In the final phase of my internship, I presented my welcome packet project to the staff at each infusion site. Instead of a formal meeting with minutes and agendas, Susan and I brought either breakfast or lunch to the unit staff and I gave an informal presentation to show mockups of the folder. While more relaxed, it still gave me the experience of talking in front of a large group of peers. Anxiety has always been a struggle for me, so this really helped me gain a lot of confidence. I had to give my presentation five times across the sites, and I could feel myself getting more and more confident each time. Susan commented on this as well. I feel a lot more comfortable moving out into the workforce post-graduation with that experience under my belt. We submitted all the welcome packet materials and got them approved. We put the folders together and disseminated them to each site to be given to new patients. At the same time, Susan and I also completed our OPIC workflow binder to give to each site. This binder outlines our policies regarding insurance denials, rescheduling, etc. It was designed to re-educate staff and make sure everyone is one the same page, as there have been issues with insurance authorizations lately.

In addition to the welcome packet, I also provided a brief education on the Press Ganey survey that is emailed to patients. To prepare, I researched methods to increase patient response rates and presented my findings to the staff. It is too early to trend if there has been an increase in the survey response rate, but I am very hopeful. Susan and I are going to remain in contact, and she will let me know in the next few weeks/months if there has been a discernable upward trend.

Other tasks over the past couple of weeks involved some changes coming down the pipeline. Changes were made to Susan’s reporting structure, so she now has a different leader to report to. This leader had never worked in the infusion sites before, so we spent a morning with her rounding to the different OPICs and introducing her to the team. We also attended a meeting about expanding the Bremo infusion site, which has been much needed for some time now. This site has the highest volume, but its layout is very cramped and outdated. A barrier to expansion is CMS’ provider-based clinic guidelines, which I am exploring in depth in my final report. At this meeting were a lot of senior staff and executives, so it had a much different feel to it compared to other meetings I had been to.

Patient safety and care is always a priority. I have now spent some time working with the program Bon Secours uses to report and track “safety events.” These can be minor occurrences, such as deviations from policy, to major events where a patient was harmed. What I like about this system is that it’s not punitive; it’s designed to educate staff and improve patient care. Going hand in hand with safety is COVID-19, which took the spotlight during this part of my internship. Susan and I have been attending daily strategy meetings and conference calls to plan and be prepared for this crisis. Hospitals in the system are beginning to limit entry points and enforcing stricter visitation policies. All individuals entering the hospital must be screened at the designated entryway by answering a set of questions. Susan and I actually volunteered to take a shift manning one of these stations at the ER at Richmond Community Hospital.  

This part of my internship was bittersweet. I was happy to have finished my projects and present them, but I’m sad to see my time here coming to a close. I have gained a lot of confidence and skills during my time here. I really got to take ownership of many tasks and got exposed to a variety of settings and experiences. I really enjoyed working with Susan and I could not have asked for a better preceptor.