June 14, 2007

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St. Cloud Hospital to participate in patient care improvement project

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) has selected St. Cloud Hospital to participate in a two-year project to improve patient care. AONE has singled out 68 hospitals nationwide to take part in the project, with St. Cloud Hospital as the only Minnesota participant.

In January, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) awarded almost $1 million to AONE to work with 50 hospitals nationwide on sharing lessons learned from Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB), a project originally launched in 2003 by RWJF and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). TCAB is a national program designed to:

• improve the quality and safety of patient care on medical and surgical units,
• increase the vitality and retention of nurses,
• improve the effectiveness of the entire care team.

Participating hospitals will be taught the basic principles of the TCAB innovation process with a focus on nurse managers and team training. The program engages nurses to develop interventions and design new processes that improve care and lead to better staff morale. AONE will disseminate a set of practical, easy-to-use tools to help hospitals redesign delivery of care processes to improve patient care.

“We are excited about the hospitals that have been selected to participate in TCAB through AONE’s leadership,” said Susan Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior program officer at RWJF. “These additional sites will continue the spread of interventions that ensure quality patient care.”

“We were honored to have been selected,” said Linda Chmielewski, R.N., St. Cloud Hospital’s vice president of Hospital Operations and Chief Nursing Officer. “Improving the work environment for front-line staff and strengthening the link between effective nursing care and better clinical outcomes are essential elements of the TCAB initiative. Organizations participating in the TCAB initiative have begun to see a cultural transformation that has lead to better clinical outcomes for patients, increased time in direct care, reduced turnover for nurses, and reduced costs for the hospital overall.”

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