Fiscal year 2025 was another successful year for the Rush Department of Professional Nursing Practice, or PNP. The department continued to achieve its mission of promoting the highest quality of care at Rush University Medical Center through professional development, interprofessional collaboration, innovation, and expertise in data, evidence-based practice and quality improvement. The following programs and projects highlight how the department continues to achieve its mission and surpass its goals.
Skin Wound Assessment Team: Achieving Excellence in Pressure Injury Prevention
- Lisa Boudreau, MSN, RN, CWOCN
- Andrea Fidai, MSN, RN, CWON, CNL, CMSRN
- Catherine King, BSN, RN, CMSRN, CWON
- Nicole Walkowiak, MSN, RN, CRRN, CWOCN, CNL
In fiscal year 2025, the Skin, Wound, Assessment and Treatment, or SWAT Team at Rush University Medical Center demonstrated its outstanding commitment to patient safety and high-quality improvement. Through consistent teamwork and preventionfocused practices, the team surpassed their goal for Hospital- Acquired Pressure Injury, or HAPI, achieving an overall rate of 0.4 percent— well below the target of 0.53 percent.
Led by Lisa Boudreau, Nicole Walkowiak, Andrea Fidai and Catherine King, the SWAT Team is made up of dedicated bedside nurses who work closely with wound, ostomy and continence nurses, or WOCNs, to advance wound care practices across all inpatient units. Team members combine clinical expertise with ongoing education and collaboration. They complete specialized training, participate in annual webinars, conduct quality improvement interventions and lead peer education efforts.
These efforts make a real difference at the bedside. Their activities include quarterly prevalence days, monthly Save Our Skin surveys and regular case reviews, all supported by data dashboards that help identify trends for quality improvement. This structured data-informed approach allows the team to address risks early and consistently reinforce prevention strategies.
This year, the WOCN team recognized Lourenz Marie Balayan, Karol Cordon, 9 North Atrium and 7 South Atrium for their exceptional commitment to staff education, product and guideline dissemination, and SOS survey completion. Balayan completed 110 Save Our Skin audits for the year, and Cordon completed 469.
The continued success of the SWAT Team over the last decade reflects the collaborative spirit and commitment to quality that defines nursing at Rush. Their sustained focus on prevention, education and teamwork made a meaning impact on patient safety and outcomes, helping ensure patients receive the highest standard of care every day.
Empowering Diabetes Patients Through Inpatient Education
- Emily Brey MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC, CDCES
- Bernadine Holland, MSN, MBA, RN, BC-ADM, CDCES
During fiscal year 2025, the diabetes nursing team played a pivotal role in expanding access to continuous glucose monitoring, or CGM, technology for hospitalized patients with diabetes. The American Diabetes Association 2025 Standards of Care state that routine glucose monitoring or “finger sticks” may have limited clinical benefit in improving diabetes outcomes. It recommends initiating CGM for people with diabetes whenever possible to provide insight into factors that affect glucose levels.
With the growing availability of CGM devices and broadening insurance approval, the inpatient diabetes educators have initiated an average of 50 CGM starts each month, reflecting both strong patient need and the dedication of our Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists, or CDCES, nurses to advancing diabetes care.
Each CGM start goes beyond device placement. Our CDCESs provide approximately 45 minutes of individualized education for patients and their caregivers before discharge. The focus is on safe device use, confidence building and optimizing CGM data for improvement in diabetes self-management outcomes. This patient-centered approach supports a smooth transition from hospital to home while emphasizing the importance of consistent monitoring and securing insurance approval for uninterrupted access to supplies.
To ensure continuity of care, all CGM education and device initiations are documented using a standardized Epic smart phrase. This process ensures consistent education, captures key teaching points and supports effective communication with outpatient providers. Nurses also work proactively with patients and care teams to secure insurance coverage before discharge, helping prevent gaps in therapy and reinforcing the Rush commitment to patient advocacy.
