me what they are doing and thinking – they include me.”
“They ask me for feedback about when I want things done. We plan together”
“They do things differently on this floor than on others. They write things on that white board so I know.”
“I feel safe because people are checking on me frequently.”
“I haven’t needed to use my call light at all.”
“I have never had such great care.”
Several nurses at Providence and
St. John Macomb-Oakland
filmed a video in FY12
touting the benefits of PHR.
19

20
Leading through Education and Innovation
St. John Providence Nurse Educators convened in January 2012 to develop a strategic work plan to standardize Nursing Education. Standardization would promote efficiency,
maximize resources and ensure that all nurses across the health system receive education using a consistent approach. Using feedback from nurse focus groups, the educators
developed a plan around the areas that would have the most impact on nursing associates and the Nursing Education department. Their focus was on education that would be
consistent from site to site, current, easily retrievable and attainable, just in time and efficient.
The Charge Nurse Workshop provides upcoming nursing leaders the theories and practical methods needed to face daily challenges in today’s healthcare environment. The
Charge Nurse Academy was developed in response to nurses who wanted to expand their leadership skills and learn ways to manage day-to-day issues as a Charge Nurse.
The curriculum was developed based on identified needs of charge nurses and is taught by leaders from across SJP. It covers leadership theory, conflict management, de-escalation
methods, complaint management, fitness for duty policies and resources, and regulatory surveys. To date 342 nurses have graduated from the Academy.
Supporting holistic care
Nurses at St John Hospital and Medical Center, Providence and Providence
Park, have embarked on a journey to build their personal capacity, with the
ultimate goal of improving the care they provide. Embracing the concept that
they must care well for themselves so that they may, in turn, care well for others,
nurses are learning about holistic nursing care through a variety of programs.
Holistic nurse experts conduct learning activities such as Re-Awakening the
Heart, a one-day retreat to introduce concepts of holistic nursing and self-care,
and Clinical Aromatherapy Validation, a one-day course to prepare nurses to
validate their colleagues for the use of clinical aromatherapy. An annual one-day
holistic nursing conference hosts a national speaker for St John Providence
nurses. Concepts of holistic nursing are also incorporated throughout nursing
orientation, continuing education offerings, and at an annual competency day.
Since 2007, 242 St. John Providence nurses have completed the Integrative
Healing Arts Program, a 120-hour course on holistic nursing presented in collaboration
with The BirchTree Center for Healthcare Transformation.
Self-care is practiced by giving each other neck massages at St. John Hospital and Medical Center.
“There are so many educational opportunities – from monthly staff meetings, to all-day conferences on things like safe equipment use, new
medications, ways to care for patients, relationship-based, holistic care, and even a BSN completion program! I’m constantly learning here.”
—Courtney Ziaja, St. John Hospital and Medical Center

Almost 4,000 nurses work throughout St. John Providence at six hospitals, seven campuses, multiple ambulatory centers, home care and hospice services. Of that group, more than
1,750 have been with the ministry for over 10 years, with 274 serving longer than 30 years. In addition to a collaborative and mission-driven culture, our nurses benefit from supportive
Work Environment policies and an emphasis on professional development. SJP nurses, like the ones listed here, are encouraged to pursue advanced studies and clinical certifications.
