Teresa Fry, MSN, RN has advanced the profession of nursing in the practice setting and the community as Director of Home Health and Hospice. Teresa serves as a leader in our organization and participates in various leadership roles, professional organizations, serving in several roles where she has the opportunity to provide her leadership. She serves on the Shared Governance Nursing Excellence Council for the health system. In this capacity, she is able to advance the profession of nursing through shared decision-making. She focuses on relationship building with her staff, thereby creating a foundation of trust. Her staff are more empowered and truly feel their voices are heard. As a member of the South Carolina Organization of Nurse Leaders (SCONL), Teresa has shown an interest in working closely with schools of nursing in the region and state to help alleviate clinical capacity challenges. She is currently collaborating with a technical college to offer home care as a clinical site for student nurses.
Teresa also demonstrates leadership through her involvement in local and regional home care workgroups. Through these groups, she brings best practices to our program and community. Teresa goes above and beyond to demonstrate a commitment to growing the profession of nursing through mentoring, teaching and role-modeling professional practice to colleagues and students.
She is committed to growing professionally as well as supporting other nurses to grow. For her staff, she promotes nursing advancement through professional certification, participation in nursing shared governance, and continuing education. Her true commitment is evidenced by how she "walks the talk." Teresa recently completed her BSN and went on to earn her MSN. Several members of her staff have been inspired to follow in her footsteps and return to school to further their education.
Teresa serves as an exceptional mentor. When she came into the role as leader of this service line, there were multiple areas of opportunity. Under her mentorship, the staff and leaders of the department have become quite an effective team leading to many successes. She helped achieve record high Employee Engagement results - 98th percentile for job, department, and organizational engagement - the highest among all departments in our organization. She and her team achieved CMS 5-star rating for patient satisfaction, service line growth, and a significant increase in the average daily census (Hospice). Teresa was instrumental in the development and implementation of evidence-based guidelines focused on reducing CHF and Pneumonia readmissions. Both have shown improvement. Pain Management, specifically pain interfering in daily activities (CMS star rating item) has improved under her guidance. Zero falls with injury for Hospice population in > 33 months was achieved. Avoidable hospitalizations have improved in the past two years. She is visible in promotion of the nursing profession by serving in the community - participating, leading, organizing and volunteering. Teresa is active in her community and passionate about supporting and educating on end-of-life and palliative care. To that end, she has demonstrated her community involvement in a variety of ways - she organized and implemented a community-wide program to honor Veterans. Her commitment is evidenced by the goals set forth - to care for and honor those who have served as they reach end of life. To date, several events have occurred with excellent feedback. Attendance has increased with each event, a sign of success! Teresa and Hospice offer an annual event known as "Celebration of Life" where families of loved ones are invited to come together in fellowship. She understands that grieving is a deeply personal experience and that communities can unite, gain strength, and continue to heal through this annual event. Teresa volunteers for the local community free clinic during events with the goal of promoting health and wellness for individuals who are unable to afford health care. During marathons, you will see her cheering, handing out bottles of cold water and doing whatever she can to help!