The Nursing Department at Maine Coast Memorial Hospital exists to ensure that each patient and family receive professional care that is of excellent quality, consistent with the mission of the Hospital. All patients and families should expect to receive nursing care that is planned and evaluated by a registered nurse who has continuous accountability for that care. The nurse providing direct care to the patient and family implements the essential mission of the Nursing Department, and all other roles in the department exist to enhance the relationship between that nurse and the patient, and family.

The spirit of collegiality exists between nurses, physicians, mid-level providers, other facility departments, patients, families, and community members. Comprehensive, financially responsible nursing care is planned to incorporate age specific physical, spiritual, emotional, psycho-social, and educational needs of the patient and family. The goal of all nursing interventions is to assist patients in achieving their full health potential, combining resources of hospital and outpatient programs. Clinical nurses are responsible and accountable for the care they provide and the nursing department assures that accountability by complying with the requirements of external regulatory agencies and enacting internal methods of continuous review and assurance.

The Nursing Department consists of registered nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, unit secretaries, patient safety technicians, emergency department technicians, surgical technicians, monitor technicians and certified medical assistants. The in-hospital units have individual unit nurse managers that include the medical surgical unit, intensive care unit, obstetrics, surgical services, oncology services, emergency department, anesthesia and education. The nurses in the outpatient practice are represented in the Maine Coast Physician Practice Nurse Leadership group.

Maine Coast nurses have achieved national advanced certifications in:

• infusion nursing
• surgical first assisting
• obstetrics
• lactation specialists
• operating nursing
• wound care
• medical-surgical nursing
• critical care nursing
• oncology nursing
• clinical informatics
• emergency nursing
• palliative care

Communication is a key role in nursing, both within the patient care network and also with the entire hospital. Nursing staff members participate in many standing committees as well as process improvement teams. Some of these include:

• care management
• clinical practice council
• swing bed team
• quality improvement
• professional practice committee
• medication safety team
• clinical informatics committee
• patient education team
• palliative care team
• vascular access team
• pain management team
• customer service team
• capital committee
• clinical ladder committee
• department head team
• ethics committee

Along with the other hospital departments, nursing functions with the goal of patient safety. Many safety initiatives have been implemented, including bedside shift-to-shift reporting, multidisciplinary discharge planning rounds, bedside medication verification, “time-outs” before procedures, a culture that encourages assertive practice, and many more.

Maine Coast Memorial Hospital is proud of the exemplary level of nursing care that is provided throughout the facility. Our nurses are truly valued.