Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center - Our Nurses

Kingbrook's Nurses Rated the Best in Brooklyn For Communicating Well With Patients

Kingsbrook's Nurses have achieved this top score in Brooklyn for three quarters! This recognition is a true testimony to our Nurse's committment to compassion and caring. Detailed information listed on www.hospitalcompare.gov . As reported by HCAHPS: Date Range: Q4-09 to Q3-10.

Excellence in Nursing Practice

Innovations in nursing care practices and an institutional emphasis on educational advancement have led to consistent improvements in Kingsbrook's core measures and customer satisfaction.

The Nursing Department's emphasis on a patient-centered philosophy focused on improved quality, safety, and customer service is founded upon the "Caring Model" of Nursing Practice. The implementation of hourly rounds holds patient safety as the core focus of care delivery.  Significant gains in patient satisfaction scores around courtesy and respect, responsiveness to patient needs, pain relief and control, as well as the 39% decrease in fall episodes in 2009, illustrate the success of the hourly rounds initiative.

Decentralization of unit operations from a traditional vertical accountability to a unit- based model, where nurse leaders at the unit level are empowered to steer the direction of clinical decision making, staffing, and upholding quality standards, have all contributed to the efficiency and improved outcomes sustained through the last four years. This management model is well complemented by the Shared Governance structure at Kingsbrook that incorporates significant staff nurse involvement in decision-making relevant to practice changes that continuously demand reinvention, creativity, and a heavy reliance on best practice guided by research evidence. 

Improving nurse-physician collaboration is an ongoing priority of leadership in the Departments of Medicine and Nursing.  Investments in formalized training on mutual sensitivity, better communication, and patient-centered collaborative discussions have all reaped rewards by creating a much improved partnership between nurses and doctors at the bedside.  These initiatives are supported by studies in the nursing literature showing that an empowered workforce with significant positive job satisfaction indicators complemented by effective nurse-physician collaboration correlates to low patient mortality and better nurse-patient outcomes.   This, in combination with the previously mentioned variables, correlates with a significant reduction in employee turnover.  Kingsbrook went from a high nursing turnover rate of 31% in 2004 to 4% in 2008, evidence of improved quality, commitment, and stability as well as an indirect measure of staff satisfaction in the department.

The educational preparation of Kingsbrook's nursing line staff has shifted from 35% baccalaureate prepared in 2004 to a current 64% composition. The patient outcome results at Kingsbrook are consistent with a study which determined low patient mortality rates were correlated with better educational preparation of the nursing staff.   Kingsbrook's efforts towards excellence include initiatives to increase its masters-prepared nursing line and management staff. 

Paralleling the sentinel study by Aiken et.al. (2003), Kingsbrook's mortality rate improvements also correlate to the increased educational preparation of its nursing line staff.   This has shifted from 35% baccalaureate prepared in 2004 to a current 64% composition.

Kingsbrook's efforts extend to increasing master- prepared nursing line and management staff and partnering with Adelphi University in a facility- based Master's program for a dozen nursing staff that recently completed their graduate degree. These graduates continue to be part of the hospital workforce, delivering better patient care as a direct result of their advanced educational preparation.  Kingsbrook maintains affiliations with community schools of nursing, including:  Adelphi University, Long Island University, Touro College, Hunter College, New York City College of Technology, Medgar Evers College, Downstate/UHB, University of Phoenix, Molloy College, and others.  Kingsbrook regularly open its doors (patient care units) to nursing students from these schools to participate in the training of future nurses. 

Investments in formalized training on mutual sensitivity, better communication, and patient-centered collaborative discussions have all reaped rewards by creating a much improved partnership between nurses and doctors at the bedside. These initiatives are all been well supported by studies in the nursing literature, which show that an empowered workforce with significant positive job satisfaction indicators complemented by effective nurse physician collaboration correlates to low patient mortality and better nurse-patient outcomes.  This, in combination with the previously mentioned variables correlate with a significant reduction in employee turnover, from a high rate of 31% in 2004 to the current 4%, evidence of the improved quality, commitment, stability, as well as an indirect measure of staff satisfaction, in the department.

The significant transformation of the ED nursing staff began with the development of a Training Program in 2005 consistent with the national curriculum of the Emergency Nurses Association which enhanced the core competencies of Kingsbrook's ED nurses. Driven by the expertise of certified nurse faculty within the Nursing department, this intensive program molded the nurses to become highly competent in Emergency Care delivery to the changing population of the ED.