Best practices in providing care

If Silvie Crawford, Executive Vice-president and Chief Nursing Executive of Patient Care Programs had to choose two characteristics that unite people working in health care, she would pick the enjoyment of working with patients and the thirst for knowledge.

While most people working on the frontlines of our health care system are caring for and working with patients on a regular basis, it’s not always easy to find the time to satisfy one’s thirst for knowledge; that’s where becoming a Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO) can make all the difference.

“Through the multi-year process of becoming a Best Practice Spotlight Organization, nurses and allied health professionals at our KGH site will be armed with industry knowledge that has been proven to support them in their everyday professional practices and positively impact the health of our patients,” says Crawford.

Earlier this year, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) awarded the Kingston Health Sciences Centre’s (KHSC) KGH site a BPSO candidacy period, extending from April 2018 to March 2021. Once this designation is achieved, it will align with the BPSO designate status of KHSC’s HDH site, which was obtained in April 2015.

“In addition to this being a great opportunity to standardize best practices across our organization, it is also another important step in building a culture that strives for excellence through knowledge,” says Crawford. “I encourage people to get involved and help foster a workplace that relies on proven approaches and opportunities to address our evolving health sciences organization.”

Over the next 18 months, 127 KGH staff will become BPSO champions. A BPSO champion is a nurse or allied health professional who will receive training that equips them with the tools and strategies to champion the best practice guidelines (BPGs) that will be implemented as part of the BPSO designation. 

Please also take a moment to learn about the BPGs that the KGH site will be implementing, which have been evaluated and proven to have positive impacts on the care provided to patients and families.

Interesting fact: This year, the RNAO’s BPGs and BPSO are celebrating 20 and 15 years respectively of helping improve patient care. Both originated in Ontario and are now found in 700 academic and health care organizations around the world.