The impact of this initiative is reflected in patient feedback. Many patients report feeling more confident and supported in managing their diabetes and express gratitude for being introduced to CGM technology during their hospital stay. These outcomes underscore the vital role nurses play in advancing diabetes care, improving patient experience and supporting better long-term health outcomes
Building Confidence in Emergency Cardiac Care: A Crash Course in Arrhythmia Interpretation
- Hadley Landeryou MSN, RN
- Lauren Zednick MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CNL
The Rush Spring 2024 RN Learning Needs Assessment revealed that nurses expressed a strong desire for more education on managing emergencies in acute care settings. The following topics were identified as high priorities for additional training:
- Code Blue management
- The role of the code narrator
- Basic electrocardiogram, or ECG, interpretation
- Use of emergency equipment
In addition, reviews of several peri-arrest and peri-code safety events during the National Quality & Innovation Conference highlighted a common challenge: many nurses had limited real-life exposure to these high-risk situations. This lack of hands-on experience was identified as a recurring barrier to confidence and performance during emergencies.
To address this gap, a comprehensive, four-hour course that combines knowledge-building with practical experience was designed. Titled “Crash Course: Arrhythmia Interpretation and Mock Code Blue,” the course includes:
- Common and critical heart arrhythmias review and interpretation
- Patient case studies
- Hands-on training with key emergency tools, including the code cart; Zoll defibrillator, a medical device designed to help restart the heart during cardiac emergencies; Epic’s Code Narrator, used for real-time documentation; 12-lead ECGs and four different emergency simulation scenarios
This multi-model approach ensures that learners not only understand the key concepts but also have the opportunity to practice applying them in a safe, supportive environment.
The course, which is four hours in length, is divided into four distinct sections:
- Hours 1 and 2: Classroom-style learning and guided case study review
- Hour 3: Hands-on skills stations
- Hour 4: Simulation-based learning using realistic emergency scenarios
This multi-modal design allows participants to move from learning, to practice, to real-time application.
Impact and Outcomes
The course has shown strong, measurable results. Before the course, 83.3% of participants reported feeling “not so confident” in interpreting critical arrhythmias. After completing the course, 92.9% reported feeling “confident.” Three months after course completion, 100% of participants reported feeling more confident about caring for patients on cardiac monitors. All participants reported that the course content was highly applicable to their daily practice.
These outcomes demonstrate that combining education, hands-on practice and simulation meaningfully improve confidence and readiness in emergency situations.
What’s Next
Plans are underway to expand this course to additional care areas. Collaboration is already underway with the neonatal intensive care unit team to adapt the content to meet the specific needs of their nurses and patient population.
In addition, the course will become a mandatory component of the clinical ladder, supporting RN1 to RN2 advancement and ensuring consistent emergency preparedness across nursing practice.
Building Lifesaving Skills Across Rush and the Community
- Brent Alwood, MSN, RN, CNML
The Rush CPR Training Center, accredited by the American Heart Association, played a vital role in strengthening emergency preparedness across Rush during fiscal year 2025. Throughout the year, the center provided Basic Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support training to more than 5,900 Rush University System of Health employees, physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, residents, students and allied health professionals.
In addition to supporting Rush staff and students, the Training Center extended its expertise beyond Rush. The team partnered with the Rush Advanced Trauma Training Program to support military medical personnel and continued the Life Saving Hands community CPR program. This initiative offers free CPR and First Aid training and certification to underserved community members through local schools, libraries and community organizations.
The Training Center team also supported hospital-based in situ mock codes to enhance team readiness and provided Family and Friends CPR education to neonatal intensive care unit parents, helping families feel prepared to respond to emergencies at home.
Key accomplishments this year include completion of training center systemization and full implementation of the American Heart Association’s blended learning model, including HeartCode Basic Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support. These advancements increased accessibility and consistency in training while maintaining the highest standards of lifesaving education.