Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation™ - Champion Spotlight Series - Crothall Healthcare, A CompassOne Company
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Company creates program that improves nurses’ job satisfaction and well-being
We are pleased to shine the spotlight on Crothall Healthcare of CompassOne, an exceptional Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation™ (HNHN) Champion.
There’s much more to nurse burnout than working long hours during a pandemic. Stressful work environments, lack of communication, and inadequate staffing often play a role, too. Nurses are the largest segment of the healthcare workforce, and their job satisfaction (and overall well-being) directly influence patient satisfaction. A happy, engaged nurse makes a difference in a patient’s experience.
Because of this, it’s not surprising that more healthcare organizations are turning to companies like Crothall Healthcare for help improving patient satisfaction and nurse burnout. Crothall provides support services, technology, and training to hospitals to reduce the non-clinical workload for clinical professionals. Such support services include:
- Ambulatory services
- Environmental services (housekeeping)
- Facilities management
- Healthcare technology solutions
- Patient observation (sitter) services
- Sterile processing services
- Patient transportation
When Adventist Health Bakersfield asked Crothall for a solution to reduce costs, increase safety, minimize risk, and keep nursing at the bedside, the Crothall team brainstormed the best strategy. One area where they knew they could make an immediate impact was with a program called Patient Observation.
Keeping a Watchful Eye and Improving Nurses’ Shifts
The Patient Observation program provides a team of non-clinical, trained professionals who sit with disoriented or elevated risk patients. This may include those with dementia or with behavioral health issues.
For example, a person at risk of suicide who is admitted to the hospital is required to have someone sit with them 24/7 so they don’t harm themselves. This job duty often gets placed in the hands of the registered nurse (RN) or certified nurse assistant (CNA), despite all of the clinical duties they have, as well.
“It becomes a job dissatisfier because it’s not what they signed up for, and they feel like they have no support,” said Lauren Prepchuk, Crothall Regional Vice President of Operations. “When Adventist Health came to us, we thought, what can we do to support the clinical team? How can we make sure we’re not pulling them away from their main job functions especially in a time when nurses are asked to do more with less?”
With the Patient Observation program, there is a dedicated, trained team focused on observing high-risk patients. This keeps nursing staff focused on providing the best care for all of their patients within shift hours.
Nurses can do what they do best — provide care to all their patients — which results in greater job satisfaction and less overtime. Both of these outcomes result in reduced costs for the hospital and better nursing retention. Nurses are happier and more fulfilled with their jobs because they get to do what they were trained to do.
This also improved patient satisfaction because nurses were more focused on the core components of their job, and therefore providing better patient care. More Adventist Health Bakersfield patients felt listened to and well-respected by nurses after the program was introduced.
Using Technology to Improve Communication
One of the reasons Crothall’s Patient Observation program is so successful is its use of superior technology. The observation team updates each patient’s status in a tablet every 15 minutes for any member of the healthcare team to review. This promotes greater transparency and a seamless flow of information.
“The technology supports and promotes communication between the observation team and the nursing staff,” said Lauren. “It’s a sophisticated solution that allows our team to communicate with clinical staff very quickly. It shows nurses who come in for their shifts exactly what occurred, when, and why. It keeps the highest risk patients safe and clinical teams informed and happy.”
Such clear communication certainly results in lower stress levels for nurses — there is less confusion caused by miscommunication (or lack of communication altogether). In this way, the Patient Observation technology promotes greater collaboration, teamwork, and efficiencies.
The Patient Observation program offers hospitals and health systems a single solution to improve both patient satisfaction and nursing job satisfaction. That’s why it’s no surprise the program is Crothall Healthcare’s most popular and fastest-growing service. As it reaches more healthcare organizations, it’s sure to bring more nurses back to what matters most — helping and healing patients.
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Blog Champion Spotlight
10/11/2021 9:56am CDT
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