Kris Chaisson, BSN, MS, RN, CCRN-K, NEA-BC
Senior Vice President of Nursing and Patient Care Services,
Central Maine Healthcare
Chief Nursing Officer
Hello nursing colleagues,
In follow-up to last week’s introduction to Relationship- Based Care our professional practice model, I wanted to further elaborate on the dimensions of this model. More specifically, on how to connect this to our everyday practice. The first and perhaps most important is that the patient and family are at the center. We should strive to have all services, processes and structure aligned with the patient and family needs. Examples include incorporating the family and patient in bedside handoff, rounds and discharge planning.
The second dimension is providing care in a healing culture where all aspects of care relationships and environments are therapeutic and calming, treating people with respect and dignity. An example is quietness and cleanliness of environment, refraining from speaking poorly of other people or departments.
The third dimension is teamwork. This requires all care team members to embrace a shared purpose and work together with mutual trust and respect. This can be displayed in how we manage up each other.
The fourth and fifth dimensions are interprofessional practice and care delivery. All clinical professionals are respected for unique expertise and scope of practice to provide optimal care. Care is designed to allow clinicians to accept individual ownership for the relationships with the 25.23 team and patient.
The sixth dimension of system design allows for the structure and processes to be continuously improved. We do this by having root cause analysis on any events that cause harm. This allow us to grow from learning.
The last two dimensions are also critical. Using evidence-based practice should guide practice throughout the organization. Leadership cultivates a shared vision that inspires, empowers people closest to the work to improve the processes and relationships. The example that comes to mind is using our unit-based practice council to drive the improvement to our work.
Phew, that was a lot. I hope you have a better understanding about how this practice model fits into the everyday work of nursing.
Respectfully,
Kris Chaisson