title: Role of the clinical nurse coordinator in successful implementation of critical pathways in pediatric cardiovascular surgery patients.
abstract: Critical pathways reduce variations in clinical management and achieve quality patient outcomes within a defined time while reducing the average length of stay (ALOS). The critical path is a day-by-day plan that specifies the use and timing of procedures in relation to the stage in the patient's recovery. Variations from that plan are identified and aggressively approached. This article outlines the clinical nurse coordinator's role in utilizing critical pathways for the congenital heart surgery patients. Successful implementation of the pathways using the clinical nurse coordinator's role is supported by analysis of ALOS in 286 patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, California Pacific Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, San Francisco 94115, USA.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Turley
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Higgins
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Archer-Duste
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cafferty
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000451:nursing* / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D009720:Nurse Clinicians; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D013527:Perioperative Nursing; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000379:methods*