Less than 20 hospitals across the state hold the same designation and Riverside is one of the first in the nation to commit to implementing this transformational program across all its services.
Newport News, VA (PRWEB) February 28, 2013
Following months of preparation, planning and training, Riverside Health System’s four hospitals earned designations as NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) centers, recognizing Riverside’s dedication to quality care for older adults.
Less than 20 hospitals across the state hold the same designation and Riverside is one of the first in the nation to commit to implementing this transformational program across all its services.
Created in 1994 by New York University College of Nursing, NICHE is the leading nurse driven program designed to help improve the care of older adults. It provides nurses with education and best practice models for responding to the unique needs of older patients.
Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News and Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital on the Eastern Shore received their designations in late 2012. Riverside Walter Reed Hospital in Gloucester and Riverside Tappahannock Hospital earned designations in January. The Doctors’ Hospital of Williamsburg will work to earn its designation as soon as it opens and begins seeing patients later this year.
“Ten thousand people a day turn 65,” said Riverside’s Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Terris Kennedy, RN, PhD. “The older adult population is only going to increase, and we are living longer. We really believe that knowing these best practice, evidence-based protocols, truly gives nurses the ability to care for older adults, not just in acute care settings, but also when older adults are in transition.”
Those older adults in transition are part of what Riverside calls its continuum of care, which includes the patient centered medical home and primary care, acute care services, transitional care services (such as acute rehabilitation, skilled nursing rehabilitation, skilled home health care and hospice) and then also assuring the patient’s care is coordinated across the continuum.
Thus Riverside is innovatively implementing NICHE program across its continuum, Riverside leadership said, blending it with its established innovations in older adult care in the Lifelong Health Division.
Riverside’s Lifelong Health Division recently opened the first fully de-institutionalized nursing home in Virginia, offers home health technologies to older adults who wish to age in place and running Virginia’s most comprehensive Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.
According to NICHE, designated hospitals have higher patient and family satisfaction overall.
“With the aging of baby boomers, improving geriatric nursing competencies is more important than ever,” according to NICHE. “The NICHE program is designed to upgrade the quality of care for hospitalized older adults by increasing awareness of geriatric issues, improving staff competence in geriatric care, and supporting the implementation of hospital geriatric protocols.”
NICHE provides an “extensive array of resources and tools that guide, support, and educate healthcare professionals and facilities throughout the process of achieving NICHE designation.”
“While these designations are worthy of celebration in their own right, it’s only the beginning,” Kennedy said.
The next step for each hospital is for the leadership to conduct geriatric assessment surveys of its nurses to determine the baseline knowledge of how to care for older adults.
Following the survey, each facility will begin the hands on learning and educational portion of the program with the implementation of the Geriatric Resource Nurse Curriculum.
“This program has nurses stepping up to the plate in caring for older adults,” Kennedy said. “It shows that Riverside is committed to a high quality of care for older adults, not just in an acute care setting, but across the health system.”
Learn more about Riverside Health System at riversideonline.com.
ABOUT RIVERSIDE HEALTH SYSTEM:
The original charter for Riverside dates back to December 15, 1915. The company began as one hospital, founded by the community and built on a site at Huntington Avenue and 50th Street in Newport News, Va. In 1962, the hospital relocated to the present site of Riverside Regional Medical Center in central Newport News. Since then, Riverside has evolved into a flagship regional medical center with affiliates throughout the region in every aspect of healthcare. Riverside is a 501c(3) tax exempt, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health and saving lives. Riverside Health System is governed by a voluntary Board of Directors, as is each of the Riverside affiliates throughout the region.
Stephanie Heinatz
Consociate Media
757.713.2199
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