Nursing staff is empowered to improve patient care and safety

When two perioperative nurses at Saline Memorial Hospital came across a requirement in the blood transfusion documentation that wasn’t applicable to them in the operating room, they decided to turn it in for peer review with the hospital’s Nursing Shared Governance Council.

The council started exploring options for how to make the process work more smoothly for their peers. After enlisting the help of the IT department and the leader of the quality team, the council created a new document that was tailored specifically for the perioperative department. 

“The new documentation came up in play recently, and it wonderful to see that we had come up with a solution that really works,” said Bryson Berry, council chair. “We addressed a situation that needed some attention, and it was the Nursing Shared Governance Council that provided the avenue for us to be able to do that.”

Saline Health System CEO Char Boulch, who was the chief nursing officer at the time, started the Nursing Shared Governance Council in April 2024 to empower nurses with a way to address the issues they face.

“Shared governance is recognized now as a standard of care for hospitals who truly value their nurses and their input in the clinical decision-making process,” said Rhonda Hixon, the hospital’s quality performance coordinator and sepsis coordinator. “It allows nurses to have a voice and creates a partnership between nurses and the administration and other decision makers.”

The council is made up of four subcommittees: a peer review committee, a quality committee that reviews procedures for possible quality improvement, a professional development committee that works on the clinical ladder and other related initiatives, and a recruitment and retention committee.

Over the course of the year, the council has proposed several policy changes, especially in the areas of patient care and safety, like handling of jewelry for surgical patients, insulin use in the hospital and med scanning. The proposed changes go through rigorous testing and reviews before implementation.

Council members have also started rounding in their departments to gather additional feedback.

“The nurses here are feeling more at ease knowing that people are listening, and it’s people just like them who are facing the same situations they face every day,” Berry said. “They have a way to express their cares, their worries and their complaints, and they feel heard a little bit more. That alone makes this a valuable piece of the hospital.”

As the council looks toward the future, they want to expand to having unit-based councils, where each department has its own set of representatives. Council members are also planning to start attending recruitment events and exploring opportunities to improve retention.

“We have a really engaged team of people in this group right now, who have come up some really great ideas, and I know there is so much more to come,” Berry said. “Any time you give people a voice to where they can express their concerns and bring about change, that’s a win for everyone – not only for the team here but also for the patients we are taking care of.”         

About Saline Memorial Hospital

Saline Health System, a part of LifePoint Health, is made up of Saline Memorial Hospital, a 177-bed acute care facility, and Saline Clinics, a network of primary care and specialty clinics. The hospital is accredited through The Joint Commission for meeting quality and safety standards, the American College of Cardiology as a Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI, the MBSAQIP as a bariatric surgery center, Optum in the Bariatric Centers of Excellence network, CARF as a rehabilitation center and the AASM as a sleep center. Saline Memorial Hospital is also proud to be recognized as a Leapfrog Grade “A” Hospital for its commitment to patient safety and quality care. For more information about Saline Memorial Hospital, please call 501.776.6000 or visit SalineMemorial.org. For more information about LifePoint Health, visit LifePointHealth.net.