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Expanding Standards of Care CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Medical Center is the only facility within a 172-mile radius to earn the NICHE designation. Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) is a national program designed to help hospitals improve senior care. In 2014, staff at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Medical Center went through 16 weeks of intensive training in order to understand how to best provide senior patients with the highest quality treatment. "Part of what makes CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Medical Center so special is the dedication our nurses have to treating the growing senior population," says Angie Lambert, MBA, BSN, RN, chief nursing officer with CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Medical Center. "Our nurses are the leaders in providing care for this population." The Acute Care of the Elderly Center at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Medical Center is a 10-bed unit designed to provide specialized, quality, family-centered holistic and acute care to patients 65 and older. Nurses in the center provide a complete assessment to ensure they are meeting each patient's individual needs, offering services that include assistance through community meals, group therapy and providing devices for patients with hearing difficulties. "Our philosophy is to keep the patients out of bed as often as possible so that they don't develop functional decline, and many actually leave with improved functionality," says Imelda Sanchez, MSN, RN, nursing director with CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Medical Center. "We take a team approach to the care of our patients, which involves clinicians from nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, dietary and many other disciplines. Everyone involved in the care of the patient is present at the bedside during a set time each day. The patient and family are included as members of the team, and they participate in setting goals in the plan of care." PUTTING TROUBLED MINDS AT EASE CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Medical Center's 19-bed Senior Behavioral Health Center is designed to provide safe and compassionate care for seniors who are experiencing depression and/or an altered mental state in an inpatient setting. "What makes us unique is our ability to transfer patients in the Senior Behavioral Health Center to the Acute Care of the Elderly Center, should they become medically unstable, and vice versa," says Angie Lambert, MBA, BSN, RN, chief nursing officer with CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Medical Center. "No other facilities in San Antonio have the focus on specialized care that we offer to our senior patients." The specialized senior care is not confined to these centers. "Our senior resource nurses work in all areas of the hospital," Imelda says. "We have them in the emergency department, the surgical area and the intensive care units, to name a few. Our focus is to take care of patients' needs holistically and return them to their normal environment." For more information about our Acute Care of the Elderly Center and Senior Behavioral Health Center, visit christussantarosa.org/aceunit and christussantarosa.org/senior-care. To learn more about what NICHE designation means, scan the QR code. Reaching Out to Those in Need Angie Lambert, MBA, BSN, RN Many senior patients in our community have been caregivers at some point in their lives. CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Medical Center is dedicated to giving that care back. 3 LiveWell | Spring 2015