Behavioral Health
Providence
Deborah Edford
Breast Patient Navigator
Providence
Ting Jin
Cardiovascular Nursing
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Paris Spangler
Case Management
St. John Hospital
Nancy DeVore
Critical Care Nursing
St. John Hospital
Rasmi Abraham
Rebekah Bruett
Nicole Cardenas
Colette R Carter
Donna Cross
Michael Delaney
Robin Doptis
Donna Emch
Claudia Emery
Donald Geml
Shane Goss
Patti Haugh
Alexandria Hayes
Cynthis Ingles
Jacqueline Jamroz
Latonya Kitchen
Lisa Krivenki
Christopher Landrum
Matthew Lena
Tina Lekic
Stefanie Leonhard
Joseph Liji
Brain Listy
Jennifer Malmber
Amber Martinez
Noelle Maude
Alan Meinke
Alexandrea Motschall
Brandon Myers
Michelle Nichols
Karen Roy
Lindsey Sebell
Magdalena Sosnowski
Patricia Suttle
Mackenzie Thimm
Jennifer Widzinski
Lindsay Woody
Kimberly Wolfgarth
Dana May Santos Yabut
Rachel Yetter
Dan Yin
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Cathy Bereza
Sofia Bole
Shirley Cristobal
Mary Dean
Brenda Dzierzawski
Cindy Gusco
Jennifer Larade-Fancy
Sansu Mathai
Donna Moran
Sandra Parry
Rosalie Patero
Claudia Rowland
Gail Sellers
Providence
Gheorghe Alion
Monica Branum
Federico Erikson
LaTonya Kitchen
Providence Park
Joseph Liji
Mathew Leena
Diabetes Education
St. John Hospital
Margarita Hennessey
Julie Johannsen-Wilk
Renee Thurman
Debra Ziegler-Bezaire
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Carol Ciaramitaro
Dialysis
St. John Hospital
Manjusha Thomas
Wan-Chuan Chang
Emergency Nursing
St. John Hospital
Kyle Karajankovich
Toni Riske
Carolyn Campbell
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Dawn Niemasz
Harjinder Grewal
Providence
Lynn Morton
External Fetal Monitoring
Providence
Michele McLeod
Gerontology Nursing
St. John Hospital
Brenda Belbot
Jenna Godfryd
Cheryl Niedzielka
Marueen Romanchik
Providence Park
Carmina Pouncy
Gastroenterology Nursing
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Deborah Briere
Holistic Nursing
St. John Hospital
Nicole Ahlgrim
Ellen Aubrey
Mary Beth Axon
Maryann Barnes
Victoria Boyce
Laura Cadieux
Justin Carpenter
Donna Cross
Robin Doptis
Jill Lesperance
Rosanne Mark
Janice Marl
Robin Marshall
Mary Natschke
Gayle Novack
Kimberly Ronnisch
Rosanne Sassin
Sue Mooney Smith
Kim Scharf
Rosalind Tait
Rose Vitale
Angela Waller
Dan Yin
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Claudia Rowland
St. John River District
Katy McCullough
Providence
Karen Diem
Tanya Kintz
Kristen Collins
Rebecca Steele
Providence Park
Andrea Bowers
Michelle Ledesma
Hospice and Palliative Care
Providence and Providence Park
Jeanne Aichele
Kathleen Blazhoff
St. John Hospital
Mary Hicks
Infection Control/Prevention
St. John Hospital
Michelle Flood
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Joan Brock-Jones
Infusion
St. John Hospital
Janice Stemmler
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Jacqueline Baker
Teresa Driest
Karen Lawrence
Leela Varghese
Lactation Consultant
St. John Hospital
Rosemarie Fritz-Ciaravino
Our national specialty certifications
Mary Lynn Maher
Joanna Mailloux
Blair Malian
Dawn Piascik
Colleen Schulte
Jeannene Sulewski
Anita Znoy
Providence Park
Mary Castonguay
Jennifer Chivas
Patricia Dunn
Kathy Malone
Heather Mendenhall
Providence
Sandra Baker
Janet Erickson
Brandy Walters
Maternal/Newborn
Providence
Lisa Hendricks
Nelly Tester
Providence Park
Jeanne Thayer Seitz
Medical Investigator III
St. John Hospital
Nicole Ewald
Medical Surgical Nursing
St John Hospital
Susan Peterfeso
Gail Regener
Amy Rogers
Kathy Schroll
Kim Wilkins
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Joan Mahew-Morrell
Providence Park
Kimberly Davidson
Sierra Robertson
Neuroscience Nursing
Providence Park
Yosely Cruz
Goranka Vucenovic
Neonatal Intensive Care
St. John Hospital
Laurie Aman
