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Inside best practice: The human approach

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, August 6, 2010

University Health System (UHS) in San Antonio, TX treats severe trauma victims. The nursing staff has also found ways to personalize and connect with these patients to help them through the life-altering events that lead them to UHS.

During their most recent ANCC Magnet Recognition Program (MRP) ® survey visit, one nurse related a story describing that personalized touch and almost brought the surveyor to tears, says Evelyn Swenson-Britt, MS, RN, clinical research director and MRP project director with UHS. The nurse started out by giving the hard facts of one patient’s case: a middle-aged male with severe trauma from an automobile accident. The description was straightforward and everyone listening was lulled into professional attentiveness. And then the nurse changed her descriptive tactics.

“She said, now let me tell you what really happened,” says Swenson-Britt.

The nurse launched into a narrative that gave a portrait of the patient, his life, his injuries, and his fears. This is Alex, she said. He was driving to work when the accident happened. He has a wife and two children. He was paralyzed by the accident.

“His life was forever changed,” says Swenson-Britt.

Source: This excerpt is from the July issue of HCPro’s Advisor to the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®. Don’t have a subscription? Take a look at the benefits of becoming a member of HCPro’s Resource Center for the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®.

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