FMH is dedicated to providing outstanding and safe clinical care to its patients. This includes using quality control, quality assessment, peer review, and performance improvement methodologies to assure nursing related processes are continuously improved. Additionally, FMH is committed to meeting or exceeding The Joint Commission (TJC) standards, Maryland state regulations and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requirements. Nursing makes an essential contribution to patient safety and quality of care. Desirable patient outcomes are an empirical part of a patient's care at FMH. To demonstrate this passion for quality and safety, the nursing department is beginning the journey to excellence with the Magnet Recognition Program. This program was developed more than 25 years ago and hospitals who are awarded this honor demonstrate excellence in nursing practice.

Performance Improvement

To assist with these efforts, the Performance Improvement (PI) Department supports the Nursing Departments in a variety of ways including collecting data, educating staff, identifying opportunities for improvement, identifying root causes, and reporting results.

Core Measures

For many years, the PI department has been collecting data on core measures as required by The Joint Commission. This data is also reported to CMS and the state. These measures include Acute Myocardial Infarction, Heart Failure, Community Acquired Pneumonia, and Surgical Care Improvement Process (which began with hip and knee surgeries). Many of these measures are influenced by the care provided by the nursing staff. Some of the indicators most influenced by nursing include smoking cessation, timing of prophylactic antibiotics, obtaining blood cultures prior to administration of antibiotics, timing of aspirin therapy, and removal of foley catheters. The results of the organization's efforts have paid off! Recently FMH received approximately $150,000 from CMS for achieving a high level of performance and showing dramatic improvement.