Nurses at a CHI Health hospital in North Dakota are calling on executives to stock emergency crash carts, which they say has been a monthslong issue, according to a letter published Nov. 13 in The Bismarck Tribune.
Rachel Heintz, RN, an emergency nurse at CHI St. Alexius Health Bismarck (N.D.) Medical Center, penned the letter on behalf of the hospital's nursing staff. For the last six months, hospital leaders have changed the process for stocking critical care crash carts, resulting in "inconsistencies" in supply management, the letter alleges.
"The ER nursing staff stocks hundreds of pieces of equipment, linen and supplies in the ER daily, while also taking care of the hospital's most critical patients," according to the letter. "The inconsistency in which the ER nursing staff will be able to complete the restocking task of the specific critical care supplies is the heart of the problem."
Emergency room nurses are asking St. Alexius to stock two critical care carts daily to help employees focus on improving patient outcomes.
"CHI St Alexius is either unwilling or unable to ensure these carts are consistently stocked, and we are not sure which scenario is more concerning," the letter said.
A spokesperson for Omaha, Neb.-based CHI Health told Becker's: "Our ER team at St. Alexius Health provides exceptional lifesaving care to the communities we serve. Patient safety is our highest priority and we continually update processes with patient safety as the goal. We are proud to offer emergency services to the Bismarck community and are grateful to our medical teams who deliver this lifesaving care."