Professional Nursing Services, nurse practitioners, Pennsylvania Nurse Staffing agency

Call our toll free number : (800) 284-4764

2008 National Patient Safety Goals - Hospital Program

Goal 1	Improve the accuracy of patient identification.
1A	Use at least two patient identifiers when providing care, treatment or services.
Goal 2	Improve the effectiveness of communication among caregivers.
2A	For verbal or telephone orders or for telephonic reporting of critical test results, verify the complete order or test result by having the person receiving the information record and "read-back" the complete order or test result.
2B	Standardize a list of abbreviations, acronyms, symbols, and dose designations that are not to be used throughout the organization.
2C	Measure and assess, and if appropriate, take action to improve the timeliness of reporting, and the timeliness of receipt by the responsible licensed caregiver, of critical test results and values.
2E	Implement a standardized approach to “hand off” communications, including an opportunity to ask and respond to questions.
Goal 3	Improve the safety of using medications.
3C	Identify and, at a minimum, annually review a list of look-alike/sound-alike drugs used by the organization, and take action to prevent errors involving the interchange of these drugs.
3D	Label all medications, medication containers (for example, syringes, medicine cups, basins), or other solutions on and off the sterile field.
3E	Reduce the likelihood of patient harm associated with the use of anticoagulation therapy.
Goal 7	Reduce the risk of health care-associated infections.
7A	Comply with current World Health Organization (WHO) Hand Hygiene Guidelines or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hand hygiene guidelines.
7B	Manage as sentinel events all identified cases of unanticipated death or major permanent loss of function associated with a health care-associated infection.
Goal 8	Accurately and completely reconcile medications across the continuum of care.
8A	There is a process for comparing the patient’s current medications with those ordered for the patient while under the care of the organization.
8B	A complete list of the patient’s medications is communicated to the next provider of service when a patient is referred or transferred to another setting, service, practitioner or level of care within or outside the organization. The complete list of medications is also provided to the patient on discharge from the facility.
Goal 9	Reduce the risk of patient harm resulting from falls.
9B	Implement a fall reduction program including an evaluation of the effectiveness of the program.
Goal 13	Encourage patients’ active involvement in their own care as a patient safety strategy.
13A	Define and communicate the means for patients and their families to report concerns about safety and encourage them to do so.
Goal 15	The organization identifies safety risks inherent in its patient population.
15A	The organization identifies patients at risk for suicide. [Applicable to psychiatric hospitals and patients being treated for emotional or behavioral disorders in general hospitals—NOT APPLICABLE TO CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITALS)]

Goal 16	Improve recognition and response to changes in a patient’s condition.
16A	The organization selects a suitable method that enables health care staff members to directly request additional assistance from a specially trained individual(s) when the patient’s condition appears to be worsening. [Critical Access Hospital, Hospital]

* Source: The Joint Commission

Press Release

JCAHO Certified Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner

Date: April 17, 2006

Skilled Nursing, Inc. ® Earns Joint Commission Re-Certification

Horsham, PA, April 17, 2006: Skilled Nursing, Inc.® has again earned the Gold Seal of Approval™ for Health Care Staffing Services. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has awarded Skilled Nursing, Inc.® the Health Care Staffing Services Certification for two additional years.

Skilled Nursing, Inc.® met the Joint Commission’s national standards addressing how staffing firms determine the qualifications and competency of their staff, how they place their staff and then monitor staff's performance.

"Health care organizations that contract with Skilled Nursing, Inc.® can look to this certification as an assurance that Skilled Nursing, Inc.® demonstrates a commitment to providing and continuously improving quality services," says Michele Sacco, Executive Director, Health Care Staffing Services Certification, Joint Commission.

The ongoing shortages of nurses and other health care professionals have forced health care organizations to increasingly fill positions with temporary workers through contractual arrangements with staffing firms. The Joint Commission certification program was launched in October 2004 to offer an independent, comprehensive evaluation of a staffing firm's abilities to provide competent staffing services.

"Certification represents Skilled Nursing's dedication to providing nurses and nurse practitioners that are qualified to provide safe, high-quality care to patients," says Marty Minniti, CEO. "We're proud to be awarded the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval. Earning this distinction is good for our nurses, the Nursing Agency industry, and us. I encourage all Nursing Agencies to become JCAHO certified.”

Marty Minniti went on to say, “We will continue to seek meaningful opportunities which measure our ability to provide competent nursing to our clients. I also want our client facilities to experience SNI’s ability to satisfy the new JCAHO “unannounced” Hospital Accreditation requirements. I want our clients to be confident that whenever it is their turn to undergo the accreditation process, SNI will do its part, to help them shine.

“I am very grateful that my agency is celebrating its 26^th anniversary this year. I sincerely believe that our success is due largely to the high caliber of nurses and professional staff who have associated themselves with SNI over the years and the great rapport we have established with our clients,” said Minniti.

Contact: Terry Aisenstein, RN, Communications Coordinator
Phone: 267-532-1620

Date: May 23, 2005

Skilled Nursing, Inc. ® Awarded Joint Commission Certification

Horsham, PA, May 5, 2005: Skilled Nursing, Inc. ®(SNI) a privately and locally owned Pennsylvania Nurse Staffing agency, has achieved the Gold Seal of Approval ^TMfor health care staffing services. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has awarded SNI Health Care Staffing Services Certification for one year.

SNI met national standards addressing how staffing firms determine the qualifications and competency of their professional nursing staff, how they place the nurses and then monitor the nurses' performance.

"Health care organizations that contract with Skilled Nursing, Inc. ® can look to this certification as an assurance that SNI demonstrates a commitment to providing and continuously improving quality services," says Michele Sacco, executive director, Health Care Staffing Services Certification, Joint Commission.

Martha Jean Minniti, R.N. B.S., CEO and Founder of SNI is delighted to receive this most recent professional acknowledgement during SNI's 25^th anniversary year.

When interviewed, Ms. Minniti cited the growing competition between the hospitals to be the best at what they do. "It is essential for each of them to achieve accreditation. It is their seal of good standing". Beginning in 2006, JCAHO surveyors are taking a new approach by conducting "unannounced" hospital surveys spending the majority of time on the patient floors evaluating the direct care a patient receives, in contrast to the old announced survey format. This new approach creates a large set of unpredictable dynamics for the surveyed facility. "We want our hospital clients to rest assured that professionalism, competency and patient safety are the same predictable fixed standards of high quality nursing they have grown accustomed to experiencing whenever using SNI Nurses" said Minniti.

Marty Minniti went on to say, "I volunteered to have my agency surveyed because I wanted our client facilities to have the confidence that our temporary nurse workforce will be educated and prepared to meet the new JCAHO "unannounced" format their hospitals will experience; and that the SNI nurses can be relied upon to do their part to help the facility shine when undergoing Accreditation. My agency is celebrating its silver jubilee this year and I am proud to state that this benchmark was possible because of the caliber of nurses who associate themselves with SNI. It was only natural for us to be one of the first to earn Accreditation. Our entire company is delighted to be one of the first 20 Nurse Staffing agencies in the country to be surveyed and accredited by JCAHO. It was a very challenging process but I personally believe that every agency should be accredited to show their commitment to the hospitals that use temporary nurses to fill staffing vacancies."

"Certification recognizes SNI's dedication to providing registered nurses that are qualified to provide safe, high-quality care to patients and ease the burden to healthcare facilities in this time of a critical nursing shortage. We are extremely proud to receive the Joint Commission Gold Seal of Approval."

The Joint Commission is an independent, not-for-profit organization and is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care.

Contact: Terry Aisenstein, RN, Communications Coordinator
Phone: 267-532-1620