I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully.
I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug.
I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters
committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling.
With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician, in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.
~ The Nightingale Pledge
EMMC's nurses are proud to serve as examples of nursing engagement to others across the country. Our nurses continue to try new ideas, break new ground, share their best ideas with others, all while continuing to provide patients and their families with the high quality, compassionate care they've come to know and expect from EMMC.
Nurse Driven Initiatives:
Transforming Care at the Bedside
In 2010, EMMC joined 15 other hospitals across the country and participated in Transforming Care at the Bedside, a collaborative sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The goals of Transforming Care at the Bedside, are 1) improve the quality and safety of patient care on medical and surgical units, 2) engage and improve the patient and family members' experience of care, 3) improve the effectiveness of the entire care team, and 4) increase the vitality and retention of nurses. Transforming Care at the Bedside originated from the understanding that hospital nurses have many ideas to improve patient care and their work environment, but making changes in a large institution can be time consuming and difficult. Transforming Care at the Bedside is designed to engage front-line staff in identifying barriers to quality patient care and then developing solutions to quickly overcome those problems.
Bedside Medication Verification System (BMVS)
In the fall of 2009, EMMC added the groundwork for an electronic medication verification system, leading-edge technology that will further propel safer patient care. The first phase of the project started in the Pharmacy where an electronic bar-code system was added that identifies, stores, and distributes more than 4600 drugs that are used within the hospital. The second phase was implemented that winter when EMMC added smart pump technology to infusion devices to make sure the right intravenous dose of medication is administered. Today, nurses, and other staff, are scanning their way to safer patient care. BMVS helps to prevent medication errors by cross-checking the bar code on a patient's wristband, the bar code on the medication being administered, and the medication order in the electronic medical record before the medicine is administered.