Purpose and OverviewNurse consultation involves the application of change management principles and visionary leadership to the improvement of healthcare organizations. Guided by evidence-based practice and ethical principles of the healthcare profession, nurse consultation is a process involving multilateral communications, quantitative assessments, goal setting, and strategic change management. Advance practice nurses can collaborate with nurse leaders to identify problems, analyze those problems and their root causes, and identify meaningful and feasible methods of achieving desired changes and measurable outcomes.

The purpose of this consultation is to work with nurse leaders, administrators, and executives to help the local healthcare organization better meet their goals and improve patient satisfaction. Nurse consultation requires the use of multiple, rigorous empirical methods. The data collection processed used in this case include both qualitative methods like interviews and focus groups, as well as quantitative data gathered from HCAHPS scores, patient metrics, and patient surveys. Although the current consultation strategy does not require formal comparisons with local organizations, other area healthcare institutions can offer meaningful points of comparison when inspiring change. The data collection methods will tacitly refer to the community, its needs, and also the need for the organization to better embrace corporate social responsibility models in their operating strategies.

Description of Organization

Baptist Health Care system provides healthcare solutions for northwest Florida and south Alabama residents. It offers five campuses within the northwest Florida area including three hospitals, a long-term care center in which they are co-owners and Andrews Institute. The primary market is northwest Florida and south Alabama. Some of the health care systems have a much larger primary market, such as its ECMO service line. Much of the population within the health care system’s services is retired and military.

A total of 6000 employees work in the Baptist Health Care system, including physicians, nurses, and administrators. As a health system, Baptist recognizes the value of integrating multiple healthcare domains under one rubric: both geographic and cultural. The unified health system at Baptist depends on a hierarchical bureaucracy, but one that does also provide significant autonomy to its individual organizations or brands like Andrews Institute. Baptist Health Care’s organizational structure includes a Board of Directors and Senior Officers including Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Transition Officer, and Chief Nursing Officer. Corporate offices work alongside but separate from the healthcare officers, such as the Human Resources Officer, and the Corporate Directors of Public Safety and Public Relations.

Comprising as it does three different hospitals and two specialty care centers, as well as a system of clinics and pharmacies within the parent structure, Baptist Health Care system offers a comprehensive range of medical products and services for a diverse metropolitan area. Baptist Health Care offers specialized care that is unparalleled in the northwest Florida area, including trauma care, and ECMO. Affiliations with a number of other health care institutions expands the role Baptist Health Care system plays in the community, providing community-based services and services for medical education and research.

Primary Needs of Population

The Baptist Health Care...

Several of its hospitals and specialized care centers offer services that cannot be found elsewhere in the region, making it a magnet institution too. Baptist Health Care system provides neonatal care, geriatric care, and everything in between. The diverse patient population within the Pensacola Florida population 52,590, sixty-three percent are white, five percent of which are Hispanic/Latino, and almost thirty percent of which are African American (United States Census, 2017).
During the interview, Assistant Chief Nursing Officer local identifiable risk factors are largely related to lifestyle including obesity-related diseases and diabetes. While teen obesity numbers have improved, adult obesity has actually increased, and she also identified other major concerns of the population that can be addressed via improvements to the healthcare system, including prenatal care deficiencies and problems related to low birth weight and infant mortality. Immunization numbers have also been on a decline, with resulting public health concerns. Substance abuse and alcohol-related problems are also major issues of concern, as are high rates of sexually transmitted diseases. As the largest and leading healthcare organization in area, Baptist Health Care system is on the front lines of public health services and has a distinct role to play in improving county health outcomes.

Nurse Leader’s Role

This consultation depended on the help of a nurse leader within the Baptist Health Care system, Assistant Chief Nursing Officer (ACNO). The nurse leader worked as an advanced practice nurse for several years within the Baptist Health Care system before shifting to a position of leadership within the organization. As Assistant Chief Nursing Officer, she considers herself a liaison between the community and the organization. She pays close attention to performance metrics and outcomes and was chiefly responsible for suggesting the implementation of nursing consultation during the process of change management at Baptist Health Care. When asked about her formal position and influence within the Baptist Health Care system, she focuses on the data-driven nature of her role. The Assistant Chief Nursing Officer knows that health outcomes and patient metrics are linked to reimbursements and funding, as well as to the ethical obligations of the institution. Therefore, the Baptist Health Care system depends on ACNO and her team for remaining solvent and competitive. She helps motivate other nurse leaders to implement procedural changes that will result in measurable performance and patient outcome improvements.

Characteristics of Organization

Current Strengths

Baptist Health Care system is entrenched in the community and has strategic affiliations with local specialty care facilities. Therefore, Baptist’s core strength is its role in the community and within the healthcare sector in general. The Baptist Health Care system also boasts the ability to pair patients with appropriate treatments and services, with easy access to a number of specialized care centers in the area.

Current Weaknesses

Several weaknesses have been identified based on the data collection instruments and formal evaluations. The Baptist Hospital, the main hospital within the Baptist Health Care system, is a poor performer on some meaningful metrics. One of the most important weaknesses is safety. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety (2018) reflects the high rates of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus…