Nursing Excellence

[Bottom third: Shriners Children's logo, Beverly Bokovitz, D.N.P., RN, NEA-BC, Chief Nursing Officer, Shriners Children's]

[Nurses Week logo in background]

Beverly Bokovitz:

I became a nurse in a non-traditional way. I started out as a nursing assistant and got into nursing and found that I absolutely loved it. I just sort of had an affinity for it. I really had that feeling of, I found my passion. I have been a nurse for 33 years. In that time, the role of nursing has changed, but it really hasn't. Nurses are still fundamentally there at the bedside or in whatever role they're in, taking care of patients and having that trust between the nurse and the patients.

My favorite thing about being a nurse, when I was a staff nurse, I loved taking care of patients, but now that I'm an administrator, I like being able to be a nursing advocate. Between our wraparound care and our focused approach, nurses at Shriners have an amazing role that they play to take care of children.

The advice that I would have for aspiring nurses is just go for it. Nursing is an honorable and exciting field, and your patients and your coworkers and your peers, they will thank you for it.

The opportunities that exist within Shriners are varied. We have opportunities in surgical services. We have opportunities in intensive care. We have opportunities in our outpatient areas. There are so many different ways you can be a nurse at Shriners.

[Bottom third: Shriners Children's logo, Beverly Bokovitz, D.N.P., RN, NEA-BC, Chief Nursing Officer, Shriners Children's]

[Nurses Week logo in background]

Beverly Bokovitz:

Happy Nurses Week. National Nurses Week takes place between Saturday, May 6th and Friday, May 12th. It is the perfect time to pause and take a moment to acknowledge, honor, and celebrate all of our caring and incredible nurses.

May 12th is an especially significant day as it marks the birthday of Florence Nightingale, known as the founder of modern nursing. The theme of this year's Nurses Week is You Make a Difference, which honors the varying nursing roles as well as the positive impact nurses have on everyone's lives. Please know how much your efforts to provide hope and healing are appreciated.

The meaningful influence you have on healthcare is truly incomparable and something to be celebrated, not only this week but each and every day. By providing high-quality, compassionate care, day in and day out, you are helping to improve the lives of people around the world and making each day just a little bit brighter. I hope you have a wonderful Nurses Week.

[Shriners Children's logo, Shrinerschildrens.org]

Speaker 1:

100 years ago Shriner's Children's made a promise. One made of brick and mortar and compassion. One sworn to protect and heal the most precious among us. A century later, we are still keeping that promise with facilities all across the globe, helping children from almost every country in the world, with an unwavering dedication to breakthroughs in care, with an ever-growing army of healers standing ready and able. So when a child is staring down a health challenge, we're at their side. When parents despair in the dark, we shine a light. Together we've treated more than 1.5 million patients. 1.5 million children who inspired us with their endless drive to keep moving forward. And so we will too. Because 100 years later our commitment stands. Like our patients we will not yield. We will not quit. We are unstoppable.

Speaker 1:

Shriners Children's, a culture of innovation and transformational change. Change is a constant in today's fast paced world. It happens all around us all the time in every part of life and industry, including the medical field. One of the most important changes in medical care is the emphasis on outpatient care. Today outpatient care is the expectation of both providers and parents.

Places of change. We continue that tradition today at all of our locations, both hospitals and outpatient centers. Having a combination of ways to access and provide care will lead to better care, better outcomes and a better vision for providing care in the future. Today approximately a third of our facilities are operating as various models of outpatient centers. As a result, our expenses are down and our patient numbers are higher than ever. In 2021, we had more than 440,000 patient visits, the most ever.

One example of our new care model at work can be seen at our Twin Cities facility. Patients served by our Twin Cities location can now be seen at outreach locations in South Dakota, Nebraska and North Dakota, as well as in Minneapolis all on an outpatient basis. In addition, Shriner's physicians see Blank Children's patients at a Blank facility in Iowa sharing their particular medical expertise.

In 2021, the Twin Cities' outpatient facility and their other affiliated locations saw more than 8,000 patients, a global commitment. We also want to extend our reach internationally and transform the lives of children on a global scale. We have initiated a new international strategy beginning with increasing our presence in Canada and Mexico. We will continue to expand our commitment to provide care to children who need us wherever they may live and offer educational opportunities for the local medical professionals. We hope one day more of our international patients can be cared for closer to home.

Another opportunity we are actively pursuing is establishing a physician's group. This will give us the flexibility to have our doctors where they are most needed at any given time. Having our own physicians group will allow our physicians to work seamlessly throughout our system with the ability to move easily from our hospitals to outpatient facilities, even across state lines. We will be able to see our patients wherever they are.

Changing care through research. Driven by new knowledge research has the potential to provide improved treatments and is a long range way of transforming care and lives. In 2022, our corporate research department is managing 90 projects across the healthcare system. Notable areas of research include motion analysis and genomics. This year for the first time ever our Mexico hospital is participating in one of the studies. That is exciting and will expand our potential even further.

Keeping our care traditions. Innovation and change are part of the fabric and history of Shriners Children's, but they aren't everything. We continue our traditions of seeing patients throughout their childhood to provide close, ongoing relationships between patients, families and their medical team. We will always be mindful of our mission to provide high quality safe care in a nurturing family centered environment, regardless of the family's ability to pay for services. We are committed to our signature wraparound care, which seeks to consider the overall wellbeing of our patients and give them every possible resource to achieve their goals and believe in their dreams, and become as confident and independent as possible. Able to take their place in society with grace, community and purpose.

This is an exciting time for Shriners Children's. We have a unique opportunity to stand out as a true leader in pediatric healthcare. One able to offer both transformational change and remain focused on our traditions of mission and purpose.

Speaker 1:

Conducting innovative research that will improve both the quality of care and quality of life of children and families is part of the mission of Shriners Children's. What began more than 40 years ago as a small effort with a $12,000 budget has become a strong, respected research program, especially in the areas of genetics and musculoskeletal conditions, severe burns and spinal cord injuries with a multimillion dollar annual budget.

Over time, our researchers have made landmark discoveries and advances that make a real difference in treatments and in the lives of the children who depend on us. Including, artificial skin and improved wound healing techniques for severe burns. Refining the use of functional electrical stimulation to help some children with spinal cord injuries, as well as those with cerebral palsy to stand, walk and use their hands more effectively. Elaboration of a treatment for OI that involves infusion therapy and has become a standard of care. This allows physicians to quickly predict the rate of the child's growth and immediately make decisions about the patient's care plan. Discovery of a protein, biomarker CXM, which mirrors the child's rate of bone growth.

Building on our success in transforming treatment and lives through research, our strategic plan emphasizes creating tools and developing affiliations that align with our clinical goals and raise the profile of our research program.

The Shriners Children's Genomics Institute continues its mission to perform DNA sequencing of samples from our patients and their families. Our Mexico City hospital is now included in this effort, which enhances our data and possibilities. The availability of advanced DNA sequencing to our medical and scientific staff is driving new areas of clinical research and inspiring collaborative efforts. Recently funding genomics related projects include studies of genetics and cerebral palsy, genetic links to opioid efficacy in patients with burns and genetic links to facial asymmetry.

Shriners Children's is an internationally recognized leader in clinical motion analysis. In the motion analysis center's high speed cameras, reflective markers, force platforms, and muscle sensors combined to record and measure how a child with a mobility impairment is moving. Which allows care teams to create more accurate individualized treatment plans for our patients.

Our researchers and engineers are collaborating with universities and others on new technologies in motion analysis that use markerless camera systems that provide similar information with significantly less time and staff. In addition, these systems are portable, potentially allowing us to bring motion analysis to more kids in more places, a major goal of Shriners Children's. We are also exploring wearable sensors that patients can wear in a suit throughout the day, this will allow us to monitor joint motion and activity levels, providing a way to capture how a patient truly walks during the day. Additionally, we are looking at using virtual reality and games to measure the outcomes of upper extremity surgeries. With these games, a surgeon can determine whether the patient has a better ability to reach for objects in their immediate space.

We are proud of the difference our research has made in treatment protocols and in the lives of children worldwide, and look forward to continuing and expanding our efforts.