Team,
We survived another school year, and now it’s time for longer days, more time with friends and family, vacations, and hopefully some relaxation. I hope you have an opportunity to do all these fun things, but, unfortunately, there’s no “summer break” in health care. Actually, it’s busier than ever, and I have several important topics to cover in this month’s newsletter.
If you haven’t already done so, please complete the 2026 UAMS Employee Engagement Survey. You should’ve received an email from Press Ganey Tuesday morning with a link to the survey. Our goal is to have full participation from our nursing team. We genuinely want to hear what you think. Your confidential survey responses and answers to the open-ended questions at the end of the survey provide valuable information for our leadership team in setting priorities, management training and development of the UAMS CARES culture.
I hope you are all becoming more familiar with UAMS CARES — this work is establishing our shared commitment as Team UAMS to provide exceptional service with compassion, respect, empathy and attention. There will be much more to come on how UAMS CARES is put into action. As a nursing team, we need to be front and center in modeling these principles.
There’s more about “attention” below, but as we think about what it means to care, I’d like to remind you about our strict policy regarding the use of air pods, ear buds, headphones and other Bluetooth devices. The mere presence of ear buds gives patients the impression that they do not have your full attention. Being truly present for your patients and colleagues is an important part of the UAMS CARES culture and our nursing core values.
For your safety and that of our patients and visitors, any type of ear buds or headphones are not to be used in patient care areas. Please keep them put away while you are working. The only time these are allowed to be used is during a designated break time in a designated break area. In case it’s not obvious why this is so important, think about all the alarms, patient calls for help, co-worker requests and other information you wouldn’t hear with ear buds in. The good news is that most of our nursing staff would never do this and are already compliant with this policy. If you see a colleague using ear buds, please remind me that it is not allowed.
As we transition into summer with new RN grads and residents joining our team, I’d like to focus on our commitment to being “all in” in Elevating Excellence. If you haven’t already done so, please click here to read our nursing core values and action statements and commit to being “all in.”
An important part of this commitment is delivering efficient, high-quality, compassionate care. Fundamental to this is having intentional presence with patients. As nurses we often feel like firefighters or taskmasters. Finding time and ways to be intentional and fully present with your patients can be very challenging. Embracing practices that reinforce intentional presence helps establish a more therapeutic relationship benefiting both you and your patients.
One of the most obvious and well-known ways to make this connection is consistently involving patients and families in the nursing handoff and other team communication processes. This best practice of nursing handoff has long been an expected part of our nursing care, but we have opportunities to better define and reinvigorate how we are engaging patients and families.
We all know a thorough nursing handoff helps catch issues and prevent miscommunication. Involving patients and family members in certain aspects of the process reinforces better communication and helps patients feel more informed and engaged. This is one of the most effective ways we as nurses can put the vision of UAMS CARES into action and truly Elevate Excellence.
Nurses have countless touchpoints with patients, but physically being in the room doesn’t automatically equate to “presence” from the patient and family’s perspective. We need to make an intentional effort to focus on that patient and his or her needs at that moment.
To help make every patient touchpoint count, we will be incorporating a consistent approach to our patient interactions called PAUSE as part of Elevating Excellence in nursing practice and culture at UAMS. This is not “new” or “different” work — it’s simply a consistent framework to guide and promote the intentionality we want and that our patients deserve.
Regardless of the clinical setting, incorporating the elements of PAUSE during your frequent patient “check-ins” will help you better connect, promote safety, provide a positive patient experience and likely prevent extra work because of its anticipatory approach. Think about how you will live out the PAUSE approach where you provide care.
Here’s what PAUSE might look like in action in an inpatient setting:
- Presence — Make an intentional connection — introduce yourself, make eye contact, and provide a warm acknowledgment.
- Anticipate Needs — Pain, toileting, comfort, mobility, hydration, nausea —proactively ask before they need to call. “Let’s get up and use the restroom while I am here,” or “Do you have any pain, nausea, or toileting needs?”
- Understand the Patient’s Priorities — “Anything you or your family want to go over before I step out?” “Is there anything I can take care of now so you can rest without interruptions?”
- Safety Checks – Is the bed low/locked, path clear, lines/tubes safe, alarms on, essentials within reach?
- Exit with Expectation — Tell the patient what happens next: “I should be back in about an hour with your antibiotic. Is there anything else I can take care of?”
At the end of the day, involving patients in nurse handoffs and applying the PAUSE approach to patient interactions are both about connection — helping patients feel seen, supported, and safe, and helping all of us stay aligned for strong, consistent care as part of our Nursing core values and the UAMS CARES culture. You’ll be hearing much more about these topics from your leaders along with plans for how we will fully develop and sustain these best practices.
I am so grateful for your commitment to being “all in” to Elevating Excellence for yourself, your team members, and your patients. Embracing ways to improve care demonstrates this commitment, and I’m confident we will see great outcomes. There is nothing our UAMS Nursing team can’t accomplish if we are aligned and committed to achieving these goals.
Thanks for everything you do. You make a real difference every day.
Tammy
Tammy Jones, PHD, RN, NE-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Associate Vice Chancellor for Patient Care Services & Clinical Operations
Perioperative, Interventional & Imaging Services Division