Greetings from the Chief Nursing Officer

AT THE FOREFRONT NURSING EDITIONW IN T ER /SPR ING 2013 U N I V ER SI T Y OF CHICAGO MEDICIN E 3Nursing Education: Ready for the Greatest ChallengesBY AMY ALDERMAN | STAFF WRITERMonths of planning and training bythe Center for Nursing ProfessionalPractice and Research (CNPPR) helpedmake for a smooth transition at theCenter for Care and Discovery.From the early days of last summerthrough the weeks following theFebruary 23 Patient Move Day, a teamof 20 in CNPPR labored to help prepare aworkforce of more than 2,300 people.“We’re a small group, but we’ve beensmall and mighty to get the job done,”said Clinical Nurse Educator Mary AnnStokas, RN, MSN, OCN.Headed by Nursing Education ManagerEmily Lowder, RN, PhD, NE-BC, andDirector of the Center for NursingProfessional Practice and ResearchKatherine Pakieser-Reed, RN, PhD,the group of educators and specialistsdivided and conquered the technologyand infrastructure of the new hospitalpavilion based on their expertise.“As a group, we’re really strong together,”Lowder said. “When you have newindividuals working on new equipment to30-year veterans using telemetry for thefirst time, nurse educators are the peoplewho are on the front line, and the pointpeople for implanting that technology.”For example, Stokas serves as a clinicalnurse educator for the Oncology CareCenter. Her experience as a consultant andmentor helped bridge the research behindthe curricula and the teaching of clinicaland non-clinical staff on the new systemsat the Center for Care and Discovery.Perioperative Services Clinical NurseSpecialist Rena Thompson, APN, MSN,CNS-BC, gave employees an overview ofthe operating rooms, which include thenew Image Stream interfacing system.Seeing clinical and non-clinical stafftake to the new systems made the workworthwhile, Thompson said.“In some of the classes, I saw people’sfaces light up,” she added. “To me, thathas been great to see.”During some sessions, nurse educators andspecialists trained 200 people per day.“We relied heavily on CNPPR to helppave the way into the Center for Care andDiscovery, and they showed us that theywere more than ready for the task,” saidchief nursing officer, Debra Albert, RN,MSN, MBA, NEA-BC, vice president ofPatient Care Services, and Patient MoveDay chief commanding officer.The many opportunities to walk thefloors and learn about the new surroundingspaid off, said Nastassia Gurganus,RN, a procedures nurse who works inprep and recovery.“I was happy because we got moreexposure to the facility where the suppliesare, and the equipment I’ll need. That’smy priority,” she added.Outfitting clinical staff with leading-edgetechnology and skills at the new hospital isjust one of the many behind-the-scenesinitiatives that clinical nurse educatorsand clinical nurse specialists have led sincetheir department centralized in 2005.Nursing education has trained nonclinicalstaff, including those from security,valet and food services, on wayfinding andon how to use equipment, such as theautomated external defibrillator.“Seeing non-clinical staff understandhow to use an AED and how it doesn’t justapply to treating people at a hospital, Ithink it empowers people,” Stokas said.Outside of preparing for the newhospital, the CNPPR team spreads itsindividual strengths across the MedicalCenter, from on-boarding new staff tocompleting annual competencies of over1,500 nurses, nursing assistants and ORand ER technicians. Clinical nurseeducators constantly work in tandemwith advanced practice nurses, includingclinical nurse specialists on evidencebasedpractice in all units in inpatient,pediatrics and adult care.Emily Lowder, RN, PhD, NE-BC, center, with Michele Ackerman, RN, MA, left, Senior Hospital OperationsAdministrator, and Elise Lauderdale, RN, MSN, OCN on Patient Move Day. Photo by Harvey Tillis“You have that ability to learn fromeach other, and build resources together,”Lowder said. “I think that’s where wedraw a lot of benefits.”