Yolanda Ruiz-Isales
April 2018
Yolanda
Isales
,
MSN, RN, MS, CLSSBB
Kerrville Transitional Care Center
South Texas Veteran's Health Care System
San Antonio
,
TX
United States
The Kerrville Transitional Care Center (KTCC) of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) is home to 80 chronically ill and disabled Veterans, 60 miles northwest of San Antonio, Texas. Services provided include long term care, skilled care, subacute rehabilitation, and hospice. The Kerrville Transitional Care Center (KTCC) campus is regulated by the Long-Term Care Institute (LTCI), a national organization that provides annual surveys to evaluate the quality of care.
In December of 2017, the LTCI surveyors visited the KTCC campus, revealing multiple findings related to patient care, one of them considered "life-threating level". Upon a deeper dive into the reasons why these patient-related findings occurred, STVHCS leadership found a lack of nursing leadership at the local level, inadequate interdisciplinary team communication and the immediate need for better policies and processes. At that point, Ms. Yolanda Ruiz-Isales volunteered to be detailed as the acting chief of nurse for the KTCC campus. While detailed, Ms. Ruiz-Isales also remained working on her position as primary care ACNS.
Ms. Ruiz-Isales spent 4 months as the KTC acting chief nurse. During this short period of time, she managed to accomplish the following:
Increased number of KTCC admissions
LTCI survey action plan accepted by national GEC office (all items resolved)
4-star ratings (high score) for KTCC
Development of processes for all disciplines for better communication
Team building among nursing staff
Creation of excellent documentation templates for ADL's with the inclusion of all disciplines
Development of a process to pursue accountability for all nurses
Mentorship of nurse managers and assistant nurse managers
Specific mentorship to her successor to be successfully hired as her replacement (new KTCC ACNS!)
Marked improvement of communication processes between San Antonio and Kerrville campuses
***
Quotes from nursing and medical staff:
"Yoli is the best leader we ever had, she represents us and wants to do better, she is an inspiration"
"Ms. Ruiz is a strong leader and I feel safe and supported by her"
"Ms. Ruiz has turned this campus around and it is a joy to work here"
"Ms. Ruiz will do anything to provide the right care for the Veteran, 'NO' does not exist in her vocabulary"
In December of 2017, the LTCI surveyors visited the KTCC campus, revealing multiple findings related to patient care, one of them considered "life-threating level". Upon a deeper dive into the reasons why these patient-related findings occurred, STVHCS leadership found a lack of nursing leadership at the local level, inadequate interdisciplinary team communication and the immediate need for better policies and processes. At that point, Ms. Yolanda Ruiz-Isales volunteered to be detailed as the acting chief of nurse for the KTCC campus. While detailed, Ms. Ruiz-Isales also remained working on her position as primary care ACNS.
Ms. Ruiz-Isales spent 4 months as the KTC acting chief nurse. During this short period of time, she managed to accomplish the following:
Increased number of KTCC admissions
LTCI survey action plan accepted by national GEC office (all items resolved)
4-star ratings (high score) for KTCC
Development of processes for all disciplines for better communication
Team building among nursing staff
Creation of excellent documentation templates for ADL's with the inclusion of all disciplines
Development of a process to pursue accountability for all nurses
Mentorship of nurse managers and assistant nurse managers
Specific mentorship to her successor to be successfully hired as her replacement (new KTCC ACNS!)
Marked improvement of communication processes between San Antonio and Kerrville campuses
***
Quotes from nursing and medical staff:
"Yoli is the best leader we ever had, she represents us and wants to do better, she is an inspiration"
"Ms. Ruiz is a strong leader and I feel safe and supported by her"
"Ms. Ruiz has turned this campus around and it is a joy to work here"
"Ms. Ruiz will do anything to provide the right care for the Veteran, 'NO' does not exist in her vocabulary"