15 health-care organizations in Ontario selected to join RNAO's Best Practice Spotlight

Organization program to advance excellence in patient care

TORONTO, April 19, 2012 /CNW/ - Ontario's top professional nursing body is celebrating a commitment to excellence in patient care as 15 additional health-care organizations sign agreements to implement its internationally recognized clinical best practice guidelines (BPG).

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) formally announced the results of its selection process to each organization earlier this month. The 15 new Best Practice Spotlight candidates are:  Toronto's Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care; Bayshore Home Health; Bluewater Health; Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH); Grey Bruce Health Unit; Kingston's Hotel-Dieu Hospital; Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital; North Bay Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic; Ontario Telemedicine Network; PeopleCare; Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; Mississauga's Credit Valley Hospital and Trillium Health Centre; Two Rivers Family Health Team; VHA Home HealthCare; and Toronto's Women' College Hospital.

These organizations were selected among many other applicants to implement numerous clinical best practice guidelines developed by RNAO, which provide nurses with up-to-date research evidence in patient care. Forty-seven guidelines have been developed to date, including ones focused on the use of restraints, preventing falls, wound care, and preventing childhood obesity. The RNAO has also developed guidelines that are dedicated to treating chronic conditions such as diabetes, stroke, hypertension and asthma.

Each health-care facility selects guidelines they feel will have the greatest impact on the health and well-being of their patients and clients. During the three-year partnership, each organization will implement guidelines, identify ways to sustain best practices, and evaluate their impact on patient and organizational outcomes.

After the three-year mark, organizations are designated as Best Practice Spotlight Organizations and will join over 200 sites already on board in Canada and abroad.

Doris Grinspun, RNAO's Chief Executive Officer and founder of the program, says premiers across Canada are looking to nurses and other health professionals to help them improve patient care right across the country. "We're confident that these evidence-based tools not only increase health outcomes and satisfaction for patients; they also improve the bottom line in terms of cost effectiveness and system efficiencies," says Grinspun.

"We're extremely proud that these spotlight organizations are supporting nurses so they can provide the highest quality of care patients and clients need and deserve. Our partnership will help these new spotlight organizations deliver even better care and help them retain a qualified nursing workforce," adds Irmajean Bajnok, Director of RNAO's Best Practice Guidelines program.

RNAO's Best Practice Guidelines Program is funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and was launched in 1999 to provide the best available evidence for patient care across a wide range of health-care settings. The guidelines developed to date are contributing towards excellence in Ontario's health-care system. The BPGs are available to nurses and other health-care professionals across Canada and abroad.

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) is the professional association representing registered nurses in Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has advocated for healthy public policy, promoted excellence in nursing practice, increased nurses' contribution to shaping the health-care system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public they serve. For more information about RNAO, visit our website at www.rnao.org. You can also check out our Facebook page at www.rnao.org/facebook and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/rnao.

To arrange an interview with a nurse or for more information, please contact:

Marion Zych, Director of Communications, RNAO
Cell: 647-406-5605 / Phone: [phone]
Toll free: 1-800-268-7199 ext. 209
[e-mail]