Clinical

Over the past year, health care leaders and organizations nationwide have been focused on how best to support health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a workforce that shoulders plenty of burdens in their day-to-day practice, the pandemic blanketed nurses in another layer of stress, uncertainty, fear and distress, but their team is what helped to get them through. That's why during National Nurses Week, we're naming nursing the “team sport of the year”.

Providers need to adjust how they communicate with patients not only to meet the requirements of the 21^st Century Cares Act, but to ensure patients receive necessary care and create lasting relationships with their patients. A Vizient survey of patient preferences reveal key insights about patient preferences for safely accessing care during the pandemic.

The Institute of Medicine defines patient safety as “the prevention of harm to patients.” While great strides have been made in the name of patient safety in the last 20 years, efforts to improve safe care will continue to be a priority for the unforeseeable future.

The growing use of virtual technology during the COVID-19 pandemic is not just confined to advances in patient care via telemedicine. Companies also pivoted to virtual options to conduct business, including accrediting organizations such as the Joint Commission. During 2020, the accrediting organization suspended most of its onsite surveys from March through May in response to COVID but has since launched offsite surveys for many of its accreditation and certification programs. Survey success in a virtual environment relies heavily on providing access to information, so advance preparation and technology testing is important to ensure a smooth and successful survey. Here are several strategies to help ensure success for your hospital’s next offsite survey.

While the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nursing workforce remain to be seen, the latest data from the Vizient and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Nurse Residency Program serve as a call to action for hospital and nursing leaders if we are to successfully support and retain these nurses as a critical component of the health care workforce.

Our brains are wired for stories. Sandy knew that. Learn how she leveraged storytelling to capture the attention of her audience and gain support for changes to the hospital's Value Analysis program.

Managing, let alone changing, your organization’s block schedule might feel as intimidating as the thought of diving with sharks. But don’t let it scare you; the benefits far exceed the risks. It’s time to dive in!

In the wake of the current pandemic, many health systems have been strained by increased levels of stress and burnout, absenteeism, and turnover among its clinicians. COVID-19 is placing increased demands on health systems and clinicians as well as a renewed focus on the importance of clinician well-being. An effective clinician onboarding program can help ensure clinician well-being and engagement throughout their career—including times of immense stress—but it needs to begin on day one.

On a daily basis, clinicians face many challenges such as lack of alignment and engagement with health system strategy and goals, well-being and burnout issues, and the transition from fee-for-service to value-based payment with health information technology as the platform. These are just a few areas where we need to help clinicians achieve success while managing the demands of practice.

The perceptions of patients regarding the safety of elective procedures has steadily improved since May, as shown in Vizient’s updated report Connecting With Patients During COVID-19. However, this has not translated into increased utilization of health care services.