A Tradition of Security: Affected person Transport Success at Novant Well being Rowan Medical Heart

The Affected person Transport group at Novant Health Rowan Medical Heart is a powerful instance of Crothall’s dedication to office security in motion. 

Crothall Healthcare’s Affected person Transport group, positioned in Salisbury, N.C., makes over 68,000 journeys a 12 months and has achieved spectacular security milestones: no main accidents since January 2017 and no ‘Pink Rule’ violations for greater than eight years.  

“To be injury-free for 9 years, and ‘Pink Rule’ free for practically as lengthy, the group must be laser-focused on their mission and extremely engaged,” says Regional Vice President Sam Olsen.  

Expertise Counts 

A key think about these successes is Affected person Transport Director Brittney Livengood, who started as a transporter at Rowan in 2009 and labored her option to Director in 2018, gaining firsthand affected person care expertise alongside the way in which. 

Brittney progressed to Affected person Movement Coordinator, entered the Supervisor-in-Coaching program, and have become Director in 2018. 

“Brittney has walked nicely greater than a mile within the sneakers of her frontline group members, and this has given her the crucial perception she must finest lead them,” Olsen says. “This expertise has given her the flexibility to speak flawlessly each to her management group and to her frontline, making certain that everybody is in sync with division and hospital objectives and initiatives.” 

The Significance of High quality Coaching  

Livengood credit her coaching group and associates’ vigilance for his or her security document and hazard avoidance. 

As a result of transporters transfer sufferers often, preliminary coaching emphasizes stopping again accidents. “We concentrate on physique mechanics and protected transfers to keep away from strains and harm,” Livengood says. 

They obtain two weeks of hands-on coaching from Velma Johnson, the 16-year group lead. Every affiliate should grasp security measures, from accurately utilizing PPE to transporting sufferers with particular wants. 

On the job, Brittney accompanies every transporter month-to-month to make sure they use correct lifting and switch methods. 

She additionally reminds employees to put on PPE accurately with isolation sufferers, who can simply transmit sickness by means of droplets or pores and skin contact.  

Livengood says transporters depend on teamwork to forestall accidents. For instance, if a battery-powered mattress loses energy, making IT arduous to push, transporters name for assist as a substitute of shifting IT alone. 

Olsen says coaching at Novant Health Rowan Medical Heart matches different accounts, however Brittney’s consideration to security helps reinforce the sturdy security tradition constructed into Crothall’s affected person transport operations. 

“Brittney deserves a ton of credit score for this accomplishment, however IT takes all the village to make sure IT is practiced with every transport. Each Affected person Transport group member at Novant Health Rowan Medical Heart has performed an important position in reaching this unbelievable accomplishment and deserves to be acknowledged.” 

– Regional Vice President Sam Olsen

The Oxygen Olympics 

The Affected person Transport group additionally joins Novant Health’s annual Oxygen Olympics, a 10-day security contest centered on correct handoff and oxygen tank dealing with. 

Transporters earn factors within the competitors by utilizing the oxygen handoff instrument correctly and answering each day trivia. 

In the latest contest, all prime three Rowan Medical Heart winners had been Affected person Transport: Velma Johnson (first), Maurice Harrison (second), and Tyler Solomon (third). 

The competitors typically pays off in a transporter’s each day duties. Just lately, Devon Stewart’s oxygen know-how helped a affected person. 

Earlier than transferring a affected person from the Emergency Division, DeVon heard an oxygen tank alarm. He alerted a nurse, who rapidly changed the tank so the affected person stayed oxygenated. 

Tradition of Security 

Novant Health Rowan Medical Heart management acknowledges the group’s affect. In 2024, Livengood gained the Atlas award for Skilled & Help Providers, nominated by different division leaders. 

“Brittney is seen as a hospital chief by everybody,” says Olsen. “She and her group show sufferers profit once we set excessive requirements.” 

Brittney and her group present what’s potential when sturdy coaching, accountability, and a shared dedication to security come collectively. Values that outline Crothall groups throughout the nation.