Nursing Councils

• Nursing Executive Council
• Nursing Coordinating Council
• Nursing Clinical Practice Council
• Quality Council
• Research & Professional Development Council
• Retention and Recruitment Council
• Technology & Innovation Council

Nursing Executive Council

Mission

The Nursing Executive Council provides leadership and direction to all Nursing Councils. It serves as a clearinghouse for issues being presented and disseminates them to the appropriate Council for action. In addition, the Nursing Executive Council provides final approval for all Nursing Council recommendations.

Purpose

The purpose of the Nursing Executive Council is to:

• Ensure nursing representation on hospital interdisciplinary committees.
• Collaborate with the VP for Nursing to lead the annual goal setting process for the Division of Nursing.
• Delegate initiatives to the appropriate Nursing Council(s).
• Review and approve recommended revisions to all Nursing Council bylaws.
• Provide guidance and support to the chairs and chair-elects of all Councils.
• Develop and review an annual operations calendar for the purpose of planning Council activities.
• Review the annual report submitted by each Nursing Council and provide feedback and direction based on information submitted.

Membership

Membership shall include the following:

• Vice President for Nursing
• Associate Vice President Nursing
• Assistant Vice President for Behavioral Health
• Assistant Vice President Nursing Education
• Director for Surgical Services
• Director Nursing Recruitment and Retention
• Director Medical Surgical Services
• Director of the Emergency Services
• Ad Hoc members: Representatives from Nursing such as Nurse Manager or from non-nursing areas when the area is involved in clinical practice. Representatives will attend those meetings when their materials/requests are being reviewed for approval or when education issues affect nursing within that setting.

Members

Marie Mulligan, MSN, RN, CNOR Vice President for Nursing	Terry Grimes, MN, RN-BC, FNP-BC, CCRN Associate Vice President For Nursing
Jean McCarrick, LCSW, RN Assistant Vice President For Behavioral Health	Kathleen Murray, MPA, RN Assistant Vice President for Nursing Education
Karen Tuzzolo, RN, CNOR Director for Surgical Services	Jean Arnold, BSN, RN, NE-BC Director for Nursing Recruitment
Joanne Connor, MPA, RN Director for Medical / Surgical Services	Phil Messina, MPH, RN Director of the Emergency Services

Nursing Coordinating Council

Mission

Create an environment that supports excellence in nursing practice, quality, research and education, and positive patient outcomes.  We do this through staff support and accountabilities to fiscal, material, and human resources as well as organizational systems.  The council reports to the Nurse Executive Committee and to the five shared governance councils and acts as a liaison to other hospital-based committees.
 

Purpose

This is accomplished through:

• Fostering collaboration, communication, and access to information among nursing staff and interdisciplinary members of the healthcare team.
• Providing expertise to individual council members throughout all councils to foster excellence in practice and outcomes.
• Providing individuals to assist in coordinating task forces/ad hoc committees for short term projects.
• Reviewing and making recommendations to the Executive Committee with respect to the structure, functions, and membership of councils and committees.
• Hearing, reviewing, and reporting findings related to requests for a shared governance review of any action made within the governance councils.
• Delivering a report annually to the Vice President for Nursing for the President, the Board of Trustees, and the community concerning the state of shared governance structures and processes at John T. Mather Hospital.

Membership

Membership shall include the following:

• 1 Nurse Executive Council member
• All Unit Nurse Managers
• All Council Chairs and co-chairs
• Ad Hoc members: Representatives of non-nursing areas involved in clinical practice. Representatives will attend those meetings when their materials/requests are being reviewed for approval or when education issues affect nursing within that setting.

Members

Advisors:
Marie Mulligan, RN, MSN
Terry Grimes, MN, RN-BC, FNP-BC, CCRN
Jean McCarrick, RN, LCSW
Kathleen Murray, RN, MPA
Karen Tuzzolo, RN, CNOR
Jean Arnold, RN, BSN
Joanne Connor, RN, MPA
Phil Messina, RN, BSN, MPH

Nursing Management Members:
Donna Blaskopf; AnnaMarie Braslow; Vicki Cook; Janet DeAngelis; Joyce DeMoore; Elizabeth Devine; Denise Driscoll; Grace Ebinger; Eugenia Ercole-Fricke; Maryanne Goodman; Marilyn Hannett; Anita Heege; Debbie Lamendola; Andrea Lauckhardt; Joanne Lauten; Ray Luttinger; Julie Macauley; Arlene Mari; Phil Messina; Lois McCarthy; Susan Morin; Karen Pape; Elizabeth Picozzi; Deborah Schafmayer; Mary Lee Schroeter; Eileen Swieczkowski; Cathy Tommasino; Carolyn West

 Nursing Clinical Practice Council

Mission

Create a framework for practice by developing evidence-based standards of care utilizing the ANA Standards of Practice, Standards of Professional Performance, Nursing Social Policy Statement and Code of Ethics and specialty standard.
 

