Policy Updates October 11

There are three clinical practice changes and policy updates we want you to be aware of:

Restraints

In order to comply with Department of Health regulations, Advanced Practice Nurses will no longer be able to order restraints unless it is an emergency. This is a practice change for many of the campuses. In addition, the observation and documentation of a patient in restraints has been aligned and may have changed for your campus. Please review the restraint policy so you are familiar with any changes.

Early Warning Score & Standard Call Parameters

As part of our journey to be a highly reliable organization and have zero harm to our patients early warning score and standard call parameters are being rolled out network wide. These are practice changes to help providers identify patient deterioration early in order to intervene. It includes changes to: vital sign frequency, provider notification, and “scoring” patients to identify those that may need intervention. Please review the early warning score policyand standard call parameters policy.

Your campus may already be practicing these initiatives in their entirety, you may in the process of implementing, or receiving your education. The policies are your resource for these very important network initiatives.