Bassett Healthcare Network Hospitals Achieve NICHE Designation
Five Bassett Healthcare Network hospitals have achieved designation as NICHE hospitals, an accomplishment few other hospitals in the state have achieved. NICHE stands for Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders and is the only national designation indicating a hospital’s commitment to elder care excellence. Bassett Healthcare Network’s Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown, A. O. Fox Hospital in Oneonta, O’ Connor Hospital in Delhi, Cobleskill Regional Hospital and Little Falls Hospital are all designated NICHE hospitals.
“Fifty percent or more of the inpatient population our network hospitals care for is 65 years of age or older,” notes Bassett Healthcare Network Chief Nursing Officer Connie Jastremski, R.N., M.S., M.B.A. “In fact, at some of our network hospitals that number is as high as 70 percent, and assessing the progress and health of older patients is much different than it is with someone who is middle-aged or younger. The NICHE program is designed to help us engage our elderly population in a geriatric sensitive way.”
The NICHE designation comes with a variety of tools proven to help hospitals improve care of the elderly. It includes clinical protocols specifically for older patients, evidence-based geriatric practice tools, an E-learning center that includes interactive e-learning opportunities as well as other staff training tools. When implemented at other hospitals around the country, NICHE has resulted in:
improved geriatric nursing knowledge
enhanced work satisfaction in caring for older adults
better outcomes as a result of fewer patient falls, pressure ulcers and urinary tract infections commonly associated with hospitalization of older patients
Over 300 hospitals have instituted the NICHE program in the United States. Dr. Terry Fulmer, dean of New York University College of Nursing, founded NICHE in 1981. Learn more about the program by visiting www.nicheprogram.org.
To learn more about Bassett Healthcare Network, visit www.bassett.org.