LaRae Bearden
Traci Beck
Sheryl Brosky
Shari Curtis
Lisa Czarnik
Patrice DiBiase
Elizabeth Edwards
Jessica Ermanni
Amy M Ferrara
Colleen Griffith
Laura Kittleson
Joanna Mailloux
Jeralyn McGahan
LeaAnn Pugh
Jennifer Rivard
Sandra Scerri
Mary Sullivan
Sara Tidrow
Deborah Winn
Providence Park
Angela Hogue
Diane Hickox
Marilyn Maggioncalda
Nadine Lonergan
Providence
Elizabeth Burrell
Martha Dombrowski
Debbie Cottone Todd
Joyce Hendrick
Angela Hogue
Jeralyn McGahan
Sharon Selewski
Dorothy Staley
Judith Valade
Nursing Infomatics
St. John Hospital
Deborah Horvath
Nurse Manager Leader
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Jim Cronk
East Region
Julie Gorczyca
Nurse Executive
Providence Park
Andrea Bowers
Obstetrics (Inpatient)
St. John Hospital
Nicole Algrim
Cathy Brockman
Holly Drake
Jennifer Gregson
Kathleen Hocking
Delores Redmond
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Wendy Machuta
Diane Nieman
Jeanne Ruggirello
Rosemarie Fritz-Caaravino
Providence
LuRee Buchmann
Mary Beth Burke
Tynne Clarke
Michelle Ceccacci
Reilene Eckert
Joy Goyeau
Terilynn Johns
Lisa Levy
Victoria Peetz
Donna Robertson
Satwant Sandhu
Laura Woodworth
Providence Park
Jennifer Abrams
Patricia Chamberlain
Angela Drew
Jacalyn Fontaine
Jennifer Garris
Kathleen Hall
Cathy Herman
Kathleen Hocking
Sarah Kulesza
Christina Mosquera
Mary Beth Niescier
Margaret O’Neil
Peggy Paiva
Buena Palgens
Briget Raftery
Marcie Schultz
Catherine Sovinski
Julie Troher
Oncology
St. John Hospital
Beth Ann Armstrong
Kaylee Dobbs
Koerber Leeseberg
Mary Mandaziara
Kimberly Mona
Christina Mondine
Jody Pickrahn
Sudha Porob
Angela Rawlings
DeeAnn Schiappacasse
Carolyn Schmidt
Pamela Schmidt
Sue Schultz
Minimol Valutheppumkallel
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Debra Akers
Petra Holka
Susan McManus
Oscar Pilapil
Carrie Pruitt
Margaret VanDerVeen
Providence
Sarah Sobieralski
Orthopedics
St. John Hospital
Audrey Lessl
Sanja Trajkovic
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Julia Olivero
Lisa Ann Roberts
Mark Vazana
Providence
Karen Gray
Pediatrics
St. John Hospital
Jacquelyne Pfaff
Kathryn Wagner
Providence Park
Kerry Asbel
Kari Perrard
Gina Taylor
Surgical Services
St. John Hospital
Amy Blowycky
Karen Ferrara
Lisa Hergot
Suzanne Ronald
Karen Straetmens
Providence Park
Lisa Aquilina
Mary Bensmiller
Linda Eckstein
Lisa Ganocy
Theresa Newman
Ellen Ramierz
Regina Reaume
Aida Santos
Mary Ann Sibley
Sharon Sitka
Maria Valenton
Kari Perrard
Providence
Marilyn Brennan
Sara Kimmerte
Andrea Kolongowski
Aida Santos
Anna Zayachowsky
St John Macomb-Oakland
Pamela Borello-Barnett
Lori Clifton
Sandra Evans
Joyce Muckenthaler
Deborah Wood
Progressive Care
St. John Hospital
Lisa Underwood
Rehabilitation Nursing
St. John Hospital
Talesha Brown
Shirley Clink
Diane Hoffman
Susan Peterfeso
Linda Rich
Carla Shock
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Christine Berendt
Janice Chrzan
Christine Hellebuyck
Wound Care
St. John Macomb-Oakland
Thomas Bowmer
Charles Thomas
21

22
Leading through Education and Innovation
St. John Providence nurses began an exciting era of clinical inquiry during FY12. In partnership with Nurse Researcher Marianne Chulay, RN, DNSc, FAAN, they developed a
structure and process to support nurses at the bedside as they design and conduct studies of clinical interest. Thirteen clinical research teams formed under the leadership of
Research Mentors, who were coached by Dr. Chulay to engage staff nurses in unit-based research. Studies are scheduled for completion by Spring 2013, when results will be
communicated in publications and presentations and additional new clinical research teams will form. A broad spectrum of topics included:
• Accuracy and interrater reliability of non-invasive bilirubin meters in newborn infants.