Purpose

This is accomplished through education, mentoring and supporting the registered nurse in the development, implementation and evaluation of standards. The purpose of the Practice Council is to:

• Link the ANA standards of practice and standards of performance to the development of structure standards, policies, procedures and guidelines for the delivery of quality of care.
• Create an environment which embraces life long learning, fosters innovation, and utilizes evidence-based practice and service excellence standards.
• Identify scope of practice issues and refer recommendations to the Coordinating Council.
• Mentor and coach council members in developing, disseminating and evaluating standards of care and standards of practice.
• Educate council members to function as a resource nurse for their units.
• Collaborate with other disciplines in the formulation of policies, standards and protocols when appropriate.

Membership

Membership shall include:

• 1 Nurse Executive Council member
• 1 Clinical Manager
• 1 Nurse Educator
• 1 Staff nurse representative from each unit or service.

Members

 Advisors:
Kathy Murray
Cathy Tommasino

Co-Chair:
Maryanne Wisniewski

Nursing Management Members:
Donna Blaskopf; AnnaMarie Braslow; Bernadette Brochard; Maureen Chernosky; Marge Gordon; Vikki Kelliher; Pauline Meek; Terry Murphy; Annie Servellon; Darlene Steigman; Carolyn West

Staff Council Members:
Debbie Amato; Jen Christofor; Maggie O’Malley; April Overholser; Karen Purr; Nicole Rice; Agnes Sobelewska; Karen Starin

 Quality Council

Mission

 The Quality Council is a forum to promote the nursing department's commitment to evidence-based practice and research utilization to continually improve patient care.  The Council provides a planned, systematic and collaborative approach to oversee and direct nursing activities related to quality.
 

Purpose

• Create an environment that promotes the delivery of quality of patient care through evidence-based practice.
• Systematically analyze and evaluate the delivery of patient care.
• Identify, prioritize and evaluate the effectiveness of care and processes within the nursing department based on the PI methodology, PDCA.
• Promote interdisciplinary collaboration within the delivery of patient care.
• Create a structure and a process for patient centeredness and satisfaction in patient care.
• Plan and implement process improvement efforts in the nursing department by developing a strategic plan and aligning the plan with the overall hospital goals.
• Engage staff and incorporate PI Champions on every nursing unit to facilitate quality initiatives and to support PI education to the nursing staff.
• Ascertain a team approach toward performance improvement.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of care and ensure safe, reliable and efficient care processes throughout the nursing department.
• Implement innovative initiatives to improve processes and ultimately patient care.Enhance communication of all performance improvement efforts across the nursing department.
• Maintain standardized benchmarking for data through the NDNQI national database: HPPD, turnover, Pressure Ulcers, Falls/Injury, Nurse Satisfaction.

Membership

Membership shall include:

• 1 Nurse Executive Council Member
• 1 Chair
• 1 Clinical Manager
• 1 Nursing Performance Improvement Manager
• 1 Nurse Quality Coordinator
• 1 Staff nurse representative from each unit or service.

Members

Advisors:
Joanne Connor
Grace Ebinger

Co-Chairs:
Mary Jane Fisher
Jeanette Voelger

Nursing Management Members:
Carolyn Germaine; Marilyn Hannett; Debbie Lamendola; Joanne Lauten; Debbie Maile; Lois McCarthy; Elizabeth Picozzi; Deborah Schafmayer

Staff Council Members:
Gertha Benoit-Hollos; Donna Glayzer; Susan Grover; Diane Gully; Kathleen Herrera; Linda O’Riordan; Stelanie Poalillo; Marge Scharback; Lynn Weiss; Cheryl Viggers

 Research & Professional Development Council

Mission

Create an institutional culture of nursing scholarship by promoting evidence-based practice within interdisciplinary partnerships and collaboration throughout John T. Mather Hospital and our community.
 

