Healing Environment
Competent and Compassionate Caregivers
Competent and compassionate care is the standard for patients who come to Unit 2West, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital’s oncology unit. The unit is well staffed with chemotherapy certified nurses. Chemotherapy certification signifies that a nurse has met or exceeded rigorous criteria for knowledge and experience and possesses a measured competency. Each has attended hours of intense curriculum to become certified for administering chemotherapy.
While all of our oncology nurses who provide oncology care are chemotherapy certified, a number of our nurses have taken their practice to the next level and have acquired oncology nursing certification. Shady Grove Adventist Hospital is proud of our oncology certified nurses.
Radiation Oncology
Radiation Therapy has been made available to the patients with cancer being served by Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, in their own community. Maryland Regional Cancer Care (MRCC) which was formed as a partnership between Adventist HealthCare and Holy Cross Hospital in 1999, serves this community at its state-of-the-art facility on Gude Drive.
Oncology Nursing Certification
Shady Grove Adventist Hospital recognizes the importance of certification by professional organizations. For our oncology certified nurses (OCNs), this process is administered by the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation of the Oncology Nursing Society, an international professional organization for oncology nurses. This significant designation, while quite challenging to acquire, is one which our OCNs wear with pride. Congratulations to our OCNs, and thank you for your contributions to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital’s Cancer Program.
Keeping Our Patients Connected
GetWellNetwork, an interactive system that interfaces with television cable in patient rooms has been implemented at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. Oncology was one of the first units to initiate this innovative program. The goal: to provide the patient with internet access, movies on demand and patient education resources, has been achieved, and has been well-received. For oncology patients, who may experience protracted or recurrent admissions, this provides an ability to stay in touch with life outside the hospital through the internet and e-mail. To date, a total of 100 patient rooms have been “wired” for connectivity.
In addition to “staying in touch”, this capability offers a means for patients to research information specific to their situation. Nursing staff have utilized this venue for providing access to well-vetted patient education materials. This also offers a portal and patients are encouraged to utilize this opportunity to provide comments on care and/or complete a satisfaction survey, creating the stage for immediate service improvement.
Constant revision to improve this service is a part of this initiative. The GetWellNetwork system was updated with a new version during the summer of 2006, with this upgrade improving the speed and ease of navigation of the system.
The Outpatient Infusion Center
The Outpatient Infusion Center provides for comfortable and private treatment for oncology patients on an outpatient basis, where treatment is delivered by specialized oncology nurses. This center provides for the delivery of outpatient chemotherapy, antibiotics, IV fluids, other injections and hormonal therapies. This service accommodates both our patients and their physicians, and assures the expertise so critical to our patients.
