Nursing students boost patient care

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Hands-on efforts by Purdue University Calumet School of Nursing students have contributed to the success of the Northwest Indiana Patient Safety Coalition, according to a story published recently by the Gannett Healthcare Group and its Nurse.com online publication.

In the story, writer Tom Clegg relates how Indiana patients are benefiting from the Indiana Action Coalition, a statewide network of patient safety groups. Citing support from Betsy Lee, director of the Indiana Hospital Association’s Indiana Patient Safety Center, Clegg wrote that the Northwest Indiana Action Coalition is one of the state’s most successful.

Since 2008, PUC nursing students have worked with the Northwest Indiana Patient Safety Coalition to complete seven projects that have advanced patient care best practices and understanding.

They include:

† A system of standardized, color-coded wristband alerts implemented in area hospitals;

† A patient medication reconciliation form;

† Standardized isolation signage;

† A pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine media campaign;

† Promotion of patient safety through uniform standardization;

† High-alert medication safety measures; and

† Hospital-stay reduction for readmitted congestive heart failure patients.

PUC students applied best- available evidence-based practice to develop, complete and, in some cases, see their projects become part health care in Northwest Indiana.

Use of evidence-based practice is one way PUC’s School of Nursing furthers a campuswide experiential learning initiative.

All PUC undergraduates engage in experiential learning — the integration of traditional and real-world learning — as a graduation requirement.

In the Nurse.com piece, Peggy Gerard, dean of PUC’s School of Nursing, credits the color-coded wristband project, developed by students in a nursing capstone course, for spurring the Northwest Indiana Patient Safety Coalition.

PUC students fostered a system of standardized, color-coded wristbands for hospital patients to wear, allowing health-care professionals to more quickly and accurately identify their needs.

The students also developed a related tool kit and teaching materials for use by health-care staff, patients and families.

Gerard said PUC students also completed several projects for the Indiana Patient Safety Center: development of prenatal care- and mental health-related tool kits, best practices in communicating patient information during shift transitions or transfers from one area to another, and effective health-care safety and quality initiatives through use of Lean Six Sigma.

The entire Nurse.com story can be read at news.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012101090009.

Free entrepreneurs’ session is Wednesday: Aspiring entrepreneurs planning to participate in “The Big Sell” Entrepreneurs in Action contest can gain valuable insight at a free two-hour coaching session at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, at PUC’s Center for Entrepreneurship Success, 1247 169th St., 11/4 miles west of campus.

Because seating is limited, advance registration is required by calling 989-3159.

Developed by PUC and its Center for Entrepreneurship Success, along with the Hammond Development Corp., “The Big Sell” allows prospective entrepreneurs to make a two-minute pitch of their business ideas to audience members and a panel of judges for a chance to win cash prizes and services.

Entrepreneurs can apply online at www.thebigsell.org by 5 p.m., Friday, March 2.

Applications will be evaluated, and 50 finalists will be notified and invited to make a two-minute presentation Saturday, March 31, at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville.

Three winners will share more than $30,000 in cash and prizes.

The business ideas will be judged on innovation and feasibility, commercial potential and economic impact, marketability likelihood, and related financial demands, plus program credibility, said Dushan Nikolovski, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship Success.

Other “Big Sell” sponsors are NIPSCO, Crowe Horwath, the Hammond INnovation Center, The Idea Factory, Palo Alto Software, Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza, attorneys Peter J. Shakula and Angela Crossin, certified public accountant Shawn Lazarian and Petri Financial Services.

For more information, email info@thebigsell.org or call PUC’s Center for Entrepreneurship Success at 989-3159 or (800) 447-87383, Ext. 3159.