Nurse leaders encourage culture of inquiry

Supporting frontline nurses to ask questions and engage in bedside research benefits nurses, patients and organizations. That’s why AONL members Kerri Scanlon, MSN, RSN, deputy chief nurse executive at Northwell Health and chief nurse executive at North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, N.Y., and Lily Thomas, PhD, RN, vice president, system nursing research at Northwell Health Institute for Nursing, are encouraging a culture of inquiry in their hospitals. In an interview, they discussed the example of a nurse who helped initiate a study after discovering a palliative care patient’s pressure ulcer, despite following preventive protocols. This led to the development of a protocol for predicting time of death based on skin changes, allowing the hospital to alert next of kin in time to visit a loved one before death occurs. When hiring, Scanlon looks for nurses who will thrive in this type of environment. “[W]e are looking for individuals that are not happy with the status quo [and have the attitude]: 'There's got to be a better way to do something,'” she said. (HealthLeaders Media story, 9/13/19)