FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2008

HILLCREST IMPLEMENTS 24-HOUR SUPERVISION BY REGISTERED NURSES

Hillcrest Healthcare, East Tennessee’s largest provider of long-term health care for seniors, has implemented a new policy that will place registered nurses on duty 24 hours per day, every day.

State regulations only require that a registered nurse be on duty eight hours of each 24-hour period.

“Since the regulations were written, long-term health care has changed dramatically,” said Carolyn Pointer, president and CEO of Hillcrest. “Today, residents are often sicker and more frail than they were in the past. We feel it is important that a registered nurse be on duty to provide professional oversight of the patient’s plan of care.”

Pointer said that to her knowledge, Hillcrest is the first long-term care provider in the state to implement this policy.

In most long-term care facilities, many services are performed by licensed practical nurses and certified nurse assistants. These professionals still will be employed by Hillcrest as well. But a registered nurse on duty, working under the direction of a physician, will be able to assess and develop overall treatment plans for individual patients. This is a level of care that is beyond that provided by licensed practical nurses and certified nurse assistants.

“This is important because now patients and their families will know that the resident’s care is being coordinated and monitored by someone with the higher level of credentials that registered nurses have,” Pointer said.

All new hires for supervisory positions at Hillcrest must have completed a registered nursing program. Current employees who want to retain or be considered for those positions must enroll in a registered nursing program and the training must be completed by December 2009, Pointer said.

Hillcrest Healthcare, a not-for-profit organization itself, is the largest skilled and long-term care system for the elderly in Knoxville. Founded in 1960, it currently operates 560 long-term care and 28 assisted living beds in three facilities in Knox County.

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