Several nurses have conducted research focused on bedside care to improve patient satisfaction at Providence St. Joseph Health hospitals in California's Los Angeles and Orange counties, according to a press release published by KHTS.
Many of the nurses will be featured in the health system's annual Research and Evidence-based Practice Day on Sept. 3. The nurses to be featured include Melissa Reilly, RN, a critical care nurse at Fullerton, Calif.-based St. Jude Medical Center, who developed a board with pictures, signs and words at which patients on ventilators can point to better communicate. The boards significantly improved patient satisfaction.
In another example, nurses at Providence Little Company of Mary Torrance (Calif.) coached each other on communication skills to keep patients better informed about their care. The percentage of patients saying they were kept informed subsequently increased, from 66.2 percent to over 71 percent in eight months.
"Nursing research is focused more at improving patient outcomes," said Marysol Cacciata, a nurse who leads the research council at St. Jude. "It overlaps with research by doctors and scientists who are looking at the disease. Nurses are looking at how to impact patients' lives."