Thank you for your IMPACT on a nursing process patient safety

Tiffany MacDonald is a pre/post admissions nurse at Bronson Battle Creek. Last year, she took it upon herself last year to create a process to obtain walkers for postop surgical patients.

At the time, patients were being sent home after a partial knee replacement with only crutches available to them. Tiffany identified this as a fall risk for the patients and systematically developed a process so that any patient could obtain a walker through medical at home services to be delivered to surgery. If the patient can not afford one, and insurance will not pay for a walker, Tiffany developed the "Loner Program". Tiffany went to Good Will and Salvation Army, using her own money, purchased walkers for those postop patients who could not afford one. With this "loner program", after the patient is weaned from the walker at home and no longer needs it, the walker is returned, Tiffany cleans it, and it is available for the next patient.

She also implemented having Physical Therapy come into the postop area to work with our "fall risk patients" before discharge using their walker from home (or a loner walker) to decrease that fall risk.

Through Tiffany's diligence, she has made a tremendous IMPACT on decreasing falls at home for our "Same Day" ortho patients and increased safety. She also talked with our ortho surgeons to discuss that if a patient fails Physical Therapy, and is identified as a fall risk by Physical Therapy, the patient gets admitted as an Observation Patient so that Physical Therapy can work with them more in the morning before being discharged.

we should all stop for a moment and recognize Tiffany McDonald for her positive IMPACT on a nursing process and how it improved patient safety.