My first goal for my internship is to create and implement a patient “welcome packet” for the outpatient infusion centers (OPICs). To achieve this, I will collaborate with my preceptor Susan, nurse leaders, and the staff nurses. I will obtain input from these sources as to what information I should include in the packet. I will also work with the physical therapy department and Christa Tyler, the director of service excellence and outpatient experience, who have created a patient welcome packet before. This collaboration will help me to gain knowledge and generate new ideas. Once I have gathered my ideas, Susan and I will work with the signage department and print shop to obtain appropriate images and layouts to assemble the packet. I intend to complete this project and begin implementing it by the end of the first week of February.

My second goal is to run a meeting to present and educate the OPIC staff on the importance of patient satisfaction surveys, which are operated by Press Ganey, a third-party company. These surveys are emailed to patients after their visit and are designed to gauge their satisfaction with all facets of their OPIC visit. In the future, these scores may be tied into reimbursements from CMS and other payers. Currently, the response rate is very low. I hope to increase the response rate/sample size. To do this, I will create a template in Excel to compile patient comments from the survey and track over time. I will also meet with Christa, who has expertise in and resources from Press Ganey. Then, I will conduct research on effective methods to drive patient participation in the surveys. I will identify ways to implement these methods in the OPICs and educate the staff on how to encourage patient participation. To run the meeting, I will work with Susan to augment my leadership skills and learn how to create a meeting agenda. I will follow up with the OPIC staff after the meeting with a minutes summary. This goal is to be completed at the end of April, before the end of my rotation.

My third goal is to explore Bon Secours’ community engagement initiatives. Being a non-profit organization, it is important that it gives back to its community. I am going to work with Susan to network and connect with staff across the organization (beyond the OPIC setting). I also plan to sit with a financial counselor to learn more about financial toxicity and the resources available to help patients. This goal will be completed by the end of my rotation in April.

Finally, I will conduct research into the role of a charge nurse in the OPIC setting and present my findings to Susan and her nurse managers. I will identify advantages to having a charge nurse in OPIC that are supported by the literature. I can utilize ODU library resources as well as research databases available to Bon Secours. Then, I will compile this research into a formal presentation and create a meeting agenda. My goal is to have the research completed by the end of February and meet with Susan and her nurse managers by the end of March.