How One Unit Gives Patients a Five-Star Experience
“Patients expect good health care, but they want compassion.”
Manager Juanita Hernandez, M.S.N., R.N., NE-BC, CMSRN, instills this philosophy in all the nurses and patient care technicians who work in the fifth-floor med-surg unit at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth. The unit has the highest patient satisfaction in the hospital.
The unit’s goal is to treat patients like guests at a five-star hotel.
“We’re all hand-picked, and it’s made clear when we’re hired that this is the expectation, and you want to live up to that,” said Odett Goodell, B.S.N., R.N., CMSRN. “We hold each other accountable, and we have great teamwork. Patients often comment on what a great team we are.”
Two of the unit’s nurses were recently named back-to-back Promise Makers of the Month, but Juanita said all of them go out of their way to improve their patients’ experience.
One of their favorite things to do is celebrate birthdays – their own and those of their patients.
When a patient had to miss a special birthday weekend that included a Cowboys game, Katie Overath, B.S.N., R.N., decided to give him a celebration he wouldn’t forget. The man said he was feeling stressed because he couldn’t even watch the game on his couch with his comfy blankets. After her shift, Katie went out and bought a soft Cowboys blanket and a stress-relief toy for her patient. Unit employees signed a birthday card – Juanita keeps a supply of cards on hand – and sang “Happy Birthday.”
Another nurse made a bouquet of origami flowers for her patient’s special day. Yet another created a joke book out of Post-it notes. Night-shift nurses fill unused catheter cups with candy and treats as a gift.
Getting patients on their feet
They also like to find innovative way to get their patients out of their rooms and walking. They maintain a photo board in the hallway – sometimes it’s pet photos, sometimes it’s their baby photos – and encourage patients to check it out (at right, Robyn Brown peruses the board with her patient). They also posted stickers on the wall every 10 feet, then created a board with race cars so patients could post their daily totals, track their progress and even compete with one another.
“We try to make it more interactive for them, so we have several boards around,” said Amanda MacGillivray, B.S.N., R.N., CMSRN. “One is a Monopoly-style board with commonly used medications and information on each one.”
Comfort is king on the unit. When they took over the care of breast cancer patients, Juanita enlisted her mother’s help in making pillows. The pillows are sewn by family members and even children at her mom’s church, and they’re stuffed by Kimberly Struchen Aten, R.N., CMSRN.
“They hold the arm up, so patient who have gone through surgery are more comfortable,” Juanita said. “They’re also great for patients who’ve had abdominal procedures.”
Other ways they have helped their patients include:
- When one patient was being sent for hospice care and was worried about his dog, a nurse stepped in and adopted the animal. Another patient was concerned about his cat’s care while he was hospitalized, so clinical nurse leaders took turns feeding her.
- Another patient, the father of four young boys, was in the hospital over Christmas. Unit employees suggested a scavenger hunt that led the boys from the hospital entrance to the unit. When the boys and their mother arrived, they found a conference room decorated for the holiday, complete with a tree decorated with candy canes.
- The unit maintains a “comfort cart,” a treasure chest filled with items contributed by employees such as reading glasses, hearing amplifiers, earplugs, puzzles, magazines and coloring books for adults and children. “It has never been empty,” Juanita said. “It just mysteriously refills, thanks to the nurses and patient care technicians.”
- At Christmas, they hold a wreath-decorating contest with patients as the judges, and they post previous years’ wreaths on patients’ doors.
- They keep toiletries, such as shampoo, for patients. “It’s the little things, that’s what they remember,” Amanda said. “Even with the IVs, I always use alcohol instead of just ripping them out.”
Family atmosphere
Juanita encourages a family atmosphere on the unit, and employees get together frequently to celebrate birthdays or participate in Community Time Off projects. New employees are welcomed with gift baskets.
Communication is vital, she said. To increase satisfaction scores, the unit adopted a “commit to sit” approach. Nurses and physicians on the medical staff are encouraged to sit when they talk to patients, so they’re on the same level. They echo Press Ganey’s language to help patients remember when they’re filling out their surveys.
To encourage questions, they ask, “What questions do you have,” rather than “Do you have any questions?”
“We’ve found that people are more likely to ask when we put it this way,” Juanita said.
Unit employees use a variety of sources for inspiration on enhancing the patient experience.
“During unit-based council meetings and annual retreats, patient experience is top of mind,” said Gretchen Hunt, M.S.N., R.N., ACNS-BC, NEA-BC, chief nursing officer. “One resource they’ve used is ‘Lessons From the Mouse,’ a book based on the Disney experience. It talks about what actions and behaviors should be ‘front stage’ and what should be ‘backstage.’ Juanita and some of her informal unit leaders frequently walk the unit to look at the environment through the lens of the patient or family. They all truly take our Consumer Focus to heart.”
Juanita said any nurse can pass out medications or handle the many other jobs they’re responsible for. But not everyone can show the care and compassion her employees do, so she looks beyond education and experience when filling positions.
“Hire attitude and teach skill,” she said.
By Robin P. Loveman • Posted May 14, 2019
