Dear UAMS Nurses,
Phew! Welcome to the start of a “new” year at UAMS. As many of you know, UAMS operates on a fiscal calendar, and our financial year runs from July 1 to June 30 rather than following a January to December calendar.
The start of a new year here means several things, including fresh groups of resident physicians and nursing grads. We’re thrilled to welcome 62 new grad RNs in our 2026 summer cohort. As you work with these new nurses and doctors, please show grace and patience and offer to help as much as you can, remembering your first days on the job and how scared and intimidated you probably felt. This is a great opportunity to be “all in” and go the extra mile in welcoming these new grads into the UAMS family.
We all know to expect a lot of new faces in early July, and it’s often when new policies or regulations take effect, not to mention holiday weekend visits to the ER, heat-related illnesses, weekend warrior sports and home improvement injuries, and all the other things that can go wrong. (see Season 2 of The Pitt) Experienced staff know early July is always a “high alert” time in health care.
To make things extra exciting, we had a mock Joint Commission survey last week, too. Since we are in our window for a Joint Commission visit, I’d like to share my Joint Commission 101:
- CMS is a government agency that funds Medicare and Medicaid. They pay for about half of our hospital patients, and they write the safety laws we must follow.
- CMS doesn’t have the resources to inspect every hospital in America, so hospitals pay the Joint Commission to do this. CMS then trusts these Joint Commission reviews to make sure hospitals are providing safe, appropriate care.
- When we pass a Joint Commission review, we get a legal stamp called Deemed Status, which tells CMS it’s OK to direct federal tax dollars to UAMS for patient care. We undergo a Joint Commission review every three years to maintain Deemed Status.
Thank you to everyone who participated in last week’s mock survey. Our consultant was very impressed with our teams. She did a specific shout out to Dr. Matt Steliga for the flawless timeout she observed and to Buddy Williams (H4 RN) and Bailey West (E4 RN) for their expert navigation of the medical record and ability to quickly provide all the information she needed.
I was very proud to hear her talk about how both Buddy and Bailey really knew their patients’ stories (clinically and otherwise). It’s obvious they are both engaged and intentional in their patient care, and this stood out to her as nursing excellence in action.
My philosophy on Joint Commission readiness is that we must focus on everyday excellence, not a sudden rush to become “survey-ready.” It’s not like putting up holiday decorations or hiding all the clutter before guests come to your house. Being survey ready is being patient ready.
The Joint Commission doesn’t make up rules just to make your job harder. They look at millions of patient outcomes nationwide and establish the baseline for what safe, high-quality care looks like, and they check to make sure we’re providing that level of care. If a survey team finds that we are not in compliance with these regulations, we risk losing CMS funding. This is one reason why these surveys are so important.
Patient safety is another one. Checking dual identifiers, executing a proper time-out, and washing hands are not bureaucratic hurdles. They are the literal barriers between a patient going home healthy or suffering a catastrophic error.
Your nursing career is a third reason surveys matter. CMS standards dictate many of the protocols that protect your nursing license. Following them consistently ensures that your documentation and actions stand up to legal scrutiny.
This isn’t just about passing a test – no one came in the Monday before our mock survey to “fix” the environment or documentation in patient charts. We should strive to practice in a culture of everyday excellence where we are always survey ready.
The good daily nursing care you routinely practice already meets Joint Commission standards. It’s not about doing anything extra – it’s just making sure you consistently adhere to our standard practices of care and are committed to providing safe, high-quality care for our patients.
Thank you for everything you do for your colleagues and patients every day. Welcome to fiscal 2027 – let’s make it a great year!
Tammy
Tammy Jones, PHD, RN, NE-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Associate Vice Chancellor for Patient Care Services & Clinical Operations
Perioperative, Interventional & Imaging Services Division