"Bridging
the Nursing - Laboratory Gap" |
Meeting Minutes |
The first meeting of the NC
Point Of Care Coordinators Network was held at Moses Cone Memorial
Hospital in Greensboro May 23, 2003 and featured the topic “Bridging
the Nursing Laboratory Gap”. Point
of Care Coordinators at Moses Cone, Kim Ballister and Sheila Cruthis,
hosted the meeting. We had a good turnout of about 50 people, who braved the
rainy weather to attend on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend! Nancy Smith conducted a short business meeting prior to our speaker presentation. Topics covered included selection of group logo and mission statement, as well as formation of a core group planning committee. The entire group agreed upon a meeting schedule of twice a year, spring and fall. Plans were made to meet again in the fall (September or October) at WakeMed in Raleigh with our tentative topic being “Connectivity and Billing”. Plans were also discussed about a vendor fair in the spring of 2004 in New Bern. Specific dates and other information will be posted on this site as soon as they are available. A core group was also formed and includes:
Our guest speaker was Lou
Ann Wyer, Clinical Specialist for Point of Care Testing and Quality
Management at Sentara Healthcare in Norfolk Va.
Ms. Wyer spoke in detail about our topic, “Bridging the Nursing
Laboratory Gap”. Her
presentation was interesting and informative, touching on the many
aspects that contribute to a good relationship between nurses and
laboratorians. Communication
in all forms: spoken, written and electronic was listed as one of the
most important aspects in “bridging the gap”. Following our speaker
presentation, roundtable groups discussed nursing-laboratory scenarios
encountered by members of the group.
It was interesting to get multiple views on handling situations,
as well as being a fun and interactive session. Nancy Smith closed the meeting with a raffle and thanked the speaker, Lou Ann Wyer, and the many vendors who sponsored our first meeting. |
Lou Ann Wyer
MT, was named 2001 POCC of the Year by the AACC and (ASCP) directs a team of 9.5 laboratory FTE’s and 3000 Point-of-Care
Testing (POCT) users at Sentara Healthcare. Sentara Healthcare, recently
named the Top Integrated Health Network in the United States, is the
premiere healthcare provider in southeastern Virginia and northeastern
North Carolina, operating more than 70 care giving sites; including six
hospitals, three outpatient health care campuses, 7 nursing centers, 3
assisted living centers, 38 primary care practices, a full range of
health coverage plans, home health and hospice services, physical
therapy and rehabilitation services, ground and air medical transport
services, mobile diagnostic vans, and fitness facilities.
A Clinical Specialist for POCT and Quality Management since 1996, Lou Ann has overseen the growth of POCT through laboratory integration and system expansions. Her program now encompasses 185 glucose meters, 100 handheld blood gas and electrolyte instruments, 25 ACT instruments, as well as rapid coagulation testing, and numerous manual POC tests. She provides technical expertise for POCT system processes, instrumentation, quality outcomes, accreditation issues and the development of new programs. In July 2000, the Sentara Warfarin monitoring program was chosen by the Van Slyke Society to receive a grant for Outcome Measurements in POCT. |