Jackson Health System
by Kathryn Ewers, RN, BA, M.Ed.
Educator, Jackson Health System
Nurses at Jackson Health System are very excited that we have become the first International RNAO Center Member! We are proud to be an international partner with an organization that has an outstanding reputation for promoting nursing excellence and professionalism. We know that RNAO’s Best Practice Guidelines have proven to be of exceptional quality and have received international acclamation.
We are very eager to tap into RNAO’S expertise regarding utilization and implementation of Best Practice Guidelines in the Jackson Health System context. Nurses have been informally introduced to some of the RNAO guidelines in continuing education classes during the past two years.
Over the past year Jackson nurses have been very busy making changes to our practice as we move toward our goal of achieving Magnet Hospital status. As part of our journey toward Magnet accreditation a comprehensive strategic plan for implementing evidence-based practice was developed. So far our interventions have focused on creating a nursing culture that values research and evidence-based practice and the development of research and knowledge and skills.
Among our accomplishments are:
- Introduction of an Evidence-Based Nursing Class into nursing orientation and continuing education classes (327 nurses have attended)
- Introduction of OVID Medline Tutorial class for nurses to help nurses develop their literature search skills (58 nurses have attended)
- Adoption of an Evidence-Based Nursing Implementation Model
- Creation of a continuing education, hospital- based, Certificate in Evidence-Based Nursing
- Evidence-based practice survey of 1033 hospital nurses
- Utilization of an EBN model and the RNAO Best Practice Guideline on “Woman Abuse: Screening Identification and Initial Response” to change how nurses assess patients for domestic abuse
- Policy and Procedure, Standards Councils now using EBN principles
- Bimonthly Nursing Research Forum developed
- On-site Certificate in Research collaboratively developed with University of Miami, School of Nursing
- Journal Club developed for neonatal staff nurses
Our on-line EBP recent survey of 1,033 nurses appears to indicate that these interventions mentioned above are making a difference. In fact when compared to a similar American national survey entitled “Readiness of U.S. Nurses for Evidence-Based Practice, (Pravikoff, 2005), Jackson rated above their findings in: access and use of electronic evidence-based resources, strong commitment to the value of nursing research by all levels of nurses, higher level of knowledge about evidence-based practice, and higher rate of practice change based on evidence.
Partnering with RNAO will help Jackson build on the above interventions and gains. This is an exceptional opportunity for Jackson Health System to become a national leader in the provision of evidence-based nursing care. This historic partnership was recently showcased as part of our Magnet Fair.
*Jackson Health System is one of the largest and most comprehensive medical facilities in the United States. It has a broad range of tertiary services and clinical programs designed to serve the entire community. It is recognized nationally for the quality of its patient care, teaching and research. Jackson is the academic teaching facility for the University of Miami School of Medicine and is also a “safety net” hospital operated by the government of Miami- Dade, Florida, through an appointed, volunteer board.
The Public Health Trust, a dedicated volunteer citizen’s board, governs the Jackson Health System. All segments of the Jackson Health System are dedicated to providing residents of Miami-Dade County access to a consistent, high standard of care regardless of their ability to pay.
