ENA Presentation

On March 7, 2009 Francine Westergaard, RN, MSN, JCR Consultant, provided a presentation at the 2009 Emergency Nurses Association Leadership Conference in Reno, Nevada. The conference was attended by nearly 900 Emergency Nurse leaders. The leaders that attended this breakout session discussed the history of The Joint Commission, the purpose of the Joint Comission standards, and ways in which to apply Joint Commission standards in the emergency medicine setting. 

In the health care systems of the 21st century, patients, families and staff members need to be informed of and know their roles in managing their health care needs and the needs of others. The Joint Commission expects health care organizations to meet the health needs of patients with high quality and safe care. During this presentation, Ms. Westergaard discussed the newly formatted 2009 Joint Commission standards related to the quality and safety of patient care, families and staff in Emergency Medicine. Ms. Westergaard provided examples of best practices as they relate to emergency department care.