Transition Plan Set for Move to Shapiro Cardiovascular Center

The opening of the Shapiro Cardiovascular Center is fast approaching, and nurses continue to be active participants in the planning and transition process. At the suggestion of the Tower 12 NICs, nurses who will practice in the new facility will get a first-hand look at nursing stations, patient rooms and state-of-the-art equipment.

“Our transition plan is designed to give our nurses the opportunity to visualize themselves in the new space and interact within the environment during each planning session as if they were delivering care in that moment,” said Cathy Saniuk, MS, RN, CCRN, nurse educator on Tower 8 for ventricular assist patients.

The transition plan calls for a series of tours and informational sessions for all cardiovascular nurses in April. “We’ve scheduled these sessions as close to the opening as possible so that the layout is fresh in our minds when we move,” said Saniuk.

The tours will be led by staff nurses, nurse educators and NICs who are well acquainted with the ins and outs of the 350,000-square-foot building. Once it opens, a group of nurses serving as building hosts and GE super-users will be on hand to support their colleagues in navigating any issues.

During the tours, nurses will get a thorough look at patients’ rooms and the equipment inside. The two major pieces of new equipment are the moveable boom with medical gases and electricity and the IV pole transfer system, which features a hydraulic pump. “The IV pole transfer system makes it easier to move pumps around and is less physically taxing for nurses,” Saniuk said.

Nurses will have the opportunity to test everything from adjusting the arms of shower chairs to using the in-room code call system. Nurses in the step-down units can become familiar with supply carts, which are stationed in the intermediate rooms for the first time.

The floor layout in Shapiro includes a decentralized nursing station for every two to three rooms, where nurses can adjust patient alarms and print strips. The unit coordinator will sit at the centralized nursing station, which connects the two hallways of patient rooms. This is where the med room, report room and equipment room are located.

In addition to the April facility tours, three other sessions already are underway to ease the transition period.

A class called Topics in Cardiovascular Education, which runs all year, provides nurses with an opportunity to learn what a patient experiences across the different areas of cardiovascular care: cardiology, cardiac surgery and vascular surgery. “Our goal was to provide basic knowledge of different areas to facilitate patient teaching and patient care,” Saniuk said.

During a cardiac monitoring class, nurses are familiarizing themselves with updated cardiac monitors manufactured by GE. The Tower’s cardiac monitors also are manufactured by GE, but the monitors purchased for Shapiro are a newer model. Each intermediate room in Shapiro will have its own cardiac monitor permanently at the bedside.

Nurses, patient care assistants and unit coordinators are attending sessions over the course of the year on patient and family-centered care offered by Nursing and Patient Family Relations.

“This is an exciting opportunity for all of us who are committed to cardiovascular care here at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The vision statement of the Department of Nursing is ‘excellent care to patients and families, the very best staff and the safest environment.’ This new building provides the cardiovascular community of care givers a state of the art setting in which this vision will continue to be actualized,” said Mary Lou Moore, MS, RN, CCRN, director of Cardiovascular Nursing.