Shared Decision Making

LETTER FROM CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF MICHIGAN PROFESSIONAL NURSING COUNCIL CHAIR

Dear Colleagues,

I believe the Professional Nurse Council (PNC) is the vehicle that gives staff nurses a voice. At the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, the PNC gives nurses the opportunity to interact with staff from different disciplines and departments in making practice decisions toward the common goal of improving patient care and offering extraordinary patient care experiences for patients and their families.

When I was nominated for PNC chair, I thought carefully about the role. I’d never done anything like that before. I received my BSN from Michigan State and was a student nurse technician at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan before I graduated from nursing school. Upon graduation I worked in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for eight years, was a pool nurse for six years and went back to the NICU where I am now. I have always loved the PNC and have helped where I could but I hadn’t taken a leadership role. It was a leap for me but the support I’ve received from staff and previous chairs, who are still very much involved because of all the good work the PNC does, is amazing.

The Children’s Hospital PNC is making widespread positive changes that mean something to our staff nurses. The cereal drive we’ve held for the past two years are examples of what we can contribute to the greater good. Last year we collected 337,673 servings of cereal for children at risk of going hungry in southeast Michigan during the summer months when they lose access to free or reduced priced meals in schools. We hope to improve those numbers this year. Plus we’ve created a friendly cereal drive competition with at least nine other children’s hospitals in the United States. Our small idea is helping hundreds of thousands of kids.

We’ve recently rolled out a social media position statement that we hope is a good reminder to our staff that everything we do online stays there forever. With the policy we hope to raise staff nurse awareness of all the implications of being on Facebook and other social media sites.

PNC challenges us to solve problems and institute positive change. We recognize that communication is key to whatever we try to accomplish. Being involved makes our jobs fun and the support we give to one another enables us to face difficult challenges in different ways. I am happy to represent the PNC and look forward to many positive shared experiences this year.

Sincerely,

Jennie Basirico BSN RNC-NIC
Children's Hospital of Michigan
CHM PNC Chair
NICU