Purpose

This is accomplished by dissemination of knowledge of the nursing research process; promoting, supporting and mentoring nurses in research, research utilization and evidence-based practice; raising institutional and community understanding of the work of the committee; and encouraging renewal of the professional spirit through curiosity, reflective thinking, and passionate practice. The purpose of the Nursing Professional Development and Research Council is to:

• Promote and support formal education, certification and on-going continuing education for professional advancement.
• Foster an environment conducive to the advancement and utilization of nursing research.
• Assess and evaluate the professional practice model of nursing and to participate in the development of educational programs to assist nursing staff in the implementation of the nursing care delivery system.
• Develop and conduct educational programs that support nursing research activities at John T. Mather Hospital.
• Educate a core group of direct care nurses to function as resources for evidence-based nursing practice.
• Establish and support a professional climate that values and advocates for evidence-based nursing practice.
• Support staff and others who have expressed interest in research, research utilization, the research process or evidence-based practice.
• Promote and support ethical scientific inquiry into practice problems and questions.
• Mentor members of other Nursing Department Councils in developing a process to evaluate and apply new evidence-based knowledge, protocols, and innovations in practice.
• Establish links with staff of other disciplines for the purpose of collaborative, interdisciplinary research development.
• Promote and assist in the dissemination of nursing research outcomes within John T. Mather Hospital and at local, regional, national and international conferences.

Membership

Membership shall include:

• 1 Nurse Executive Council member
• 2 Clinical Nurse Managers
• 2 Nurse Educators
• 1 Staff nurse representative from each unit or service.

Members

Advisors:
Terry Grimes MN, RN-BC, FNP-BC, CCRN
Julie Macauley RN

Co-Chairs:
Mary Ellen Glennon
Rosa Maria Nania

Nursing Management Members:
Susan Bittner; Eugenia Ercole-Fricke; Ray Luttinger; Karin Pape; Genine Schwinge; Tina Stoebe

Staff Council Members:
Deborah Aureliano; Youseline Champagne; Liz Contri; Jean Englezos; Joan Godbold; Caryn Holly; Shirlee McKenna; Lee Viggiano

 Retention and Recruitment Council

Mission

The Nursing Recruitment and Retention Council identify and develop initiatives to attract and retain great professional nurses.
 

Purpose

• Identify retention issues and general satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the nursing staff.
• Identify strategies to retain our great nurses.
• Identify strategies to recognize various categories of the nursing staff for celebration.
• Create a communication between the nursing staff and the Vice President for Nursing.
• Plan and execute Nurse Recognition Week each year.
• Open forum for voicing concerns, conflict and assistance with problem solving on the unit and hospital wide between nursing and other disciplines.

Membership

Membership shall include:

• Sponsor/Chairperson: Director of Nursing Recruitment and Retention
• Co-Chairperson: A Nurse Leader
• 1 staff nurse representative from each unit or service.

Members

Advisors:
Jean Arnold
Patty Zarb

Co-Chairs:
Emily Emma
Candice Fella

Nursing Management Members:
Brandy Feliu; Diane Schotte; Trudy Weekes-Roach

Staff Council Members:
John Baitz; Nancy Bodnar; Christine Brandstadter; Kim Bukowski; Alisa Caliendo; Patricia Cordle; Karen Rowlette; Melanie Scattone; Denise Spetko; Denise Wolmart

 Technology & Innovation Council

Mission

Create an institutional culture of utilizing technology and innovation to facilitate exemplary nursing practice, interdisciplinary patient care, effective communication and positive patient outcomes.
 

Purpose

This is accomplished by the evaluation of the technology needs of the nursing department, in collaboration with all clinical disciplines who provide patient care, to identify technology that will support and enhance the clinical care being delivered by nursing and other disciplines.  The purpose of the Technology and Innovation Council is to:

• Foster an environment conducive to the effective utilization of technology to enhance the delivery of nursing care.
• Evaluate the technology available that can support and enhance the delivery of nursing care.
• Educate nursing on how to effectively utilize technology throughout the patient care process.
• Educate and train nurses to coordinate the interdisciplinary care process for their patients with electronic data.
• Leverage technology to make the most of nursing resources through the analysis of data within the clinical information systems.
• Utilize technology to demonstrate improved patient outcomes, nursing quality measures and support nursing research.
• Support the interdisciplinary teams that will be implementing the hospital’s clinical information system Eclipsys.
• Review new products and processes that have been identified in other hospital committees that will impact the delivery of nursing care and support their deployment.

Membership

Membership shall include:

• 1 Nurse Executive Council member
• 1 Clinical Nurse Manager
• 2 Nurse Educators
• 1 Staff nurse representative from each unit or service.

Members

Advisors:
Jean McCarrick
Karen Tuzzolo

Co-Chairs:
Elizabeth Becker
Jennifer Zeman

Nursing Management Members:
Laura D’Amato; Joyce DeMoore; Suzanne Soltysik

Staff Council Members:
Lori Acceta; Lisa Ambrose; Connie Calisi; Anthony Catania; Marianna David; Donna Hardwicke; Lisa Iuliucci; Bridget McGonigle; Barbara Mondello; Katherine Montefusco; Kristina Rodriquez; Jennifer Zeman