Scott Webb (Host): Today, we're going to learn about evidence-based practice at Summa Health and how this problem-solving approach is improving care for patients. I'm joined today by Penelope Gorsuch. She's a Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive at Summa Health. And I'm also joined by Karrie Boss. She's the System Director for EBP and a Clinical Nurse Specialist at Summa Health.

 This is Healthy Vitals, a podcast from Summa Health. I'm Scott Webb. It's great to have you both here today. We're going to talk about a problem-solving approach to improving care for patients and what that means. And through this lens of evidence-based practice, we're going to get to those answers. So, Karrie, I'll start with you. What is evidence-based practice?

Karrie Boss: Yeah. Thank you for having us today. So, evidence-based practice or EBP as we like to call it is a problem-solving approach that really integrates the scientific research with clinical expertise and then the patient's preferences, values, and circumstances. So, that's the formal definition. So, what this means is that as healthcare providers, we want to be sure that the care we provide you is based on the latest information that the healthcare community has.

For example, we want to make sure that if you're in the hospital, our staff know how to prevent skin breakdown. So, we work really hard to make sure that staff know and understand the interventions needed to care for you or your loved ones, such as getting you up out of bed, moving you multiple times a day, repositioning you while you're in the hospital, and then assessing your skin for skin breakdown.

Host: Yeah. And you can really see the benefits, the many benefits, especially for patients and families about everybody being on the same page, of course. And Penny, when we think about EBP, why is it so important in healthcare?

Penelope Gorsuch: Healthcare is moving to a consumer-focused environment. Many years ago, you would come to the physician, and I know my parents are the same way, they do exactly what the physician says. They were afraid to ask questions. They were afraid to speak up and they just said, "No, this is what the doctor said." And this is what I'm going to do. But today, we know that it's very important for the physician and our consumers of healthcare and patients to have a shared decision-making model. And so, that's where we want to involve you in your care. And we want you to have a say in what's happening too, and to really understand what's happening because, you know, it's very important that we apply the most up-to-date knowledge and technology and that's advanced in healthcare. So, it's important that you and your family receive the best care and treatment that we can provide.

In fact, we know when we follow an evidence-based approach and we're really engaged with current literature, patient outcomes improved by over 30%. So, it is important that our doctors, nurses, and all of our staff stay current in their respective professions so that we can better care for our patients throughout Summa Health.

Host: Yeah, it is interesting that there's been the shift, right? It used to just be, "You're the patient, we're the professionals. This is how it's going to be," right? But now, as you say, there's a much more shared decision-making and everybody's kind of pulling on the same end. And, Karrie, I wanted to ask you, how does the Center for Clinical Inquiry promote EBP and support the patients?

Karrie Boss: Yeah. We're really excited to share, at Summa Health, we have created the Center for Clinical Inquiry. And it's really a place to support staff and all staff in using this evidence-based practice change methodology to answer their clinical questions. We also help and support them in developing practice changes and making informed patient care decisions. So, the center, as we call it, really provides the resources to ensure best practice implementation. We evaluate those best practices. How are they working? And then, we continue to evaluate and sustain those best practices over time.

Penelope Gorsuch: We know that we need to constantly advance our skill sets as healthcare professionals. And so, at Summa Health, our nurses are really striving to elevate our practice and make sure that to follow our vision, which is to deliver care beyond expectations. And in order to do that, we really do need to utilize an evidence-driven process to enhance the care that we provide. So, we deliver world-class care, world-class outcomes, and very, very important is that we enhance the patient and family and significant others' experience while they are in our health care system. So, we are very proud of the work that we are doing within the Center for Clinical Inquiry that is helping to promote evidence-based care throughout our health care system.

Host: Yeah. That sounds perfect. And, Karrie, the role of clinical nurse specialist and impact on patient clinician and organizational outcomes. Take us through that.

Karrie Boss: Yeah. So, as a clinical nurse specialist myself, I always love to promote and advocate the role and Summa Health utilizes the role of the clinical nurse specialists within our hospitals. So, a clinical nurse specialist is an advanced practice registered nurse who has earned a Master's or Doctoral degree in Nursing and clinical nurse specialists or CNSs, as we call them, they can diagnose, prescribe and treat patients in specialty populations.

So, our CNSs at Summa really do lead evidence-based practice and optimize the practices and processes across the entire health system. They really are integral in advancing nursing practice by providing expertise to those bedside nurses, really supporting the nurses that are providing that care to the patient. They also drive practice changes, looking at best practices, and ensuring that there's evidence-based care to the patients. So, they play a crucial role in achieving optimal patient outcomes. And it's really exciting too, because our CNSs and we now have CNS interns who will be providing some additional podcasts to educate the community on important healthcare topics.

Host: Yeah, that's awesome. That;s great to hear. And as I said, you know, some of these are more educational for me than others. You know, some I've done before, but I have not done this one before. So, great to learn about evidence-based practice. Great to have you both on. Thank you so much.

Penelope Gorsuch: Thank you very much.

Karrie Boss: Yes. Thank you for having us.

Host: And for more information, go to summahealth.org/nursing. And if you enjoyed this episode of Healthy Vitals, we'd love it if you'd leave us a review. Your review helps others find our educational content. I'm Scott Webb. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk again next time.