Bluefield State College News July 7, 2014 BSC Nursing Grad Brandon Jones Receives "Outstanding Caregiver Award" When he accepted the inaugural "Outstanding Caregiver Award" at the fifth annual Patient Experience: Empathy & Innovation Summit in Cleveland, OH, it marked a milestone in Brandon Jones' career in healthcare. His journey began in Mercer County several years earlier, inspired by his mother and cultivated through the nursing program at Bluefield State College. Jones, RN, BSN, CEN, unit director of the Emergency Department at Carillion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, was recognized for his outstanding service and superior commitment to the patient experience. He developed "The Patient Experience Workshop," a training program customized for the hospital's Emergency Department. "I began delving into patient experience research and assessing our need within the Department," he explained. Jones and the hospital's Emergency Department educator, Gary Meadows, developed and directed a series of workshops. "We focused on the importance of the patient experience, how we can impact the experience, and what we need to do to provide a world-class experience," he continued. "We encouraged our staff to put themselves in the patient's shoes, then figure out how to improve the patient experience." Jones has trained each of the 230+ employees in Carillion Roanoke Memorial's Emergency Department, and the training has been incorporated into orientation of each new hire in the Department. Additionally, the training has been utilized within other areas of CRMH with plans to expand to outlying hospitals. Based on data, his initiative has resulted in significant increases in overall quality of care, nursing understanding and caring, and significant decreases in patients leaving the emergency room without being seen. Jones' mother, Jeanneine, the former director of the Intensive Care and Cardiac Care Units at Bluefield Regional Medical Center, significantly influenced his career choice. "My mother was a graduate of the Bluefield State College nursing program," Jones recounted. "I can remember visiting my mom at the hospital and thinking 'I am going to work here one day.'" After graduating from the BSC Associate Degree Nursing program in 2005, Jones fulfilled that childhood ambition and began working in the ICU/CCU at BRMC. Three years later, he received his Baccalaureate Nursing Degree from BSC. "My years at BSC helped me to become the nurse I am today," Jones stated. "The ability to go through the associate program in two years, learning the essentials of being a nurse and how to provide direct patient care, is awesome. It allows you to get into the workforce sooner and begin to hone your nursing skills. The structure of the RN to BSN program is perfectly suited for someone who is working and pursuing higher education. The BSN program helped prepare me to be an effective leader in nursing through providing education on research, advocacy, communication, leadership skills, and ethics." Reflecting upon the Outstanding Caregiver Award several weeks after he received it, Jones noted, "I accepted the award on behalf of all the members of my Emergency Department Team. I work with an amazing leadership team and front line staff. Their hard work and dedication to improving the patient experience provided the foundation for this award." Brandon resides in Roanoke, Va with his wife Erin (also a 2005 graduate of the BSC's Associate Degree Nursing Program) and four-year old daughter Sadie. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/2014meeting-form.html for the October 26-28, 2014 HBCU Library Alliance 6th Membership Meeting in Atlanta GA!