Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital has been selected by the American Organization of Nurse Executives and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as one of 50 hospitals nationwide to participate in the Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB) Demonstration Project. Hospitals were selected based on strong resources and organizational operations. The two-year project focuses on a demonstrated method to put decisions for redesign of care into the hands of the staff at the bedside.

The TCAB program is aligned with Methodist Healthcare’s Center for Nursing Excellence (CNE) and the Center’s recent launch of the Nurse Leader Institute (NLI) with both the TCAB and NLI programs having the mutual goal of implementing successful participative leadership.  The NLI is a program funded by a $1.2 million grant by the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and is focused on skill development for nursing directors to involve staff in collaborative practice and decision making and thus enhance patient care delivery.

The Center for Nursing Excellence in nominating the unit and submitting the application used the criteria of leader qualifications, staffing readiness and resources, facility support, and ability to serve as a model for other units and other hospitals. The unit selected for participation in this project is Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital’s 4 West A, a 42-bed medical/surgical unit led by Ptosha Ford, RN, MSN.

“Our Germantown Hospital is very honored to have been selected to participate in the TCAB initiative and we anticipate great results under the leadership of Ptosha Ford,” said Debbie Dafferner, RN, Chief Nursing Officer at Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital.  “This program is designed to improve our ability to provide high quality care to our patients and their families.  The TCAB program is unique in that it will engage our nurses to assist in the development of new processes that will improve both the quality of care provided to our patients and the work environment of our associates.”

The project will teach the basic TCAB innovation processes with the focus on the nurse manager and team training.  Working with AONE staff and nursing and quality leaders at Methodist, this unit at Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital will become a model for the nation.

“Selection in this project further demonstrates Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare as a leader in addressing the needs of the nursing environment of the future by focusing on patient-centered care, safety and quality improvement,” said Donna Herrin, MSN, RN, CNAA, FACHE, Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive.

Each participating hospital will undergo a rigorous evaluation program, comparing the selected intervention unit with a control unit and with national benchmarks and will measure the transformational changes occurring in the settings.