About the Medical Center Campus:
Advocate Christ Medical Center is a 695-bed, world-class teaching and research institution. A recognized leader and one of thfe major referral hospitals in the Midwest, Christ Medical Center offers a number of specialties, including cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, orthopedics, pediatrics, surgical services, women’s health services and emergency medicine.
 
About the Beneficiary:
Proceeds from this event will benefit our Nursing Research and Education Endowment which supports nursing research, evidence-based
practice and education. This fund was established in 2011 through individual and group charitable gifts to provide a stable source of funding that allows the department to plan ahead—absolutely essential for multi-year research projects among other opportunities. The funds raised at this special event will help us continue to meet the financial challenges of conducting research and traveling to disseminate findings.

Several nursing research projects are underway that demonstrate our nurses’ passion to pursue excellence, including:
 
Evaluating the effectiveness of unit based journal clubs
Instilling evidence based practice (EBP) into a practice organization requires a culture shift of health practitioners. At Advocate Christ Medical Center/Advocate Children’s Hospital - Oak Lawn implementation of EBP has been targeted to bedside clinicians with the facilitation by advance practice nurses.  The use of journal clubs is one way to increase implementation of EBP. An educational and demonstrative program for the facilitation of journal clubs is provided to the members of the clinical practice council to evaluate whether journal clubbing has an impact on the implementation of EBP.  This is a prospective, repeated measures design with survey data collection using the EBP Beliefs Scale and EBP Implementation Scale before, and after journal club participation. The results of this study will be used to evaluate the journal club program and implement additional EBP resources.
 
Perceptions of family-centered care in the inpatient pediatric setting
A growing body of research indicates that family centered care (FCC) is an ideal model of delivering care to patients and families. However, there is limited research comparing family and nurse perceptions around FCC in pediatric settings. The aims of this study were to examine parent and nurse perceptions about FCC in one inpatient unit in a Midwest children’s hospital, and identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. Parents and nurses were surveyed using the Measure of Processes of Care instruments. Both nurses and parents saw sensitive and respectful care as an area of FCC strength, whereas providing general and specific information were opportunities for improvements. These results provide valuable guidance in improving how we deliver FCC to children and families in our unit.
 
Exploring the effects of the pediatric pain clinical nurse specialist's role
New standards for Pain Management require hospitals to place consistent attention on pain relief. Studies have shown that an APN in the hospital setting can positively impact staff knowledge and patient outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) on staff pediatric pain knowledge and pain management outcomes using a computer based educational pain program.  Outcomes were measured before education, immediately after education and six months after education. Nurses completed the education from October 2010 through July 2011 and demonstrated an improvement in scores and use of pain consultation during that time. These findings suggest that a multi-prong approach is needed for an adequate pain management program.
 

Nurses lead the way to venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention
Organizational programs aimed at prevention of VTE have been identified by the Surgical Care Improvement Project, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Hospital Quality Forum as a critical measure of patient safety and quality of care. At Advocate Christ Medical Center, our multidisciplinary VTE committee assessed the current practice of VTE prophylaxis in the following areas: consistency and reliability of risk assessment, and implementation of prophylaxis when indicated. Nurses led the process improvement by developing a plan for early identification of patients for prophylaxis. Daily leading indicators measured risk screening and prophylaxis rates. Mechanical prophylaxis and nurse driven alternative interventions were implemented as appropriate. In addition, nurses identified patients who required specialized dosing and consulted pharmacists for dose adjustments. As a result of this program post-operative PE or DVT cases as identified in AHRQ has decreased by nearly 50 percent.
 
Is milk being delivered at the right temperature? Nurses' perception compared to actual practice in the NICU
Evidence suggests that milk may be tolerated better when fed at body temperature, yet there have been no studies reporting actual milk temperature when delivered. The purpose of this study was to examine nurses’ perception of milk temperature fed to NICU infants. A descriptive study with convenience sample of nurses from three Level III NICUs was performed. The Feeding Practices and Temperature Survey measured nurses’ perception of feeding temperature using a 6 point scale. Actual milk temperature tested using an infrared thermometer was recorded along with type of milk, method, nurses’ stated milk temperature and actual temperature. The actual milk temperature was compared to the nurses’ perceived temperature, standard room temperature (24ºC) and body temperature (37ºC). Findings show that current warming methods yield wide variation in milk temperature. Nurses’ responses of ideal temperature are not consistent with actual temperature at milk delivery. Nurses play an integral role in maintaining consistency for infant feeding.