We Work Together for Our Patients

Our nurses collaborate with each other and with physicians to make decisions that result in the best patient outcomes possible

At Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, there’s a lot of truth to the cliché “There’s no “I” in “team.” We realize every person plays an important role in our mission to heal, comfort and care for the people of our community. We make that known the moment a new caregiver joins our nursing team.

Mentoring New Nurses

As a Magnet Hospital, we feel strongly about our obligation to educate new nurses about the standards of care and practice that embody our philosophy. That’s why we team up every new nurse hired with a nurse who volunteers to be a preceptor. Preceptors answer questions and familiarize nurses with policies and procedures. However, LVHHN preceptors take their responsibilities a step further by becoming mentors for their partners. They share their personal experiences, give new nurses feedback and support their nursing goals.

LVHHN’s focus on mentoring is evident even beyond our hospital walls. Our patient care services department has been instrumental in the education and mentoring of nursing colleagues throughout the nation. Our nurses present poster and oral presentations at more than 100 nursing conferences every year.

Offering Feedback to Colleagues

We know our nurses have the knowledge and experience to make decisions on their own, without intervention from a supervisor. It’s part of our Professional Practice Model and is evident in the way our nurses work together. Many of our units use peer-to-peer review, a process in which nurses team up, double-check each other’s work and identify ways to improve. Our nurses view the process as a form of constructive criticism—a way to learn from one another.

The Nurse-Physician Relationship

Respect. It’s the word that best describes the relationship between our nurses and physicians. Over 1,100 physicians make up LVHHN’s medical staff. Many of them are specialists—some of the most experienced and trusted physicians in the world. But regardless of their experience, when patient-care decision needs to be made, physicians include our nurses in the process.

Take our labor and delivery unit for example. Every day, nurses review and discuss the status of every mom and baby with obstetricians, maternal-fetal specialists, neonatologists, residents and anesthesiologists. All team members are empowered to speak up if they believe care can be improved. It’s one example of our belief that patient care decision making is a shared responsibility between all members of a team.

Rapid Response Team

While one expert is good, a team of experts is better. That’s the idea behind our Rapid Response Team (RRT). The RRT is comprised of a critical care nurse, a respiratory therapist and a hospitalist. When a patient is showing signs and symptoms of a cardiac or respiratory arrest, our medical-surgical and step-down unit nurses call the RRT. Because our caregivers work together, we’re able to decrease the number of cardiac arrests on medical-surgical units and improve patient care.

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