The classroom at St. Luke’s Hospital has been a busy place as members of our nursing staff are working to complete annual competencies.

Using a bank of laptop computers, nursing staff is reviewing patient care policies in the classroom before heading down the outpatient hallway where they will demonstrate their ability and actual performance during the “hands-on” portion of the annual review.

From the blood glucometer, to the patient lift, to the Broselow pediatric emergency cart, to the defibrillator, to cardioversion and rapid sequence intubation, to name a few, every nurse must go through the series. At each station, evaluators assess each nurse as he/she demonstrates knowledge and competence. Successful completion and documentation of the annual competencies is maintained for each nurse in order for the hospital to be in compliance with various regulations.

Who benefits from all this extra effort?

Of course our staff and our physicians benefit, but our main focus is our patients. They can take comfort and feel confident that the care they receive at St. Luke’s Hospital is up to date, assessed, maintained, demonstrated and improved continually. In keeping with our mission and values, annual competencies ensure our patients are indeed receiving excellent quality care.

Providing competent nursing care is important to our staff, our Board of Trustees, our medical staff and our community. Providing competent care is also a priority for many national organizations, such as the American Nurses Association and The Joint Commission.

By all accounts, this year’s education Blitz has been very successful in making sure St. Luke’s Hospital meets national patient safety standards and ensures our staff is skilled, competent and confident in their scope of practice.

I’d like to recognize and thank Jane Phillips, RN, our new Performance Improvement/Education coordinator, as well as the clinical department managers for coordinating this annual review. St. Luke’s certainly has some very high-performing staff, and we appreciate their willingness to share clinical expertise and talents during the hands-on portion of the competency testing.

Providing education and hands-on opportunities for our staff to refresh and sharpen skills ensures we are committed to providing exceptional care, close to home.

St. Luke’s Hospital is a not for profit, acute care hospital affiliated with Carolinas HealthCare System of Charlotte, NC, for specialized management expertise, experience with developing strong community-based clinical services, and participation in revenue and purchasing contracts.

CHS is the largest healthcare system in the Carolinas and the third largest public system in the nation. St. Luke’s Hospital is committed to providing Exceptional Care, Close to Home.