The Pulse | Friday, November 30, 2018
A Day in the Life: Edward Hospital of Naperville
At Edward Hospital in Naperville, Illinois, everything is on the cutting edge.
The 350-bed hospital is a magnet recognized community hospital in suburban Chicago. Part of the Edward-Elmhurst Health network, it was the first hospital in Illinois to offer all private rooms. In recent years, leadership there has transformed it into an innovative facility with a recognized excellence in nursing.
Amy Granato, MSN, RN, CGRN, CFER, is the clinical leader for the endoscopy department. There they have some of the latest technology and offer complex interventional procedures, including endo suturing, stenting, endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP), and more. She showed SGNA around her unit to display some of the amazing technology Edward Hospital offers.
A Focus on Education
Edward Hospital is not a learning hospital in the traditional sense, but there is a huge focus on continuing education and training for staff there—especially those in the endoscopy department.
The unit sees about 30 cases a day in a total of five procedure rooms. There are four interventional gastroenterologists, six interventional pulmonologists, and a slew of other highly qualified and trained staff there. They see both pediatric and adult patients and do both routine preventative care as well as some of the most complex gastroenterological procedures available.
Granato says what sets Edward Hospital apart is that they perform complex procedures typically done in a university setting, not a community hospital. Thanks to the advanced education and training of the staff and the technology offered at the hospital, it’s seen as a leader in gastroenterological care.
“We have endoscopists that have undergone extensive training in both pulmonary and GI interventional procedures,” Granato says. “Our team is constantly learning, and in fact most of our applicants want to come to Edward for the opportunity to be involved in such advanced endoscopic procedures.”
A Designated Leader
Edward Hospital was given Magnet Recognition in 2005, and it was the first hospital in DuPage and Will counties to receive such a designation. It is the ultimate credential for excellence in nursing—only 7 percent of registered hospitals in the country achieve the title. Hospitals receive the honor from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
The application process involves 3,200 pages, several site visits and interviews with members of the nursing staff. The nurses at Edward—including those in Granato’s unit—were recognized for their innovation with advanced nursing research, according to the ANCC.
Granato says the GI staff is always reviewing best practices there, using groundbreaking research and SGNA guidelines to better inform their care.
“I would say the most rewarding part about working in gastroenterology and in my department involves the innovative procedures that we perform,” she says. “With the advances in endoscopy we have been able to prevent patients from having major surgery by performing endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), and transoral incisionless fundoplication (TIF), all minimally invasive endoscopic procedures.”
Staff That Sticks Together
While Edward Hospital stands out for its advanced procedures, it also sticks out for its reputation as one of the friendliest places to work. According to the hospital, it was ranked one of the top places in the nation for employee satisfaction scores and has been praised for its incredible bedside manner with patients.
Granato knows this to be extremely true. She doesn’t consider her staff just as coworkers, she calls them family.
“I honestly would have to say that my entire staff is amazing,” she says. “I just finished writing/giving our staff their annual reviews and it gave me the opportunity to really reflect on the attributes each staff member contributes to our team. I am fortunate to work with so many dedicated, intelligent, and hardworking nurses and technicians. Each one brings a unique strength to the team.”