Scott & White nurses ranked the Temple medical center one of the top five hospitals to work for out of about 600 facilities in Texas and Louisiana in a survey by Advance for Nurses magazine.
Advance for Nurses newsmagazine opened its survey to registered nurses who ranked selected hospitals in areas that matter to nurses: quality of care, organizational culture, professional development, communication and retention.
The survey results were published in the Monday edition of the magazine.
“I think we give excellent patient care,” said Tara Whittenburg, a nurse in the cardiothoracic medical/surgical unit at Scott & White for 2½ years.
“I think we work well as team … nobody gets overwhelmed,” said Amy Hudson, who has worked in the cardiothoracic medical/surgical unit for about a year.
Ms. Whittenburg said the nurses on the fourth floor have a community and know each others’ strengths and weaknesses.
“That way you know who to go to if you need help,” she said. “There’s always someone available who knows the answers.”
Everybody relies on each other - from the physician to housekeeping, said Rob Pisciotta, nurse manager for two medical and surgical floors.
“I can’t do it without them and they can’t do it without me,” Pisciotta said.
The physicians, the aides, the clerks, the RNs, the LVNs, housekeeping and dietary services, all work as one team to provide for the patients’ needs, he said.
Pisciotta said when he began working at Scott & White, 23½ years ago, the employees weren’t as tight - communication with the physicians was not as prevalent.
“Now the physicians want our input because they know we’re with the patient all the time,” he said.
Scott & White is a physician-led hospital and nurses can approach any physician with issues and concerns knowing they will be treated as equals, Pisciotta said.
“It’s that team approach that makes nurses feel like they are a very valued part of the organization,” he said.
Working at a teaching hospital makes it interesting - dealing with the different levels of doctors, Ms. Whittenburg said.
Ms. Whittenburg worked at a Lubbock hospital before moving to Temple.
“The patients seem to be more pleased here,” she said. “The way we treat the patients and they seem to be more satisfied.”
If a Scott & White patient isn’t happy the staff wants to know.
“We had an issue with dietary and we have been working with that and the patients seem happy with the changes,” said Ms. Hudson.
Scott & White nurses want patient satisfaction to be at the top, and if it’s not, the staff wants to know what needs to be done to reach that goal, Pisciotta said.
“We want to give them the best possible care possible,” he said.
Each nurse is responsible for about four or five patients during the day shift. The evening shift has a ratio of five patients to one nurse and there’s a six to one ratio during the night shift.
“We’re better than the national average,” Pisciotta said.
Ms. Hudson graduated from nursing school in New York and come to the Temple area with her husband, who is in the Army.
Scott & White was her first stop when hunting for a job, she said.
“I’ve stayed here because I love it here,” Ms. Hudson said. “I like how we all get along and how we work together and our patients are usually happy.”
The average stay for a Scott & White patient is 4.23 days.
Family members are welcome in the hospital units and are encouraged to stay with the patient in order to become involved with the care.
The patient will eventually go home and the family needs to know what has been going on, Pisciotta said.
“I tell those who I interview for nurse positions if they’ll take care of patients, I’ll take care of them,” he said.
Scott & White’s Chief of Hospital Services Patricia Currie said Scott & White’s organizational culture is often what drives its reputation, particularly among nurses.
“During our 110-year history as an integrated system we have remained committed to high quality care backed by research and education,” Ms. Currie said. “Our academic focus means we provide continuous staff development and a number of opportunities for nurses to participate in research. That emphasis opens up many growth opportunities for our nurses. As an employer, we think nurses find that attractive.”
Other Texas hospitals named in the top five by nurses in the magazine survey are Cooks Children Medical Center in Fort Worth, Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and Methodist Hospital in Houston.
Hundreds of nurses from across the metro areas of Texas and Louisiana voted in the unscientific online poll, which was available on the Advance for Nurses Web site from March through July.
jgibbs@temple-telegram.com
