CALL THE AMBULANCE FOR A HEART ATTACK
Barbara Roenfeld, Kristen Ostenso, and Pat Sturm from Allegent Health Mercy Hospital, Council Bluffs, visited our club to describe the program goals and work ongoing at the hospital to provide world-class health care for SW Iowa. Roenfeld, recognized as one of 100 Great Iowa Nurses, is Interim Operations Leader of Patient Care. Ostenso works at Mercy Hospital Foundation development. Sturm is the physician’s liaison between the hospital and area medical offices. Roenfeld explained that Mercy Hospital is recognized for their fast response time to heart attacks which is about half the national average time to treatment. She noted it is very important to get fast treatment for a heart attack. According to Roenfeld the fast response is due to development of quick response teams at the hospital, training of EMS field personnel, and providing ECG equipment to EMS stations in the area. Ostenso noted that seed money from Foundation donors led to the placement of this medical equipment in ambulances throughout Pottawattamie County which sends vital ECG data to the hospital from patients while on the road to the hospital. Roenfeld noted this level of service to heart attack victims has garnered attention from other hospitals across the country asking how they can get such fast treatment times.
CHANGING FACE OF HEALTH CARE
Kristen Ostenso and Barbara Roenfeld from Alegent Health were guest speakers on May 3. Alegent Health includes Bergan Mercy, Mercy, Midlands, Immanuel, and another hospital in the Council Bluffs/Omaha area.
Mercy Hospital has achieved Nursing Magnet Status. Magnet status is an award given by the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center (ANCC), an affiliate of the American Nurses Association, to hospitals that satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure the strength and quality of their nursing. A magnet hospital is stated to be one where nursing delivers excellent patient outcomes, where nurses have a high level of job satisfaction, and where there is a low staff nurse turnover rate and appropriate grievance resolution. Magnet status is also said to indicate nursing involvement in data collection and decision-making in patient care delivery. Only 2% of the nation’s hospitals have been awarded this status. The three in Iowa are Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs, a hospital in Dubuque, and the University of Iowa.
40% of the nursing staff have reached certification. They must renew certification every four years.
The cost of procedures at Alegent Health is published on the internet at alegent.com. They are the first system in the Nation to do so.