Bresette Named BWH’s First Stroke Program Manager
Linda Bresette, MSN, NP-C, in June joined BWH as the hospital’s first Stroke Program manager. In this role, Bresette works with clinicians and staff from all disciplines who care for this highly complex patient population. She manages and monitors trends through a database that includes statistics on every stroke patient cared for at BWH, and with the Stroke Committee, brainstorms on how to improve and enhance care.
Having a stroke program manager is required by the Department of Public Health in order for a hospital to be designated a primary stroke service. Bresette works closely with the DPH to report data and ensure that BWH meets the DPH primary stroke service guidelines.
She also reports data to the American Stroke Association. “We recently learned that we are compliant with key quality indicators set forth by the American Stroke Association and Get with the Guidelines achieving 85 percent or higher for 12 consecutive months,” said Bresette.
In the coming months, Bresette and Neuroscience nurses plan to take the message of stroke awareness and prevention to senior centers in nearby communities. “Often, patients having a stroke do not come to the hospital immediately because they do not realize their symptoms require emergent care,” she said.
Bresette joins BWH from Associates in Neurology, where she was a Neurology nurse practitioner treating outpatients for two years. Her experience also includes positions as a nurse practitioner for Internal Medicine, program director for Alzheimer’s unit and a psychotherapist specializing in Geriatrics at Beverly Hospital. Bresette has also worked as a researcher and has been published in books as well as the Journal of Adult Development for her work on adult intelligence and creativity. She earned her MSN at Boston College, her MS in counseling and psychological services and her BS in psychology from Salem State College.