Answer Happy

Grady Health System is the largest acute care organization serving Atlanta, Georgia. A typical description of the organization includes one of the busiest Level 1 Trauma hospitals in the country. Grady improves the community's health by providing quality, comprehensive healthcare in a compassionate, culturally competent, ethical, and fiscally responsible manner. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey is used to calculate the patient experience ratings based mainly on data from patients post-discharge. The areas where patients reported a below-average performance included nurse communication, requests addressed promptly, education on medication and treatment. Patients are contacted with a follow-up call from an outside agency obtained by the hospital within two days to weeks post-discharge to participate in a survey about their hospital stay experience. The questions include subject matter related to CMS expectations. An example of this questionnaire would be the patient's view of pain control and the provider's performance when delivering care. These same questions are incorporated into the staff orientation and daily performance. A fair example is the pain assessment documentation every two hours, the discharge checklist, and the staff language and performance should mirror the questionnaire, becoming familiar to the patient. Leadership focuses on improving outcomes by returning to basics and emphasizing patient-centered care. Grady established a customer service team, assigned the task of addressing customer satisfaction services during the patient's hospital stay. These tasks include rounding, interacting with patients, performing pain surveys, and providing family service. Initially, I did not quite understand the process until I learned the evaluated outcomes confirmed decreased patient complaints, patient falls, and negative grades on the facilities performance surveys. This allotted the staff bonuses, improved their overall performance, and improved the turnover rate. Reference: Boykin, A., Valentine, K., & Schoenhofer, S. (2013) Health care systems transformation for nursing and health care leaders: Implementing a culture of caring. New York: Springer Publishing Co. Chapter 2 Butts, J.B. (2011). Components and levels of abstraction in nursing knowledge. In J.B. Butts, & K.L. Rich (Eds.). Philosophies and theories for advanced nursing practice (pp. 87-108). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett 7