Blessing Hospital’s labor and delivery model was reactionary. When an OB patient arrived, a nurse performed an assessment and called to report to one of the eight community OBs. Typically, the OB would not come to the hospital unless it was a catastrophic situation. There was no real structure or consistency to this model, nor was policy that physicians had to see the patients. In December, Blessing implemented a full-time, Type A obstetric emergency department. Now, nurses feel more supported and confident, the community OBs experience fewer disruptions during the day knowing there is an OB physician in house and patients are receiving a consistently high standard of care.
