This paper presents a nurse consultation for the Baptist Health Care system in northwest Florida, examining the organization's structure, demographics, and performance metrics to identify areas for improvement. Drawing on qualitative methods such as interviews with the Assistant Chief Nursing Officer and quantitative data from HCAHPS scores, Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, and patient surveys, the consultation identifies patient satisfaction and preventable MRSA infections as the system's primary weaknesses. Recommendations focus on developing a cross-departmental patient satisfaction workgroup, strengthening nurse-patient communication, enhancing cultural competency, and upgrading the patient web portal. Evaluation measures include Joint Commission ORYX benchmarks, the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports, and a proposed proprietary patient satisfaction instrument tailored to the local population.
Nurse consultation involves the application of change management principles and visionary leadership to the improvement of healthcare organizations. Guided by evidence-based practice and the ethical principles of the healthcare profession, nurse consultation is a process involving multilateral communications, quantitative assessments, goal setting, and strategic change management. Advanced 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 a local healthcare organization better meet its goals and improve patient satisfaction. Nurse consultation requires the use of multiple, rigorous empirical methods. The data collection processes used in this case include both qualitative methods — such as interviews and focus groups — and 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 the need for the organization to more fully embrace corporate social responsibility models in its operating strategies.
Baptist Health Care system provides healthcare solutions for residents of northwest Florida and south Alabama. It operates five campuses within the northwest Florida area, including three hospitals, a long-term care center in which it is a co-owner, and Andrews Institute. The primary market is northwest Florida and south Alabama, though some service lines — such as its ECMO program — serve a much larger primary market. Much of the population within the health care system's service area is retired or active military.
A total of 6,000 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 unified structure, both geographically and culturally. The unified health system at Baptist depends on a hierarchical bureaucracy, while still providing significant autonomy to its individual organizations and brands, such as Andrews Institute. Baptist Health Care's organizational structure includes a Board of Directors and Senior Officers, among them a Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Transition Officer, and Chief Nursing Officer. Corporate offices work alongside — but separate from — the healthcare officers, including a Human Resources Officer and Corporate Directors of Public Safety and Public Relations.
Comprising 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 healthcare institutions expand the role Baptist Health Care system plays in the community, providing community-based services and supporting medical education and research.
The Baptist Health Care system serves a geographically wide and demographically diverse area. Several of its hospitals and specialized care centers offer services that cannot be found elsewhere in the region, making it a magnet institution. Baptist Health Care system provides neonatal care, geriatric care, and everything in between. The city of Pensacola, Florida, has a population of approximately 52,590; approximately 63% of residents are white, 5% are Hispanic or Latino, and nearly 30% are African American (United States Census, 2017).
During interviews conducted for this consultation, the Assistant Chief Nursing Officer identified that local risk factors are largely related to lifestyle, including obesity-related diseases and diabetes. While teen obesity numbers have improved, adult obesity has actually increased. She also identified other major public health concerns that can be addressed through improvements to the healthcare system, including deficiencies in prenatal care and problems related to low birth weight and infant mortality. Immunization rates have been on the decline, raising further public health concerns. Substance abuse, alcohol-related problems, and high rates of sexually transmitted diseases are also major issues of concern. As the largest and leading healthcare organization in the 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.
"ACNO role, strengths, weaknesses, and current QI projects"
"Patient-centered workgroup and communication improvement proposals"
"National benchmarks and metrics for tracking improvement"
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