News Releases
Better than Rubber Ducks
Hospitals can take a cue from St. Rita’s Medical Center to show gratitude for nurses during National Nurse Appreciation Week
May 5, 2010
Knoxville, Tenn. — Hospitals have plenty of tchotchkes to choose from to honor their nurses during National Nurse Appreciation Week, May 6 – 12, including happy face “Going that Extra Smile” stress ball toys, personalized coffee mugs and rubber ducks dressed as nurses.
And it’s great that many will acknowledge their nurses’ contributions this week by giving them gifts at a special event. Most hospitals also have some kind of ongoing recognition/rewards programs to say “thank you” to nurses throughout the year.
But what else can they do to show their appreciation for everything nurses do? Here’s an idea: Make their workday lives easier and more satisfying by reducing their stress levels and giving them more time for patients.
No More Hassles Trying to Contact Doctors
That’s what St. Rita’s Medical Center did for its nearly 1,000 nurses when it implemented a clinical communications system from PerfectServe. The system provides a single network platform and directory that connects every hospital medical staff member with easy access via voice, Web and mobile interfaces.
According to Senior Nursing Administrator Linda Hovest, St. Rita’s nurses immediately appreciated how simple and easy it was for them to contact doctors using PerfectServe.
“They used to have all these binders and on-call schedules with sticky notes that were a real nightmare,” says Hovest. “Our staff would spend hours each day trying to track down physicians. Now all they have to do is dial one number and PerfectServe connects them to the right doctor.”
PerfectServe automatically routes calls and messages to the right doctor because the rules for contacting them are built into the system. St. Rita’s nurses no longer have find and interpret directions on whom to contact and connect with many more physicians with a single call.
The hospital benefits, too, because more accurate, efficient clinical communications improves the coordination of care and reduces patient safety risks. “The system provides comprehensive documentation, which we use for risk management on all sentinel events,” says Jodi Pahl, a clinical manager at the Lima, Oh. hospital.
Do nurses at St. Rita’s feel more appreciated? It’s difficult to quantify their collective sentiments, but two things are certain. First, since installing PerfectServe in 2006, St.Rita has seen notable improvements on nurse and physician satisfaction surveys. Second, the hospital’s nurse turnover rate is significantly lower than the national average.
About PerfectServe
PerfectServe offers intelligent voice, online and mobile clinical communication solutions that route calls and messages to the right doctor, at the right time. It gives physicians complete control over their communications while enabling hospital clinicians and nurses to expedite and improve the coordination of care. Based in Knoxville, Tenn., PerfectServe processes more than 30 million clinical communication interactions each year involving more than 14,000 physicians. For more information, visit www.perfectserve.com.