NY Nurses Help Hospitals Realize Better Outcomes, Lower Health Care Costs Through AACN CSI Program

Small teams of nurses at seven New York hospitals have improved patient care and saved their hospitals millions of dollars by participating in a training program conducted by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN).

The New York hospitals were the sixth cohort in the program. So far 42 hospitals nationwide have participated in the AACN Clinical Scene Investigator (CSI) Academy, a 16-month nursing leadership and innovation training project that has improved patient outcomes and saved hospitals more than $28 million annually.

In the New York cohort, groups of four nurses from each hospital chose a treatment area they wanted to address, such as preventing hospital-acquired infections and falls or standardizing protocols to assessing delirium or mobilizing ventilated patients, reports Nurse.com.

At North Shore University Hospital, nurses focused on reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) in the intensive care unit (ICU), because their unit had the highest rate in the state’s health system. Interventions included education efforts for patients, staff, and families on the importance of earlier removal of the catheter, and a focus on hygiene practices. After implementing the changes, the hospital achieved more than six months without a CAUTI, a significant improvement from not having a single CAUTI-free month before the academy. The reduction in infections saved $112,000 for the hospital.

At NYU Langone Medical Center nurses wanted to establish a consistent approach to treating and assessing delirium in the medical ICU. They collaborated with the care team, including the IT department, which developed a way to incorporate delirium assessment into electronic health records. Innovations also included an assessment checklist for delirium printed on mousepads, which eliminated the need to search for the tool. The Center estimates it will save between $3.3 million and $5.5 million as a result of the changes.

Nationwide, the CSI Academy has trained 163 nurses to address clinical challenges such as hospital-associated infections, pressure ulcers, delirium, early mobility, falls, and patient handoffs. Project materials developed by each team, including plans, data collection tools, practice resources and references in a searchable online database, are available on the AACN website at www.aacn.org/csiprojects.

The INQRI Blog featured previously released data from the Academy from regional groups working in Massachusetts and North Carolina and overall progress in the program.