• Identifying variances between weight measurement techniques used with CHF patients.
• Effectiveness of lavender aromatherapy to reduce pain and anxiety in PACU patients.
Research mentors met regularly with renowned Nurse Researcher Marianne Chulay, RN, fourth from left, to discuss their
projects.
Our Research Mentors
Providence and Providence Park Hospitals
Mary Mazur
Goranka Vucenovic
Rebecca Allan-Gibbs
Kelly Blaesser
St. John Hospital and Medical Center
Ellen Aubrey
Patricia Haugh
Mary Hicks
Lynne Froelich
Ashley Voss
St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital
Cecilia Otten
Noreen Diedo
Jeff Kadzielewski
Renee Pelton
St. John River District
Chris Tomaszewski
“As a Research Mentor, I have the opportunity to work with nurses who are interested in solving the types of clinical problems that our direct
care nurses encounter every day.”
—Renee Pelton, St. John Macomb-Oakland

Our presentations
• Strengthening Outcomes in the Aging Population: Collaborative Teams as the Vital Link Between Nutrition and Sustained Recovery. Victoria Boyce and Nisha Jain.
Abbott Nutrition Health Institute 2011.
• Understanding Operating Budgets, Productivity Measures and Value Based Purchasing. Maryann Barnes, Julie Gorczyca. American Organization of Nurse Executives 2012.
• Assaulted in the ICU, What’s Happening: How to Prevent Workplace Violence. Julie Gorczyca, Steve Kler. American Association of Critical Care Nurses National Teaching
Institute 2012.
Our poster presentations
• Healthy Work Environments, WE Make it Happen. Johnson, Boyce, Maude, and Rathod. National Teaching Institute (NTI) American Association of Critical Care Nurses
(AACN), 2011.
• The Leadership Imperative…Moving Control of Nursing Practice to the Bedside. Gorczyca and Bavol National Teaching Institute (NTI) American Association of Critical
Care Nurses (AACN), 2011.
• Opening the Chest in the ICU Post Cardiac Surgery: Increasing the Level of Critical Care Team Competence. Blowycky, Coleman, Delvillano, Haugh, Hergott, Naas,
Plotzke, Vella,Stratemans, Wlakowit. NTI AACN and Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI), 2011.
• Empowering Staff to Reduce Violence in the ED. Boelstler, Gorczyca, Wawrzyniak, Hughes, Kler, Kennard, Court. Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) 2011.
• Validating Nurses for Aromatherapy as an Integrative Practice Intervention for Management of Pain, Anxiety and/or Nausea. Natschke and Boyce. AHNA, 2012.
• Utilizing Integrative Therapies for conscious Change during a Personal Sarcoma Journey. Cadieux. AHNA 2012.
• Creating a Healing Environment in the Midst of Chaos. Carpenter AHNA 2012 and Emergency Nurses Association Annual Convention 2012.
• St John Providence Health System. Castonguay, Gregson, Novack, Sieben, Schreck. Best Fed conference, 2012.
• Integrative Healing Arts and the Geriatric Patient. Belbot, Godfryd, Natschke and Boyce. Nurses Improving Care of Health System Elders (NICHE) 2012 and AHNA 2012.
• Developing a Pediatric Burn Program in a Community Hospital. Jennings, Cullen, Meloche, Mark, Jaeger, Lile. Michigan Council of Nurse Practitioners and Pediatric Spring
Conference 2012. (Manuscript also under peer review for publication in Pediatric Nursing Journal).
• A New Leash on Life: chronic illness with a service dog. Andrea Dube. National Student Nurse Association National Conference -Pittsburg, PA 2012.
• Shedding Light on Shared Governance in the Emergency Department. Justin Carpenter, Joseph Duckworth, Charles Bayly. ENA 2012.
• Superior Throughput in the Emergency Department. Laurie Wawrzyniak. ENA 2012.
