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Palliative Care
The past year has been
full of challenges and
accomplishments for
Palliative Care. Dr. Michel
Riesner and Dr. David Flores
continue to be an integral
members of Palliative Care.
Nancy Pain, APN was joined
by Pam Saporita, Licensed
Clinical Social Worker, which
enhanced our ability to
present a multidisciplinary
approach to the services we
offer patients and their families. We are impacting more
patients and families then ever before by staying committed
to our mission and vision.
Our nurse practitioner Nancy Pain is a founding
member of The New Jersey Palliative Care Advance Practice
Nurse Consortium (NJ PCAC) This is a group of 22 nurse
practitioners from 15 hospitals throughout the state of New
Jersey. The NJ PCAC provides a formal organizational
structure for the advancement of the professional practice of
palliative care services across the State of NJ.
We continue to actively participate in the New Jersey
Hospital Association (NJHA) to stay on the forefront of
advances in palliative care. The NJHA has been responsible
for legislation that has resulted in Provider Orders for Life
Sustaining Measures (POLST) being into passed into law.
Renal
The Jersey City Medical Center’s Renal Dialysis
division has their own measure of success when it
comes to patient safety. Recently, five clinical ladder
nurses were recognized for their commitment to
patient safety. They were awarded the “5 Diamonds of
Safety Status” from the Quality Insights Renal Network
(QIRN). The staff was honored for their diligent work in
providing patient focused care on infection control
measures such as hand washing, medication
reconciliation, flu vaccination, stenosis surveillance and
emergency preparedness. Jointly working with the
QIRN, the staff developed programs to assist the
dialysis facilities and patients to have a raised
awareness about safety and to build a network of best
practices related to renal care. They established a
culture of safety and values that foster high quality
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This legislation made New Jersey one of the
few states in the country to have completed
this task. POLST is an opportunity for
patients and families to fully participate in
health care decision making.
The Bereavement Support Group that
was implemented in 2010 has proved to be
a essential addition to the services JCMC
offers to the community. On the third
Wednesday of each month we open our
doors to grieving families. The success of
this group is in large part due to the
dedication of Chris Amato, RN, David
Kaplan, LCSW and Pam Saporita, LCSW, who all facilitate the
monthly meetings.
The Joint Commission has launched an advanced
certification in palliative care. Our goal for 2012 is to apply
for and achieve this advanced certification. Over 1500
hospitals in the United States today have a palliative care
team. In addition, the Joint Commission recognizes the
importance of palliative care and the overall quality of care
represents a giant step forward for this field. Certification of
our palliative care program at JCMC will insure that we
continue to meet a high standard of care to help individual
patients with serious illness. Achieving advance certification
in Palliative Care aligns with our pillars of clinical quality,
satisfaction and economic health, and will ultimately improve
the standing of our hospital in the community.
care. The Renal Dialysis staff’s participation in this
endeavor reinforced their mission and vision to deliver
the highest quality of patient care to our patients in this
community.