Pediatric Critical Care Nurse Jobs

What a Week as a Clarian Registered Nurse!

Saturday, March 7, 2009 by Tracy Davis, BSN, RN, CCRN, Pediatric Critical Care

What a week! There was never a doubt in my mind. The ANCC Appraisers were here all week, surveying all of Clarian's downtown hospitals. I was lucky enough to personally spend time with them as their tour guide around Methodist with four other RN’s.

It is a very easy job to show them people, an institution, and processes you are so genuinely proud of. At one point, when we were on about our 5th critical care unit, yet another Beacon Award winner, I looked at one of my “partners in my crime” and said, “Don’t you just love this place?” It is so easy to impress someone, because our pride is obvious, as is the pride in the people that we encountered on each and every floor.

From nurses who greeted the Appraisers with big smiles to the Housekeeping staff who were proud of how great they had the units looking. They all had a story to tell, and we needed a hook to drag the team to the next floor to keep them on anything close to a reasonable schedule! After that fantastic visit, it was back to the Pediatric Critical Care Unit, a place that has been at near capacity for quite some time. It has “taken a village” of extra staff to meet the demands of such high volume and acuity. But as usual, this awesome staff has done just that.

And this past weekend was a perfect example of why I love Methodist. We had a “perfect storm” of very high acuity patients and high volume in the Emergency Department at nearly the same time Saturday night. Between the ED staff, night Nursing Administrator, and PCC staff, everyone worked together with such precision teamwork. These children and their parents received the care they needed and deserved, and I am proud to have been a part of it. It makes it easy to continue doing what you love to do after so many years.

I’m sure next week will bring more excitement…it always does!

Tracy Davis RN

To join our team and feel the pride, visit Registered Nurse Job Opportunities.

Preparing for the American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Appraisals

Friday, February 20, 2009 by Tracy Davis, BSN, RN, CCRN, Pediatric Critical Care

We are currently getting all fired up here for our Magnet visit next week. It is for our redesignation, and I expect the site visit by the American Nurses Credentialing Center to go very well. After all, it is to showcase what we do best here, and that is take great care of our patients and families.

We have had meetings the past few weeks of the Ambassadors, the “tour guides” for the Appraisers. I always think any opportunity I have to get together with colleagues from other areas at Clarian is well-spent and fun. We always seem to find a way to make any work fun.

Learning about what others do in their respective areas is just amazing and inspiring. Everyone has their area of expertise. I love listening to others tell stories about their recent patients. Mostly because they are usually very different from my world, and because it is obvious that everyone has such a passion for their patient population and their nursing practice. It is why when the parts come together, they make up an awesome whole! And I think the Appraisers will easily see and hear that through the voices of all the nurses they interact with.

We are ready. Let the visit begin!

Tracy Davis RN

To join the fun, start your Registered Nurse job search here: Nursing Job Employment Positions

Interesting Times as a Pediatric Critical Care Nurse

Thursday, February 19, 2009 by Tracy Davis, BSN, RN, CCRN, Pediatric Critical Care

Well, life has certainly been interesting around here. In the Pediatric Critical Care there has certainly been no lack of business.

In fact, we have pretty much been at capacity throughout Methodist. As soon as a patient leaves, there is at least one more waiting to take their place.

It can be an exhausting time, as staff work extra hours to continue to provide the quality care our customers expect and deserve. But as always, a rewarding time.

I took an idea that was generated from our Partner/Senior Partner Council and began the process of developing a policy for Clarian with our Social Work department.

One of my colleagues brought up the very keen observation that we have a Safe Haven law in Indiana. This provides a way for babies less than 45 days of age to be left at safe places if the birth mother feels she is unable to keep the child for any reason. However, as an institution we have not addressed how to handle that situation if it were to happen here.

As we talked, we realized that our hospitals are very large, and there are a variety of places a baby could be brought in. All staff would need to be aware of their role in the process. This sparked a discussion of the need for education not only to our own staff, but also to those outside our walls, who are vulnerable and at risk, the pregnant teens, etc.

It was great dialogue, and as always, made you proud of those you serve beside. I think if we can all learn something, and perhaps serve the greater good in the process, this will be one of our better efforts at education. More later!

Tracy Davis

Visit aCallToChange.org/Nursing for Pediatric Registered Nurse Jobs in Indiana

Nursing Administration at Clarian Brings Great People Together

Tuesday, February 3, 2009 by Tracy Davis, BSN, RN, CCRN, Pediatric Critical Care

What a great day. As I often like to say, my job is the best of both worlds. Some days I get to continue to do what I always wanted to do, which is take care of critically ill and injured children. But part of my role is administrative, and it’s a great gig, too. I get to interact with people from all walks of Clarian in a variety of ways through committee work, any of a slew of meetings, or just the travel to get to those events. And people here are truly some of the friendliest you ever want to meet.

So, last Tuesday started amazingly early, with a 6:30am trauma committee meeting. That was followed by a meeting of the Partner/Senior Partner Council, which I co-lead... a truly fabulous group. These are staff nurses who have chosen to advance in their practice and are leaders on their unit and in the hospital system. It is a group that is just fun to be around.

When I looked across the room this morning, they were from all three hospitals, from all imaginable areas….OR, OB, NICU, Neuro Critical Care, Adult Critical Care, Pediatrics, ER, Med/Surg, Cardiovascular, the Beltways….I really can’t think of an area that was not represented. What a great forum to discuss burning issues!

Kind of makes you wonder what this week will bring, doesn’t it?!

Tracy Davis, RN, BSN, CCRN
Pediatric Critical Care