JCR and Hill-Rom Name Nurse Safety Scholar-in-Residence
May 18 2010 - 11:25AM
Marketwired
Diane Whitworth has been named the Nurse Safety
Scholar-in-Residence by Joint Commission Resources (JCR) and
Hill-Rom (NYSE: HRC). JCR is a not-for-profit affiliate of The
Joint Commission. Hill-Rom is a global medical technology company.
Whitworth is a certified wound, ostomy and continence nurse
(CWOCN) with more than 30 years of clinical experience. She is
currently responsible for the wound care team at Bon Secours St.
Mary's Hospital, a 391-bed acute care hospital and magnet
designated facility in Richmond, Va.
Recognizing the important role that nurses play in translating
evidence-based findings into excellent care at the patient's
bedside, the Nurse Safety Scholar-in-Residence program, in its
second year of a three-year project, focuses on developing tools
and best practices to maintain skin integrity and to prevent
pressure ulcers. An estimated 2.5 million patients are treated
annually for pressure ulcers in acute care facilities in the United
States, according to studies published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association in 2003 and 2006. A December 2008
report by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) states
that in 2006 there were 503,000 hospital stays with pressure ulcers
noted as a diagnosis, nearly an 80 percent increase since 1993.
Lengths of stay, discharges to long term care settings, average
patient age, and mortality were all higher in patients with
pressure ulcers than in those without. Pressure ulcers are among
the preventable conditions and events on Medicare's "no pay"
list.
"Diane's leadership experience as a clinician and educator will
be an asset as we continue the Nurse Safety Scholar-in-Residence
project and pursue continued development and dissemination of
innovative solutions to prevent pressure ulcers," said Nanne Finis,
RN, M.S., executive director, Solutions Services, JCR.
"We are fortunate to have Diane as our scholar. Her passion for
patient care, her commitment to pressure ulcer prevention and her
desire to transform health care delivery will have a long lasting
impact," noted Melissa Fitzpatrick, RN, M.S.N., FAAN, Hill-Rom's
Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer. "We are excited to see
this program move into its second year and are proud to be a part
of it. At Hill-Rom, we strive to use our resources in ways that
make a difference every day in the lives of patients and their
caregivers and this type of program is a perfect fit for us."
Whitworth, the second nurse to be named in this program, will
serve a six-month appointment as Patient Safety Nurse
Scholar-in-Residence. During her term, which ends September 30,
2010, she will work closely with JCR and Hill-Rom experts to
achieve the goals of the program:
- To foster the professional development of expert nurse
clinicians and scholars to become translators of evidence into
practice;
- To disseminate best practice processes associated with
providing safe care for specific clinical problems; and
- To continue the work of a hospital-based collaborative project
focused on the implementation of pressure ulcer reduction
strategies.
Nurse practitioner Irene M. Jankowski, A.P.R.N., M.S.N,
C.W.O.C.N., of Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, N.Y., was the
first Nurse Safety Scholar-in-Residence. Jankowski's blog is
available on the program's Web site. The program is being led by
Roberta Fruth, RN, M.S., Ph.D., senior consultant, Joint Commission
Resources. Fruth has more than 30 years of experience in health
care operations and education in hospital, ambulatory and
international settings. Previously, she served as chief nurse
executive and vice president of patient services at St. Joseph
Hospital, Chicago, Ill.
For more information about the program, please visit
http://www.jcrinc.com/JCR-Hill-Rom-Nurse-Scholar/. The site will be
updated regularly as Whitworth chronicles her work throughout this
phase of the project. The search for a third and final Nurse Safety
Scholar-in-Residence begins in July with the term beginning in
October 2010. Look for the application on the JCR Web site in late
July.
About Joint Commission Resources (JCR)
Joint Commission Resources (JCR), a
not-for-profit affiliate of The Joint Commission, is the official
publisher and educator of The Joint Commission. JCR is an expert
resource for health care organizations, providing consulting
services, educational services and publications to assist in
improving quality and safety and to help in meeting the
accreditation standards of The Joint Commission. JCR provides
consulting services independently from The Joint Commission and in
a fully confidential manner. Please visit our web site at
www.jcrinc.com.
About Hill-Rom Hill-Rom is a leading worldwide manufacturer and
provider of medical technologies and related services for the
health care industry, including patient support systems, safe
mobility and handling solutions, non-invasive therapeutic products
for a variety of acute and chronic medical conditions, medical
equipment rentals, and information technology solutions. Hill-Rom's
comprehensive product and service offerings are used by health care
providers across the health care continuum in hospitals, extended
care facilities and home care settings to enhance the safety and
quality of patient care.
Hill-Rom... enhancing outcomes for patients and their
caregivers. www.hill-rom.com
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