Excellence of Hawaii nurses highlighted in national journal

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Wendy Suetsugu, (808) 956-0511
Executive Director, Hawaii State Center for Nursing
Posted: Oct 3, 2014

Dr. Debra Mark
Dr. Debra Mark
An EBP workshop in 2014.
An EBP workshop in 2014.

The overall high quality of patient care by nurses in the islands, and the statewide collaboration of nurses known as the Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing (HSCN), have led to 11 Hawai‘i teams of registered nurses (RN) dominating a current national journal with their observations, research and sharing of expertise.

Eleven of Hawai‘i’s Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) teams are published in the Fall 2014 issue of the Nursing Clinics of North America quarterly journal. These projects highlight the high caliber and accomplishments of the HSCN’s EBP Team Training Program, which is available to all health-care organizations and nurses practicing in the State of Hawai‘i.   Article titles range from “Shhh . . . I’m Growing: Noise in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit)” to “Promoting Sleep in the Adult Surgical Intensive Care Unit Patients to Prevent Delirium.”

“This is an extraordinary accomplishment of nursing in Hawai‘i,” said HSCN Executive Director Wendy Suetsugu, JD, MSN, RN.  “Publication in this scholarly journal illustrates the dedication and commitment these nurses have to administering safe, quality and cost-effective patient care statewide.”

EBP helps nurses nationwide provide high-quality care to patients.  It relies on both the clinical expertise of the nurse and the use of up-to-date research information on how best to provide health care. For example, topics of particular interest under EBP include how a nurse can best care for a patient with pain, or the best strategies to decrease the number of infections in a health-care facility.

High-quality nursing care relies on locating and using the best research evidence in health-care settings to produce quality patient care outcomes.  The Nursing Clinics of North America quarterly journal provides up-to-date diagnostic and therapeutic information in the field of nursing.  Publication in the NCNA spotlights the contributions of Hawai‘i’s nurses on the forefront of EBP.

The HSCN’s EBP program, under the direction of UH Mānoa’s Debra Mark, PhD, RN, is an intensive two-and-a-half day workshop, followed by a 12-18 month internship program that serves to reinforce content and facilitate project implementation.  The program, which started in 2008, has been a successful statewide approach that allows nurses across the state to collaborate and learn from each other through the EBP process.

The issue was prepared under the guidance of editors Debra Mark, Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program Director and Assistant Professor at UH Mānoa’s School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene; Marita Titler, PhD, RN, Professor and Chair, Division of Systems Leadership and Effectiveness Science Rhetaugh G. Dumas Endowed Chair, and Associate Dean, Office of Clinical Scholarship and Practice Development at the University of Michigan School of Nursing; and Renee Latimer, APRN, MPH, MSN, RN, Director, the Queen Emma Nursing Institute at The Queen’s Medical Center.  Serving as writing coach was Barbara Kooker, DrPh, APRN, NEA-BC, Professor Emerita at UH Mānoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, and Nurse Researcher at The Queen’s Medical Center.

“This special issue illustrates how the HSCN has collaborated with UH Mānoa Nursing to impact patient care quality across multiple health-care systems in the state,” said Latimer at Queen’s.  “The dissemination of this work in an issue of a publication such as the Nursing Clinics of North America is competitive and speaks to the stellar work of this team.”

The HSCN collects and disseminates nursing workforce data in Hawai‘i, supports recruitment and retention of nurses, and conducts research on best practices and quality care outcomes. It is located at the UH Mānoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene.