Whitman Hospital trying out new patient care techniques

Lois Scholz holds up a belt she and Nurse Kaye Gorton use to help her walk after her knee Surgery

Backed by a state-wide hospital organization, the Whitman Hospital is making some changes from the ground up in an attempt to better prepare in-care patients for home recovery.

Their aim is to decrease the chances of a patient being re-admitted, said Whitman chief clinical officer, Denise Fowler.

Two patient rooms have been tested since October, and if all goes well, Fowler hopes to take the program to all of the 25 hospital’s patient rooms soon.

Specifically for in-care patients, the new program puts a white-board in the patient’s room that tracks who is providing what to the patient daily. The board also lists any special food requirements, walking ability, and which specialists are treating the patient.

This way, Fowler said, the patient and the family can keep track of what is happening.

Also, doctors and nursing staff don’t have to try to get ahold of each other willy nilly for minor notes that can now be read off the white board, said nurse Kaye Gorton.

Patient Lois Scholz, 79, was in one of the testing rooms after getting her right knee replaced.

“It’s tough to read [the whiteboard]. I want bigger letters,” Scholz said of the white board in her room. She said the nursing staff has been coaching her on what she can and can’t do once she leaves the hospital, all part of the new program.

For example, getting in and out of bed with her new knee will take a special technique to avoid pain, said Gorton.

“We’re trying to help the patient so they don’t have to live here at the hospital,” she said.

Their new program, which they are calling the Transforming Care Team, is really a combination of two Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) programs, said Fowler.

The first program is called the Rehospitalizations/State Action on Avoidable Rehospitalizations Initiative and Transitions Home.

The point of this is largely to ease the transition back into the home for a patient, by educating them, their family and their care-givers.

The second program is called the Northwest Organization of Nurse Executives (NWONE) and has a focus on generally improving the quality of a patient’s stay through better communication and education.

The Transforming Care Team at Whitman Hospital is the resulting program, Fowler said.

“We will spread it to all the rooms once we think we have a product that will work for all the stakeholders, patients, families, doctors and care team,” Fowler said.

She added the hospital has not yet received any compensation from WSHA for the programs, but WSHA does have some grant money promised to them. She did not yet know the amount.