Our cath lab shared leadership (shared governance) team decided that we’d like to help our hospital staff better understand what goes on in the cardiac catheterization lab which will lead to better patient education and care. So, we have broken the cath lab procedures into 3 basic categories: diagnostic, interventional, and EP studies/device implants. We will be putting on 3 different presentations to cover these topics.
Last week, we started with our first of the presentations (on diagnostic caths). We used one of our cath labs and set up a “sterile” tray, brought in a mannequin, and turned on our equipment. We presented 30-minute mock caths, where we talked about topics like pre-procedural prep, sterile fields, coronary anatomy, and closure devices. We had about 60 staff members come through the lab in just a few hours and received positive feedback from the staff who attended.
I’m honestly really proud of what our team put together – I think programs like these do nothing but help the staff to care for our patients.
