The Patient Experience Starts with Nursing

Nurses are extraordinary people. I know. I’ve worked alongside nurses for more than 40 years. They are skilled, compassionate and dedicated to patient care at the most basic level. Nursing is where “Patients First” becomes more than our mantra — it is a way of life. Nursing also will be one of our biggest challenges as we attempt to create the integrated healthcare delivery system of the 21st century.

Several stories in this issue of Cleveland Clinic Magazine highlight the importance of nursing. Thomas Tallman, DO, an Emergency Medicine specialist at Cleveland Clinic, shares his story of being seriously injured after falling off a roof. Dr. Tallman was partially paralyzed, hospitalized and almost totally dependent on his caregivers for several weeks. He has always honored and respected nurses, but he was particularly impressed by the nurses who helped him through his long course of rehabilitation. When he asked what motivates them to give so much of themselves to patients day after day, they answered, “Because we love it when patients get better.”

Our nurses have always joined great compassion with outstanding technical skills. But the newest generation is especially comfortable with computer technology because, as Leslie Simko, RN, BSN, MS, Nursing Simulation Coordinator, observes, “they grew up with it.” Read about how our nurses are trained in our Nursing Simulation Center on strikingly realistic computerized patients.

New nurses enter a world clamoring for them to succeed. The national healthcare reform legislation passed by Congress in March 2010 provides health coverage to an additional 32 million Americans. Demand for highly skilled nurses will skyrocket along with unprecedented demand for healthcare services. To meet that demand, Cleveland Clinic is building an even more comprehensive interdisciplinary simulation center. This facility will provide ultra-realistic patient environments for physicians, nurses and other caregivers to hone their skills. It will be part of the Stanley Shalom Zielony Center for Advanced Nursing Education, in the Zielony Institute for Nursing Excellence at Cleveland Clinic.

Almost 11,000 nurse caregivers work at our main campus and in Cleveland Clinic’s nine community hospitals and 16 family health centers. Two years ago, I appointed Sarah Sinclair, RN, to become Cleveland Clinic’s first executive chief nursing officer. She was given the task of uniting nursing at all our different locations under a single leadership, with shared resources, protocols and opportunities. She also was called upon to collaboratively lead our Office of Patient Experience with Chief Experience Officer James Merlino, MD. The results have been promising. A recent survey showed Cleveland Clinic nurses scoring high on measures of engagement and job satisfaction.

I’m proud of our Cleveland Clinic nurses for their technical skills, emotional competence and the great attitude they bring to their work every day. No one should wait until they’re sick or injured to appreciate good nursing. Thank a nurse today.