• Time is Muscle. Door to Troponin Results in

24
Living Our Values throughout Our Communities
“I feel rewarded when I have an opportunity to make a difference in others’ lives.”
Urging early cancer detection close to home
The month of March has become an annual personal challenge for Cheryl Robb-
Genevich, a certified nurse anesthetist at Providence Hospital. Recognized nationally
as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, March offers Cheryl, a Stage III colon cancer
survivor, the chance to teach people the importance of early detection. It was through
a routine screening colonoscopy in 2006, when she was 52 and two years past the
recommended age to have one, that she discovered her cancer. “If I had only had my
colonoscopy at age 50, I probably would have avoided the chemotherapy
treatments,” she regrets.
Today, Cheryl uses her story of procrastination to educate others. In partnership with
the American Cancer Society, she sets up booths at work and at metro-Detroit
businesses to spread the word about early detection. According to Cheryl, shown here
at a Relay for Life event in 2012, “If I can prevent one person from developing a full
blown cancer, my goal has been accomplished.”
—Tamara Khazbieva, St. John Macomb-Oakland, Oakland Center

Helping his homeland a world away
Oscar Ong, a certified nurse anesthetist at Providence Hospital, grew up in a poor family in the Philippines, where resources were scarce and
comprehensive healthcare was often hard to come by. He knows first-hand what this can do to a community, so in 2005, he and his wife Debbie,
a Providence Park nurse, recruited a few colleagues to travel to Davao City to provide surgical treatment to people in need. Since then, the annual
missions have resulted in more than 1400 procedures performed free of charge, from cataract and general surgery to open-heart surgeries and
craniofacial operations.
Switching uniforms for a one-year deployment
“To those much is given, much is expected,” says Oscar, pictured with members of the 2012 mission team and some of the
children they’ve helped. “Our patients give us so much more than we can provide for them, and it is always a humbling and
rewarding experience.”
Now known as Operation Care Abroad (OCA), the mission is now a 503 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, and all team members
are volunteers, offering their clinical expertise, medications, and supplies at no cost. They also pay their own travel expenses.
“We are so grateful to our colleagues who give of themselves so generously,” says Oscar. “It makes a huge difference in
people’s lives, and it wouldn’t be possible without a lot of support and energy for our cause.”
Noreen Diedo had been a registered nurse for 11 years when she decided in 1984 to join the Army Reserve. “Back in the day, you
could sign up for the Reserve and rarely be deployed anywhere. But with recent wars and conflicts, everything’s changed.” In
Summer 2012, with 28 years of Reserve duty under her belt, the nurse practitioner from St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital suited
up for a one-year deployment to Kosovo, where she joined the NATO-led international peacekeeping mission that began in 1999. It
was her first mobilization.
Inside the U.S., Diedo specializes in gerontologic nursing and monitors the care and safety of adult and elderly
patients on a very busy medical-surgical unit. In Kosovo, she would be focusing on a much different population
with very different needs. In addition to the potential for traumatic physical injuries,“emotional wounding can
occur, and those emotional scars can be huge.”
Diedo plans to return to the hospital when she wraps up her duty in Kosovo, but she’s quick to explain that
“You’re always a Soldier first. I’m planning for what I’ll do when it goes away,” saying she might work with
military veterans. “One weekend a month, two weeks a year, really turns into much more of a commitment than that.
First you become part of the military, and then it becomes part of you.”
25

26
Honoring Clinical Excellence
Michael David Rinke Award
The Rinke Award was established in 1989 by the Roland Rinke family in gratitude for the excellent nursing care their son Michael received during his lifetime at St. John Hospital and
Medical Center. Each year, several nurses receive the honor for their outstanding professional accomplishments. The FY12 Rinke Award winners were Janet Dulecki, Neurosciences;
Kimberly Scharf, Cardiology; Mary Stieber, Eastside Pediatrics; Kim Treasvant, Oncology.
Daisy Awards
DAISY stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System, and the national DAISY Foundation was formed in November 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died at age 33.
The DAISY Award was established to express the Barnes family’s profound gratitude to Patrick’s nurses and nurses everywhere for the work they do for patients and families every day.
