In partnership with our HCA Houston facilities, please review the attachment regarding higher level of care SBAR communication in rapid response situations. 

SBAR Rapid Response

Thank you for your continued commitment to patient care and safety! 

In partnership with our West Florida Division facilities, please review the below attachments for Stroke Core Measure nursing education.  Evidence based stroke care encompasses not only clinical aspect of the care provided, but also how well we document care provided in the medical health records. The chart audits identified an opportunity with a few areas of stroke care, such as:

• Documentation of VTE prophylaxis (see Nursing units RN Stroke orientation slide 23)
• Patient’s discharge Stroke education with individualized risk factors
• Neuro checks and NIH documentation

Nursing units RN Stroke orientation

Discharge Stroke Education Documentation

Frequent Neuro Intervention

Stroke_TIA Tips Admission and Discharge

Thank you for your dedication to patient safety!

In partnership with our facilities, please remember that texting physicians from your personal phone is not encrypted or HIPAA approved.  Please see below for a refresher regarding mobile communications with physicians.

Texting Providers

Thank you for your dedication to patient safety and HIPAA policies!

In partnership with our North Texas facilities, we are launching a new web-based application scheduling tool.  Blockit is a simple web-based application that will be added to your facility’s intranet site, easily accessible from any workstation or iPad. SSO Button will automatically login users that have a profile built in Blockit based on their AD credentials.  Within minutes after the ED Provider referral, staff will be able to schedule the patient’s follow up appointment at bedside.

Key Benefits

• Booking of patient appointments in real-time at point-of-care (PoCS)
• Sending of referrals through the Blockit platform directly to receiving provider’s EMR system
• Tracking of patient referral and appointment status in real-time
• Insights into referral activity through analytics
• Increased patient follow-through with their scheduled appointment

Blockit Master Training

Blockit Scheduling Queue Instructions

Within our HCA facilities, isolated events resulting in burn injury to the chest, neck, head and facial areas of the patient have been reported from defibrillator use.  While defibrillator fires are not completely preventable, with appropriate precautions and techniques, the risk can be mitigated. 

Please familiarize yourselves with the below documents to help us lower the risk of these events.

OR Fire Risk Assessment & Protocol

Patient Safety Defibrillator Huddle Card

Thank you for your dedication to patient safety!

In October,  the North Florida Division began to transition to utilizing Plain Language Codes for activating an emergency response.  This was implemented to promote standardized communication among caregivers across our NFD facilities to ensure clear communication and a coordinated response.  In addition, our patients and visitors will be able to respond appropriately to events that may impact their safety.  

Please see below.

In partnership with our HCA family, please review the new Med-Lock stickers are being introduced into our care environments.  The new Med-Lock stickers are to help bedside clinicians identify when a central line is “locked” with a medication such as heparin or trisodium citrate. This prevents accidental injection of medications into the bloodstream by properly identifying hubs that have medication instilled in them prior to flushing the line for use. 

Please review the attached new huddle card.

Med-Lock Sticker Huddle Card

Thank you for your dedication to patient safety!

In partnership with our West Florida facility, Oak Hill Hospital, we are posting the C. diff algorithm for lab testing. The C. diff algorithm is a division tool that is to be completed for C. diff testing and should be sent with the specimen to the lab. If criteria is not met, the sample collection is to be stopped and discussed with the provider.

C.diff Testing Algorithm

Thank you for all you do for our patients!

In partnership with our Gulf Coast facility, HCA Houston Healthcare North Cypress, in an effort to sure up the tele start documentation and notification these forms will be attached to the Tele boxes.  When ER hold RN or ER staff RN grab a Tele box this form will be with box.  This is to help ensure monitor is placed on tele admit, monitor room is called, rhythm verified and then ER charge receives form after steps are completed prior to departing.

ER Hold Tele Tracker

Thank you for your dedication to patient safety!

The San Antonio Division at all of the Adult Emergency Departments and FSED's, are piloting a Lean Six Sigma project on improving Vancomycin Dosing 1500mg or greater.

Issue:  Doses were not given or being missed.

Order sets were restricted to the ED location for Providers, but staff had on their eMAR 2 doses 1 hour apart.  There was still an issue and the second dose was still being missed or delayed.  So the Lean Six Sigma project was updated with a new process.

In December, the process changed in which the doses were profiled at the same time, so the doses in emar were a few mins. apart, but staff were educated  and label comments instructed them to administer the doses concurrently.  Staff would scan both doses in eMAR appropriately, and set up the ICU Medical Pump to run both doses concurrently.  Staff have specific instruction within the Label comments directing them to confirm the rate and volume.

Vanco Dosing

Please contact Charge Nurse for additional questions.

Thank YOU!