HJAR Mar/Apr 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I MAR / APR 2020 17 nursing profession are continuously learn- ing as evidence-based practice changes. It is important that we change the way we prac- tice to ensure we are providing the best care to our patients. At Baptist Health-Little Rock, we have a shared governance council with a focus on education and evidence-based practice. Green We have a highly educated nursing workforce, but in the ever changing field of healthcare, it’s important that we pre- pare students and nurses with a variety of knowledge and experiences. I would like to see a continued focus on systems-level change management, as well as regulatory affairs. In healthcare today, it is essential that we ensure regulatory compliance, and provide the best, most safe care possible. At Washington Regional, we put an increased emphasis on making care easily accessible, while educating our staff on the importance of patient safety, the patient experience, and quality improvement. Hickman I would like to see nursing schools teach more critical thinking skills and real life scenarios to better prepare nurses for the real work environment. There are so many diverse fields in nursing these days; it is very difficult to teach about all of those, however the basics of nursing assessment and criti- cal thinking should be the foundation of a successful nursing program. Ray Nursing educators are doing a wonder- ful job, and producing extremely well-qual- ified new nurses. We enjoy seeing nurses well prepared with real world direct patient care. This has always been a requirement, but the complexity of modern health care demands an even greater level of expertise. Patients in hospital settings today are often very sick, and nurses are caring for patients with a much higher acuity than in the past. This is also true of patients receiving care in a clinic setting. From their first day on the job, nurses face the challenges of managing patients with multiple complex issues, and it is critical to understand the importance of clear communication across an inter- professional team when caring for these patients. Nurse educators do a great job of exposing students to direct patient care before their first job, but exposure to com- plex cases and communication strategies will best prepare them for health care today. Williams Self-care. Nurses come to work every day and pour themselves into oth- ers without awareness of how that kind of emotional drain can affect themselves (and strategies to fill themselves back up). There is a very real risk of mental and physical exhaustion.

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