St. Joseph nurse coaching program focuses on improving patient care
St. Joseph Medical Center launched a nurse coaching program intended to improve patient satisfaction and safety.
“We realized that responding to COVID had pulled our nursing staff in so many directions that we wanted to reinvigorate patient safety pieces we knew worked,” said Jennifer Jones-Lapp, interim chief nursing officer. “We’ve asked our nurses to cover certain topics with patients during the change-of-shift report between the off-going nurse and the oncoming nurse that takes place at the bedside.”
During the change-of-shift, nurses discuss:
- Safety of the patient environment
- Medication education
- Fall prevention efforts
“We’re also including the patient in creating their overall goal for the day, and we let them know we will work together to meet that goal,” Jones-Lapp said. “We break the goal down into smaller steps to ensure the patient gets there.”
In addition, nurse leaders oversee a few change-of-shift reports each day and provide the bedside nurse with positive feedback in real time.
“Every day they receive feedback on how they communicate with their patients and each other, which is better than being pulled into an office a month later and being told what you could have done better,” she said. “The staff are very appreciative of getting quick and easy feedback with positivity.”
Nursing leadership also has started staff rounding, asking each staff member the same questions.
“We are looking for any trends that will help us support staff engagement,” Jones-Lapp said. “A happy, engaged staff leads to increased quality of care.”
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