Employee Duo Shares How Teams Are Improving Experiences for Patients at

Northwestern Medicine

During a long stay in a hospital or clinic, some basic essentials are necessary, like food and toiletries. But just as some people have dietary necessities, others have specific needs when it comes to skin or hair care. When members of the Northwestern Medicine Champion Network African Descendants Chapter noted that not all patients were being provided with the types of essential personal care products they needed, the health system acted.

Meeting Needs for Hair Care

“We came together as the African Descendants Chapter and noticed that for patients with textured hair, we didn’t have the products to accommodate them,” Vincia Addams, MSN, RN, CMSRN explains. “This can affect their appearance and how they might feel about themselves during their stay, which can impact how they interact with their care team and how receptive they are to treatments.”

With the support of the chapter, Addams says she and Karena Brown, MSN, RN, CMSRN approached the Purchasing team to see what could be done. Although suppliers did not have the combs, conditioners and other products that Addams and Brown were looking for, the suppliers identified and incorporated those products into their portfolio after the team’s inquiry.

Now, Addams, Brown and their colleagues are in the final stages of selecting which products Northwestern Medicine will offer patients.

“A lot of patients might not have the means to buy or bring these products into the hospital,” Addams says. “This is a great opportunity for us to show that we see them and want to care for them as a whole person.”

Meeting Skin Care Needs

Patients in the hospital, particularly those with longer stays, are at risk for pressure injuries, which can occur on the skin if patients do not change positions often. Typically, Brown says, clinicians are taught that the first sign of a pressure injury is reddened skin that does not turn white when pressed or touched.

However, these areas can be harder to spot on patients with dark skin tones, and the areas will not turn white when pressed. Because of this, patients with darker skin can be more susceptible to pressure injuries. This could lead to longer stays, higher care costs and even poorer outcomes.

Brown connected with Addams and other colleagues interested in an improvement project to address this issue. Their application has been approved, and a team of nurses is in place to work on the project.

“We knew that there was, and still is, a lot of room for learning,” Brown explains. “We want to look at how we can get care teams informed and aware about issues like this, so we can move closer toward our ultimate outcome of doing no harm to our patients.”