I was recently given questionnaires  by the League of Women Voters and the Skagit Valley Herald. Below are the combined responses them with a couple of added comments I thought to add this morning.

2015 QUESTIONNAIRE

Name: Al Dennis

Age: 68

Town of residence: Mt Vernon, WA

Occupation: Registered Nurse

Education: BA Zoology U of Wash 1975    ADN Nursing, Skagit Valley College 1991

Party preference: N/A

Elected offices held: None

Community involvement: US Army artillery officer with Vietnam service, (Bronze Star), Charter Member Skagit Island Builder’s Assn, Past chairman SICBA Remodeler’s Council, Sponsored youth Soccer, local unit WSNA co-chair.

Campaign website: http://aldenniscommissioner.blogspot.com/

Why are you running for office?

Being a bedside nurse at SVH for the last 24 years I can see many opportunities for improvement at our hospital. Nursing and Doctoring is a costly, and very large interface our hospital has with the patients. We, on the front lines,  understand patient care like nobody else. There needs to be more communication between this care giving staff and the board. With every decision being made, board members should be asking themselves “How will this decision impact quality of patient care?” My own experience augmented with front line care giver input will help guide the board in answering that all-important question.

What are the three major issues facing your hospital district?

One) Lack of trust between the worlds of hospital “business” and frontline care giving

Two) We need to develop an institutional culture of efficiency. Nurses and doctors go from one roadblock to the next trying to do patient care. E.g. A nurse starts her day trying to give the morning meds. Oops! They are not all in the patients drug drawer. So she goes to the locked Omnicell to get them and then finds they are not there but in the Omnicell at the other end of the unit. Next there is another thing that must be searched for in the supply room, but there is no “index” supplied to make the search efficient so she wanders up and down the rows searching for peroxide and gets interrupted by the next nurse who asks, “Do you know where the scalpels are?” Now you have two nurses wandering. These are but two of MANY examples of time wasting inefficiency. We need an Efficiency Ombudsman that can get things corrected and then evaluate the changes and keep them on track across all departments. The ombudsman needs to see that there is staff buy in from top to bottom institution wide. Some things are impressively efficient but there are big gaps so I’ll say it again, We Need an Institutional Culture Of Efficiency. The nurses can still take care of patients, but a smoother workflow will improve things.

Three) Our computer charting system is difficult to use. It is my understanding that the hospital is shopping for a new system, and if elected to the board I will do my level best to see that it is fully operational before live implementation.

Of the three, which is most important?

It is the lack of trust between the worlds of hospital “business” and frontline care giving. With my experience I can help foster communication between these two worlds.

Do the Board’s decisions meet the service standard goals of safety, presentation, efficiency and compassion? And I don’t mean following statistics from the comfort of the Board Room. I mean what’s really happening right down at the bedside of some of the most vulnerable members of our community. Do we have the resources to provide adequate staffing? On-going education? New nurse mentoring? A pharmacy that gets the drug to the right place on time? Is our equipment properly maintained? Etc., etc.

Or are we spending an undue amount of money on “hospital business expenses” such as bonuses? projects? mergers? Top heavy management?

Hard questions. I will look at all sides and will be advocating strongly for high quality care at the bedside and in the clinics.

How will you address it?

 Calmly and professionally, using my experience combined with published research data, and observations from care giver staff.

Why should voters choose you?

As an Army officer and sole proprietor of Dennis Construction Co. for 16 years I have years of managerial and business experience. This background will be helpful, as I learn more of how the business end of a healthcare institution works. I will facilitate the board members’ learning how business decisions impact nursing and MD workflow, and therefore quality of care.

For the past 24 years I have been a Registered Nurse, working in critical care, dialysis, education, and as a rapid response nurse.

I’ve helped patients overcome breathing emergencies, calmed extreme anxieties, provided education about a new diagnosis, held the hand of dying patients, consoled loved ones, staunched bleeding, managed pain, done CPR, shocked hearts out of lethal dysrythmias, written protocols, mentored nurses, told jokes, cheered spirits, and a lot more.

I cannot get this close to patients—do this work— without feeling the importance of it viscerally. It’s inside my soul. I care deeply about the imperative of delivering high quality care.

That’s why you should vote for me.