Banner - University Medical Center Phoenix

As a four-time Magnet®-designated facility, Banner - University Medical Center Phoenix (BUMCP) values and supports nurse autonomy, professional growth, and the generation and implementation of new nursing knowledge through evidence-based practice and nursing research. BUMCP nurses are recognized for their contributions to patients, the nursing profession, and society at large. 

Contribution to Patients:  BUMCP nurses provide patient-centered nursing care using process improvement and evidence-based practice methods to achieve excellence in patient outcomes. Nursing practice is based on the organization’s professional practice model, and care delivery is based on the principles of human caring, defined by Joanne Duffy’s Quality Caring Model.

Examples include:

• Nurse leaders at all levels advocate for additional resources to support excellence in patient care.
• New communication processes to make healthcare easier for patients, including new referral process from Cancer Center to the Emergency Department and transport processes to reduce wait times for obstetrical patients.
• Annual Cultural Diversity Fair to celebrate and promote cultural understanding for diverse patient populations.
• Implementation of innovative technologies to improve patient care, including LEAF technology to prevent hospital acquired pressure injuries and new fall alarm hospital bed technology that communicates directly with nursing staff.
• Initiative to address patients’ priorities based on collaboration between nurses and patients/ families.
• Reduction in nocturnal hypoglycemia rates
• Care coordination across the continuum.
• Nurse-sensitive quality metrics outperform national benchmarks in both inpatient and ambulatory care settings.
• Nurse-sensitive patient satisfaction metrics outperform national benchmarks in both inpatient and ambulatory care settings.

Contribution to Profession: BUMCP nurses are supported to practice at the highest level within their scope of practice. As such, professional development is valued and promoted, and nurses create and implement innovative practices based on empirical data. BUMCP nurses collaborate with the interprofessional health care team and are recognized internally as well as externally to the larger community.

Examples include:

• A professional practice model based on foundational nursing documents: American Nurses Association (ANA) Scope & Standards of Professional Performance, ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses, and Institute of Medicine’s Future of Nursing: 2020 – 2030 Report.
• Resources available to address ethical issues, including electronic access to the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses, a robust Bioethics Committee and clinical ethicist in the critical care setting.
• A nationally accredited “transition to practice” program for new nurses.
• Implementation of disruptive patient/ visitor algorithms to reduce workplace violence against nurses.
• Innovative nurse staffing models, including LPN team model and virtual nurse.
• Interprofessional teams dedicated to internal emergency response, including Code Blue, Rapid Response, Stroke, and OB emergencies outside the department.
• Internal recognition mechanisms for nurses’ contributions to patient care and the organization, including monthly DAISY awards, annual Nursing Excellence awards during Nurses Week, among other internal programs.
• A Shared Leadership culture and structure, comprised of organization- and unit/ department-level councils, to drive improvements through collaboration between front-line staff and leaders. Projects include implementation an of a hybrid bedside shift report process, nurse welcome packets, nurse float guidelines, and unit-based education councils.
  • Annual Critical Care Skills Days developed and implemented by clinical ICU shared leadership council nurses.
  • Bee program developed for non-nurse recognition, in alignment with the DAISY program.
  • Guidelines to support nurses during emergency response events.
• Multiple mechanisms for nurse mentoring and succession planning, including a nurse mentor program and leadership development opportunities.
• Financial and preparation support to facilitate nurses obtaining professional board certification, with >30% of eligible nurses holding certification.
• Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) offered through online and virtual platforms, including Lippincott Learning and monthly Nursing Grand Rounds.
• Tuition assistance to support nurses to advance their formal education, with >80% of all nurses prepared at a BSN or higher level.
• Nurse turnover well below the national average.
• BUMCP RN satisfaction scores, reported by the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) outperform the national mean in the categories of autonomy, staffing and resource adequacy, RN-to-RN interactions, and nurse manager/leader ability, leadership and support of nurses.
• Use of performance appraisals, including nurse peer feedback, to facilitate professional development and advancement.
• Innovative methods to provide nurse education, including interactive classes and escape room formats.
• Clinical ladder program to recognize clinical BUMCP nurses for their level of expertise, engagement, and professional development to positively contribute to patients, the profession and society.

Contribution to Society: BUMCP Nurses interact with internal and external partners to influence healthy patient populations and a healthy nursing workforce.

Examples include:

• Nurse wellness:
  • Monthly Schwartz Rounds to support staff psychological wellness.
  • Wellness Rooms on multiple nursing units.
  • Multiple health and wellness classes and other resources.
• Community outreach:
  • Nurse-led campaign to support local St. Mary’s Food Bank charity.
  • Naloxone education and distribution to the public by Poison Center nurses.
  • Multiple nursing unit volunteer activities with local charities.
  • Annual March of Dimes and American Heart Association fundraising.
• Nurse advocacy at the Arizona State Capitol to improve health policy for multiple patient populations.
• Internal process improvement projects to ensure timeliness of care:
  • Focused multi-disciplinary rounds to reduce hospital length of stay in multiple departments.
  • Streamlined processes in the Emergency Department to reduce patients leaving without treatment and improve patient satisfaction.
  • Adoption of technology to reduce time to treatment for patients undergoing lung bronchoscopy.
  • New space to promote efficiency in patients undergoing elective transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) procedures.
• Nursing research and evidence-based practice are at the core of BUMCP nursing. Ongoing projects have changed practice within the facility and extended into the larger nursing community:
  • Reduction of patient agitation in cognitively impaired patients through the use of weighted blankets.
  • Research impacting reduction of hypoglycemia rates in newborns.
  • Evidence-based project to reduce cell phone bioburden in the Kidney/ Dialysis unit.
  • Evidence-based project to streamline IV push process.
  • Pilot study using the Tortle device to ensure midline head position and reduce intraventricular hemorrhage in very premature neonates.
  • Dissemination of nursing research and evidence-based practice to internal audiences and the external nursing community.