Nursing
Nurses are the foundation of every great hospital, and here at NYP Queens, they are the bedrock. The nursing team delivers compassionate, safe and professional care to patients. The hospital fosters a nursing culture that emphasizes nurses in leadership roles, and allows a degree of autonomy as well as opportunities for career development.
One of the hospital’s unique characteristics is that the nurses contribute substantially to organizational policies and are empowered to take ownership of their practices by being part of the decision-making process. This governance structure helps nurses make decisions closest to the point-of-care, resulting in positive patient, staff and system outcomes.
For instance, the rapid response coordinators have contributed greatly to the organizational implementation of the Rapid Response Team. Nurses have also developed and implemented a nurse-driven protocol that has greatly reduced the development of urinary tract infections in our patients.
The Nurse Preceptor Program
Designed to assist the orientee's integration into the work setting by providing a unit-based preceptor. The preceptor will function primarily as a clinical role model and facilitate the orientee's social integration into the unit. The Nurse Preceptor program recognizes individual nurses for their clinical expertise and promotes a supportive peer network. Preceptor candidates are identified by the unit nurse manager and participate in educational programs that are designed to assist the expert nurse in dealing positively and effectively with the novice. The preceptors participate in the evaluation process of the orientee and provide feedback on the clinical orientation to the nurse manager and nurse educator.
Nursing Performance Improvement Council
The Nursing Performance Improvement (PI) Council's members are nursing staff from all divisions of Patient Care Services (PCS). The council helps to ensure continuous improvement in the quality of nursing care and services in order for safe and effective patient care to occur in an environment of minimal risk. The primary goals of the Nursing PI Council are to coordinate nursing performance improvement (PI) activities, disseminate data for nursing-sensitive PI metrics, and provide ongoing guidance and support for council members undertaking PI activities. Members of the council plan, design, and participate in projects to help improve healthcare outcomes and reduce or prevent adverse events. The Model for Improvement methodology is utilized to plan, measure, assess and improve functions and processes related to patient care and safety throughout the organization.
Clinical Ladder Rewards and Recognition Program
NewYork-Presbyterian Queens has a Clinical Ladder Rewards and Recognition program for nurses who continue to administer patient care at “the bedside.” The purpose of the program is to recognize and reward the clinical expertise, competence, and knowledge of nurses involved in direct patient care. The program provides opportunities for advancement at the bedside and not through advancement to a management position.
Upon completing a six-month probation period, every newly hired nurse at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens automatically becomes a Clinical Nurse I. Many nurses will remain at this level for their entire career. These nurses are valuable assets to the delivery of quality patient care. However, some nurses may feel that they want to go beyond; by becoming involved in research, performance improvement, mentorship and unit-level shared decision-making while remaining at the bedside. For these nurses, advancing on the clinical ladder is a great option.
Two different levels are available for advancement, Clinical Nurse II (CNII) and Clinical Nurse III (CNIII). Nurses at the Clinical Nurse II level are experienced in their specialty and may be charge nurses or preceptors. They may assist with poster presentations; serve on committees or as superusers. Nurses at the Clinical Nurse III level are already experienced preceptors and charge nurses. They may be actively involved with such high-level initiatives as co-chairing a committee, or leading a Performance Improvement project. These nurses represent some of our best at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens
Aside from a monetary differential, CNIIs and CNIIIs are given opportunities to participate in various organizational projects under the guidance of a sponsor. Interested in learning how to undertake a Performance Improvement project? Want to have input in an Informatics project to affect change in your area? Want to work with Education to help both assess and address learning needs on your unit? Become officially recognized for all your expertise and hard work, advance on the clinical ladder.
The requirements for each level vary slightly but are based upon professional certification, years of experience in specialty, education completed, work performance and initiative. A full list of requirements including how to apply is available through the Department of Professional Development and Education. If you do not meet the qualifications, there will be annual opportunities to apply for advancement.
Transcultural Care in a Multi-Cultural Community
The community served by NewYork-Presbyterian Queens is one of the most densely populated in the New York area. Recent studies show the immediate area surrounding the main campus (Flushing, New York) is home to people of more than 96 different countries speaking over 59 different languages. The nursing staff of New York Hospital Queens is innovative in providing care to patients, their families and the community. The hospital's nurses are both culturally sensitive and able to illicit compliance with a plan of care that will lead to a positive outcome.
Several innovative programs employed by the Department of Patient Care Services include:
LANGUAGE SERVICES:
The Patient Care Services staff at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens is a multicultural group reflecting the ethnic makeup of our community. All nursing staff who speak more than one language participate in the hospital-wide language bank and are able to translate when called upon to do so. In addition, all staff are familiar with the utilization of the telephone language line.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH:
The nursing staff participates in a wide range of community outreach programs and health fairs targeted at health information and wellness preservation for the community.