The Stroke and Trauma Programs of McLaren Bay Region are proud to announce the opening of Neuro/Trauma Stepdown Unit, a new specialized nursing floor.
The Neuro/Trauma Stepdown Unit is able to accommodate 36 stable patients who require increased monitoring from having been admitted to critical care. The new unit provides advanced knowledge of current stroke and trauma patient standards, which will provide patients with the highest level of specialized care.
“This is not just for the stroke program but also for the trauma program. We believe they really go hand in hand,” Grace Rodriguez, RN, MSN, Stroke Program Coordinator, said of the combination nursing unit. “Over the last several months we have been working with hospital leadership, management, providers, and nursing staff, to provide trauma and stroke education, as well as increasing their certifications, to help them care for a highly specialized patient population.”
“As a designated Level III Trauma Center, we are constantly looking for areas that we can enhance our care and increase our quality of specialty,” said Trauma Program Coordinator, Patricia Irwin, RN, BSN. “Complex trauma patients are a very specialized patient population, and there are certain criteria to remember. With experience, knowing those nuances, and being able to recognize and look out for them, is important. The goal is to help patients recover and get back to where their baseline was prior to their injury occurring.”
In addition to the current stroke program education requirements, the entire nursing staff of the unit has undergone several additional hours of training, including Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) certification and attendance to the Neuro/Trauma Symposium, a McLaren-based, eight-hour course. Beginning the summer of 2021, Trauma Nursing Core Curriculum (TNCC) Certification will be also offered as part of the requirements for trauma care.