Councils

Mission

The Nursing Directors 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 Directors Council provides final approval for all Nursing Council recommendations.

Purpose

The purpose of the Nursing Directors  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.

Membership

Membership shall include the following:
  • CNO Vice President for Nursing
  • AVP for Behavioral Health
  • Director, Clinical Professional Development
  • Senior Director, Perioperative Services
  • Director, Magnet Program
  • Director, Patient and Customer Experience
  • Senior Director, Medical Surgical/Infusion Center
  • Director, Patient Care Nursing TCU
  • Director, Patient Care Critical Care/Hemodialysis/Radiology
  • Director, Patient Care Emergency Services
  • Director, Quality Management and Performance Improvement
  • Director, Patient Care/Cardiac Cath Lab/EP Lab/Cardiac Rehab
  • Director, Patient Care Inpatient Psychiatry
  • Ad Hoc members: Representatives from Nursing such as Nurse Managers 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

Tara Matz, MSN, RN, NEA-BC
CNO Vice President for Nursing

Denise Driscoll, NPP, RN-BC, PMHCNS-BC, CARN
AVP for Behavioral Health

Maureen Altieri

Maureen Altieri, MSN, RN, NEA-BC
Director, Magnet Program

Laura O’Brien, MSN, RN, CRN, NE-BC
Director, Patient Care Critical Care/Hemodialysis/Radiology

Justin Stroker, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CPXP
Director of Patient and Customer Experience

Jeanne Brennan, MSN, RN, RN-BC, CNL
Senior Director, Patient Care Medical Surgical/Infusion Center

Nicole Hoefler, MSN, RN, CVN
Director, Patient Care/Cardiac Cath Lab/EP Lab/Cardiac Rehab

Marsha Deckman, MSN, RN, NE-BC
Director, Clinical Professional Development

Sharon Malloy, MBA, BSN, RN
Senior Director, Perioperative Services

 

Carolyn Germaine, MSN, RN, NE-BC
Director, Patient Care Nursing TCU

 

Stacey Hartcorn, MSN, RN, CEN
Director, Patient Care Emergency Services

 

 

Tara Levesque, DNP, RN
Director, Quality Management and Performance Improvement

 

Zack Shapiro, MBA, RN-BC
Director, Patient Care Inpatient Psychiatry

 

Hospital Collaborative Care 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 seven 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 Injuries, Falls with Injury, Nurse Satisfaction.

Membership

Membership shall include:
  • 1 Nurse Executive Council Member
  • 1 Chair
  • 1 Clinical Manager
  • 1 Nurse Quality Coordinator
  • 1 Staff nurse representative from each unit or service.

Nursing Research and Professional Development Council

Mission

Create an institutional culture of nursing scholarship by promoting evidence-based practice within interdisciplinary partnerships and collaboration throughout 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 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 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.

Retention and Recruitment Council

Mission

The Nursing Recruitment and Retention Council identifies and developes 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.

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.

Advanced Clinical Provider (ACP) Council

Mission

To be a New York State Leader, as an ACP Practice Environment, providing superior patient and family centered care, true collaborative practice, organizational professionalism and wellness promotion across the continuum of healthcare.

Purpose

To promote awareness, cohesion and alignment of the ACP role throughout Mather Hospital and the professional and client communities, serving as a leader in Advanced Practice Registered Nursing. The purpose/goals include but are are not limited to:
  • Expand utilization of ACP Scope of Practice in collaboration with the Institute of Medicine Future of Nursing Report and New York State legislation to recognize the distinct role as a provider of care.
  • Create a a structure to promote ACP’s driving and partnering with nursing colleagues to improve and enhance nursing practice.
  • Provide a structure to promote ACP’s transiton to practice.
  • Participate in leadership theory (science) based practice development and professional development.
  • Keep abreast of legislative changes and impact to ACP practice.
  • Develop meaningful communication strategies to include ACP portal and other innovative strategies to increase awareness of ACP role and function.

Throughout shared leadership, the team will be responsible and empowered to do the following:

  • Actively promote improvement activities for Value Based Performance measures.
  • Collaborate with the care delivery team to enhance the patient experience.
  • Establish a “peer to peer” accountability framework that will be used to develop strategies to increase individual employee ownership of the goals of this team.
  • Take responsibility for our practice including establishing  framework for professional and personal development.

Membership

Membership shall, at a minimum, include:

  • 1 Nurse Executive Council member who retains ACP
  • 1 Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)
    • Medical Surgical Services
    • Critical Care Services
  • 1 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist

Night Council

Mission

Create an environment that  supports night staff excellence in nursing practice, quality,  research and education, and positive patient outcomes. The council acts as a liaison for the night staff to other councils and hospital-based committees.

Purpose

  • Embrace lifelong learning by fostering innovation and utilization of evidence-based practice and promotes service excellence standards.
  • Encourage research development for the night staff.
  • Educate council members to function as a liaison for their units.
  • Collaborate with other disciplines in the formulation of policies, standards and protocols when appropriate, and disseminate policy information to the units.
  • Review and make recommendations to the Nursing Coordinating Council with respect to the night shift. 
  • Providing individuals to assist in coordinating task forces/ad hoc committees for short term projects.
  • Foster collaboration, communication, and access to information for the night staff.

Membership

Membership shall include:

  • RN’s from each of the units.
  • Night Nurse Educator.
  • 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.