St John Macomb-Oakland
Sheila Bell
Amanda Bilot
Fritz Brillantes
Shana Chacko
Tammi Cloyd
Pat Domacz
Janelle Dowdy
Cindy Dowgialo
Donna Eagan
Annual Nightingale Awards
Cheryl Gnesda
Kimberly Holland
Sharon (Sam) Hurley
Lisa Keelan
Audrey Lessl
Jennifer McCarty
Carolyn McCormick
Kadian Miijic
Pam Montoya
Joyce Payne
Connie Rozak
Shirley Weglikowski
Becky Wolsefer
Nancy Wright
Providence
Clarissa Almario
Debbie Beattie
Diane Bending
Jennifer Bossuyt
Tim Deuby
Karen Diem
Federico Erikson
Noel Faraj
Shawn Gauvin
Megan Lumley
Sue Pierson
Donna Podczervinski
Phoebe Quiambao
Karen Schlick
Laura Stefanski
Lorraine Taube
Providence Park
Clinton Dinnan
Julie Fuller
Alexandra Heinrich
Xiaoying Huang
Rekha Narendra Kumar
Debra Kurth
Louise Lamb
Michelle Ledesma
Kirk Romans
Karen Rose
Gloria Stabryla
Rebecca Steele
Carol Stoller
Jaime Suarez
Krishna Vakulabharanam
Mary Kay Whitaker
The Nightingale Awards were established by the Oakland University School of Nursing to recognize and honor the compassion, knowledge, and initiative of outstanding nurses in
Michigan. Awards are given based on nurses’ achievements in leadership, quality of care, innovative practices, and advances in research.
St. John Providence nominated the following nurses for the 2012 Nightingale Awards
Stephanie Brady, St. John Providence
Gayle Novack, St. John Hospital and Medical Center
Victoria Boyce, St. John Hospital and Medical Center
Mary Kathryn Vaitkevicius, St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital
Jacqueline Fuller, Brighton Center for Recovery
Shawn Gauvin, Providence Hospital
Donna Robertson, Providence Hospital
Amy Salley, Providence Hospital
Andrea Sharp, Providence Park Hospital
Gloria Stabryla, Providence Park Hospital
“Awards are a great opportunity to highlight our nurses who are ‘everyday heroes.’ These nurses consider what they do ‘all in a day’s work’
and can lose sight of how extraordinary their presence can be to patients and families.”
—Chris Fornal, St. John Macomb-Oakland

A message from our President
Dear St. John Providence Nursing Professionals,
It is a great honor to be invited to write a letter in this first St. John Providence Nursing Annual Report. I was equally proud to witness
the Board of Trustees meeting in January 2012 where the Nursing Council was honored with a Board Resolution for creating the first
Nursing Philosophy and Vision for our health system. That resolution applauded the compassion, humanity and expertise of nurses as the
“cornerstone of patient care.”
In the book Relationship-Based Care, which you have used as a foundational document in this work, there is a chapter that defines the six
roles of nursing as: Sentry, Healer, Guide, Teacher, Collaborator and Leader. These are all accurate descriptors, but my favorite is “Sentry,”
defined as “one who protects.” What a powerful testimonial to your profession. To me, that word contains nobility, strength and integrity.
It says: “When you are under my care, you will be safe.” As the CEO of this health system, knowing that each of you embraces the role
of “sentry” gives me great peace of mind with regard to the care of our patients. Thank you, St. John Providence nurses, for keeping faith
and vigilance.
With respect,
Patricia Maryland, Dr.PH
President and CEO
St. John Providence Health System
Patricia Maryland, Dr.PH
27

The Nursing Vision at St. John Providence Health System
We are a community of nurses devoted to creating a healing environment through
therapeutic presence and relationship-based care.
Annual Report Committee
Andrea Bowers, Providence Park Hospital
Victoria Boyce, St John Hospital and Medical Center
Christine Fornal, St John Macomb Oakland Hospital
Julie Gorczyca, St. John Providence East Region
Surita Sieben, Providence and Providence Park Hospitals
Mary Beth Day, St. John Providence Marketing
Debbie Hoban, St. John Providence Graphic Services
#51101 (1/25/2013) © St. John Providence Health System