Collaboration Equals Better Care
When collaboration takes place between Elkhart General and Memorial, the quality of life of our patients is vastly improved. Take for instance, sepsis, which is a response to infection that causes fever, increased heart and respiratory rates and abnormal white blood cell count.
Research shows that diagnosis and treatment of sepsis within the first “golden six hours” can save lives. Katherine Russell, executive director of Nursing for Elkhart General, says as of June 3 both Elkhart General and Memorial are taking a monumental step to saving lives through a new Cerner module known as St. John Sepsis. The Cerner system alerts nurses of patients who are at risk of developing sepsis through an evidence-based algorithm. An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure used for calculations.
Ramey Seifert, Memorial ICU Clinical Nurse Specialist, and Katherine led this implementation, and were assisted by several additional clinical and IS experts, including Kim Henke and Shannon Black. St. John Sepsis will help Beacon leverage the many benefits of the Cerner electronic health record and is a major step forward in providing outstanding patient care.
