“There is a strong culture in medicine – you don’t ask for help if you don’t need it.”

That is a quote from today that sticks out to me because as a nurse I’ve seen it in action. There was an instance a few years ago when I was the charge nurse on our pediatric floor. It was a weekend morning around 7:30am. Right away at the beginning of the shift one of our newer nurses called me in for a second opinion on an infant who seemed lethargic and whose vitals were off. We called a Rapid Response and had a team respond within a few minutes led by the PICU fellow, which was pretty typical. She clearly saw that things were not right with this baby, and began calling out request for support teams: lab, X-ray, IV team, etc. After trying to get in touch with a few… Continue reading →

Greetings everyone! I can’t wait to begin this week with all of you. I have been a registered nurse for the past 8 years and I am in the first year of my Doctor of Nursing Practice program focusing on Health Innovation and Leadership at the University of Minnesota. I have served patients at the bedside in both in-patient and out-patient settings, and I also have formal leadership experience managing a busy urban pediatric primary care practice.

In my nursing career so far, I have witnessed a wide spectrum of approaches to patient safety (the good, the bad, and the ugly). At an academic medical center where I worked on a pediatric med/surg and cardiology floor for five years, I got my first real experience with a grassroots approach to shifting toward a culture of safety. I feel fortune to have had the opportunity to participate in this quality improvement… Continue reading →