In September 2013, the Maimonides Medical Center’s medical intensive care unit (ICU) implemented a nurse-driven protocol for the management of patients with severe alcohol and/or substance withdrawal. The project goals included alleviating nursing staff anxiety when caring for these patients, decreasing ICU lengths of stay, reducing the number of ventilator days, and decreasing falls.
In this session, Laurie Wilson, RN, MSN, and Christina Ycaza-Gutierrez, RN, BSN, CCRN, explore the team’s journey throughout the execution of the project and review how project implementation goals were achieved. Faculty also discuss other positive outcomes such as decreased overall hospital length of stay, decreased incidence of patient tracheostomies, the positive impact on the hospital’s financial budget, and the project’s ability to continue to surpass expected goals six months after its completion
Author(s):
Laurie Wilson, Christina Ycaza-Gutierrez
Estimated Time: