Pomegranate announced an updated nursing management infrastructure recently. Under Pomegranate’s new Director of Nursing, Melveena D. Edwards, PhD, RN, BSN, MA (with significant psychiatric nursing experience), three nursing supervisors were named: All have demonstrated psychiatric nursing proficiency and supervisory experience. The new structure includes a supervising nurse manager, Thomas Engram, RN, whose focus is management and support for nursing and care staff in both the acute hospital and residential treatment setting across all five wings. Pomegranate employs over 200.
Edwards explained the new nursing model, ‘Nursing C.A.R.E.S’, which stands for: compassion, accountability, respect, excellence and service. The inspiration behind the model is Watson’s ‘Ten Carative Factors’. “The DON will assume a more educational focus to promote excellence, innovation and change management encompassing evidence-based practice. There are now rounding nurse huddles, a greater reliance on strategy, data collection and statistics as well as documentation. When a resident/patient is admitted, he/she is assigned a therapist and a CPST (psychiatric case manager) and now, his/her own nurse. In addition, nursing is assuming a more prominent leadership role as part of the enhanced corporate-wide emphasis on trauma-informed care,” said Angela Nickell, MS, CEO.
At the October 2015 All Staff meetings, nursing supervisors presented an updated and more thorough trauma-informed care module which will be expanded upon in small group sessions with participation of Pomegranate’s compliance/quality improvement manager, Kia Brown, LPN. Nurse Engram, the presenter, shared statistics that ‘90% of public mental health clients were exposed to trauma and most to multiple experiences of trauma.’ He explained that the effects of trauma predispose a client to maladaptive coping mechanisms such as the body’s natural alarm system not functioning as it should -which can result in a diminished capacity to trust others and affect an individual’s sense of safety. A maladaptive response might include the survival mode of fight, flight or freeze with rational thought less possible. A client might experience hyperarousal or shutdown mode.
According to Nickell, “along with the nursing infrastructure update, an intake social worker is joining the acute admissions team due to Pomegranate’s growth and quality enhancement initiative. The exam room is being renovated and updated with an enhanced focus on patient and family care upon admission, with a streamlined entry process in the works. Nurse Tiffany Folmar RN was named residential UR/admissions manager as Valerie Nutter transitions to the business development & marketing team as customer relations manager. This will continue to contribute to our positive, safe and therapeutic environment in building professionalism, enhanced therapeutic communication, rapport, and patient advocacy as Pomegranate continues to look toward the future.”
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