Nurses Improving Outcomes, Saving Money
Innovative nurses are saving money and lives through new initiatives they implemented at 7 Boston-area hospitals.
Teams of nurses participating in American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Clinical Scene Investigator Academy, a 16-month, hospital-based nurse leadership and training program, came up with initiatives to implement at their hospitals, leading to positive outcomes. Not only were nurse-led initiatives able to improve patient outcomes, but they also saved the participating hospitals nearly $8 million, according to the AACN.
The teams decreased the average length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) for ventilated patients by nearly 8 days, reduced the incidence of pressure ulcers acquired in the ICU by 50%, and improved assessment of ICU-related delirium in critical care patients.
Furthermore, the nurses’ initiatives improved communication between units, decreasing patient handoff incident reports by 100%.
The 7 hospitals participating in AACN’s academy were: Massachusetts General Hospital, Baystate Medical Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, South Shore Hospital, and Tufts Medical Center.