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Colorful calendar tells monthly story of nursing excellence at Upstate Medical

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Nurses at Upstate University Hospital and more than a dozen nursing initiatives launched last year are highlighted in a 2010 "We are Upstate Nursing" calendar.

More than 100 nurses, nurse managers and nursing directors from various clinical care areas are pictured in the four-color calendar, and each month highlights a major new hospital program that was implemented last year.

"The calendar is a terrific way to tell Upstate's unique nursing story," said Chief Nursing Officer Katie Mooney, RN, MS, CNAA. "Not only are our nurses at the bedside interacting with patients and their families, they are also in strategy sessions helping to find ways to improve patient care and systems throughout the hospital."

Among the highlights featured in the calendar are:

? Hourly Patient Rounds for January. This new system is a choreographed approach to routine, recurring needs, such as pain and positioning. This hourly rotation enhances bedside care and is a cornerstone of the Patients First philosophy in place at Upstate University Hospital.

? Condition Yellow: A Hospital-wide Response to Emergency Department Over-crowding for February. Upstate nurses play a key role in developing a unique set of quantifiable measures that help measure ED overcrowding.

? PEWS (Peds Early Warning Score): Nurses are on the frontline for the Pediatric Early Warning Score initiative for June. After reviewing various vital signs, nurses in Pediatrics provide numerical ratings, or scores, to highlight a patient's illness severity. A high score brings the Pediatric Rapid Response team to further evaluate a patient's condition.

? Nursing Residency Program for July. This new program provides new graduate nurses with a series of learning and work experiences to assist them in the transition to their first professional role and to become leaders at the patient bedside. Research shows nurses participating in residency programs have high job satisfaction and lower turnover than nurses who do not participate in residency programs.

? High-tech Initiatives Improve Communication and Patient Care for October. Upstate instituted N-DOC, an online nursing documentation program that allows nursing to document a head-to-toe assessment in a clear, concise and legible format. Consults, interventions and follow-up on key issues are automatically triggered with N-DOC documentation.

Other monthly features include the hospital's selection as a Stroke Silver Performance Achievement Award winner, the accreditation of the Bariatric Surgery Center, Patient and Family Center Care initiative, immunization initiative at the university's Pediatric and Adolescent Center, and enhancements in turnaround time in the operating room and the reintroduction of clinical trainers on patient care units.

The calendar also lists the names of dozens of nurses who were honored for excellence in patient care in 2009, and highlights the participation of the hospital's nurses in a variety of community activities, such as Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Rockin' the Red Cross Battle of the Bands and National Cancer Survivor's Day.

Assisting in the calendar's creation was Jodie Purdy, director of the Nursing Recruitment Department. The calendar was designed by Rebecca Janowski of Marketing and University Communications.

Interested in obtaining a calendar? Contact Nursing Recruitment at 315-464-4810.

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