Changes to EKG operations at Good Samaritan
By Shana Bolliger, MHA, BSN, RN, Director of Cardiovascular Service Line, Interventional Radiology, Chest Pain Program, Heart Failure Program, Vascular Access
As our integration with Intermountain Health proceeds, the decision has been made to restructure diagnostic cardiac testing within our Non-Invasive Cardiology department at Good Samaritan. Effective Saturday, March 16, our non-invasive cardiology technologist positions will be eliminated. These clinicians have been notified of this change, and we are working with our HR and leadership teams to help transition these valuable caregivers to other roles within our hospital.
As EKG and stress testing are imperative to patient care, we will continue to provide these services utilizing different processes.
Stress testing will continue to be available seven days per week, with Sunday caregivers on call.
Every test will be staffed by at least one RN and one echo tech.
Nuclear Medicine will continue to support all Lexiscan tests.
EKGs will be obtained by nursing staff (RN, PCT, EMT) within our ED and inpatient units.
This is the current process for night shift, and nursing will own obtaining EKGs around the clock, starting Sunday, March 17.
Post processing of EKGs will be done by our echo techs throughout the day.
Stat orders, Rapid Response, and Code Blue EKGs will be done by nursing and/or rapid response teams.
Outpatient EKGs will be completed by the echo team.
Starting next week, our echo sonographers will learn these new skills to support our go-live date of March 17. We acknowledge there might be times when a stress test and stat echo are ordered at the same time. Our team will prioritize stat orders and ensure that any current patient care has adequate coverage before responding.
Andrea Buczynski, who currently oversees the EKG/Stress and Cardiac & Pulmonary Rehab teams, also will take on management of the Echo and Vascular Access teams. Andrea and I are coordinating this transition for both non-invasive teams and can provide further insight for operational plans.
Thank you for your flexibility and support during this transition period!