T HE P ATHWAYS J OURNEY Presented by: Norma Jean Cole, RN, MSN, MBA-HC Clinical Manager | Women's Services Roper St. Francis Mount Pleasant Hospital Trish Deems, MEd., BSN, RN Director of Education Beaufort Memorial Hospital April 11,2014

A Journey A Journey is described as traveling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time. Passage or progress from one stage to another. Dictionary.com

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. A Journey

Taking the Journey ANCC website for Pathway to Excellence is a great first stop on your journey. – Ensure this is the journey you want to take – Find out what steps to take and how to get started.

What is Pathway to Excellence? The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Pathway to Excellence ® program recognizes health care organizations that have the essential elements of an ideal nursing practice environment. To earn Pathway designation, an organization must demonstrate that it has integrated 12 practice standards into its operating policies, procedures, and management structure.

The 12 Practice Standards 1.Nurses Control the Practice of Nursing 2.The Work Environment is Safe and Healthy 3.Systems are in Place to Address Patient Care and Practice Concerns 4.Orientation Prepares Nurses for the Work Environment 5.The CNO is Qualified and Participates at All Levels of the Organization 6.Professional Development is Provided and Used

The 12 Practice Standards 7.Equitable Compensation is Provided 8.Nurses Are Recognized for Achievement 9.A Balanced Lifestyle is Encouraged 10.Collaborative Relationships Are Valued and Supported 11.Nurse Managers Are Competent and Accountable 12.A Quality Program and Evidence-Based Practices are Used

A Good First Step The Self Assessment: Is your organization meeting requirements? How does your organization compare against the 12 elements? Who are your key stakeholders? Be honest in your response to the questions.

Identifying Gaps The Self-Assessment helps to identify strengths and weaknesses. Accurate analysis of the gap results is very important to making the decision to continue the journey. If you decide to take the journey the next step is to develop action plans to fill your gaps.

Closing the gaps Make an action plan Develop a timeline Understand challenges Form task groups Include staff nurses Decide if you need a Pathway consultant

Making the Commitment Identify a Pathway Coordinator Know who and where your resources are – Who knows the organization and has history – Who can write – Do you have a really good editor Ensure your timeline is realistic Have a budget – People / Time – Money – Equipment – Printing – Celebration

A Journey Worth Taking

Passion Mount Pleasant Hospital is motivated by a true passion for a positive practice environment where nurses are fully engaged and patients receive high quality care. The Pathway to Excellence program matched our passion and our vision. We at Beaufort Memorial knew we were already meeting the standards form everything we had already done. We were ready to be a Pathway to Excellence hospital!

Commitment This journey is important to us because we view this designation as a symbolic commitment to the community we serve. This journey was not exclusive to Mount Pleasant hospital; it embodies everyone within our hospital System and reflects our desire to help each other and the desire to fully carry out our mission. It is important to all our BMH community and the community at large to know we excel in patient care.

Challenges Our biggest challenge was unexpected. When we started gathering the stories from staff we realized the power behind each story and the commonality among the stories became “it’s what I do”. We did not realize how difficult it would be to narrow down the extraordinary stories. We wanted to use every story and every experience. At BMH we too had and still have so many stories and as we are working to re-designation it is even harder to choose which ones to include.

Reward Our biggest challenge also became our biggest reward. The completed document felt like a love letter filled with extraordinary stories of selflessness and commitment to each other, our patients and the community we serve. The greatest reward is feeling the organizational pride after we received the designation. We realized we live Pathway to Excellence every day.

Benefits - Nurses Pride is a shared feeling in both our organizations. Our nurses are proud of their accomplishments. Since the beginning of our journey the nurses have gained a firm understanding of the meaning of Pathway to Excellence and the connection to what we do every day.

Benefits - Organization Mt. Pleasant: Consumer education and looking for designations Lends confidence in community and demonstrates support of the System Nurses choosing this hospital BMH: Have experienced much better collaboration interdepartmentally. Every department knows they contributed in some way.

Benefits - Patients Patients benefit from this designation by receiving care in an environment where nurses drive professional practice Patients benefit from this designation by receiving care from cohesive, coordinated care teams Patients feel the care they receive is exceptional. The designation is an outward expression of their lived experience

Practical Advice The journey must be a shared decision among staff Full leader support Engagement of board of directors Give yourself time to write Keep records of everything Staff led teams to promote ownership Use charters for teams to establish commitment to timelines HAVE FUN!!!! Celebrate mile markers along the way Share stories with hospital staff along the way Round on units with treats!!! Celebrate every chance you get!!!

A Defining Moment The first defining moment was the unanimous decision to move forward with the Pathway to Excellence journey. The decision was shared by every nursing staff member and from that moment forward, the journey felt right.

Q UESTIONS ?