The Official Amistaff Staff Blog

Christine P. Carrington, President of NurseTesting Creative Solutions, has been recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for demonstrating dedication, leadership and excellence in healthcare consulting.

March 3, 2010 — Christine P. Carrington, President of NurseTesting Creative Solutions, a has been recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for demonstrating dedication, leadership and excellence in healthcare consulting.

As the president of NurseTesting Creative Solutions, Ms. Carrington is responsible for consulting with

healthcare staffing organizations and preparing them for national certification by The Joint Commission. Her services include providing cost effective clinical operations and risk management support, as well as, staffing operations start up support for new healthcare staffing organizations.

Elevating Frontline Performance-Best Practices for Improving Nursing Staff Performance.

Ms. Carrington began her career as a staff nurse in a hospital, advancing into progressive nursing management roles. Prior to working for her current company, she worked for a national healthcare staffing organization, where she was instrumental in the company being recognized as one of the leading, quality focused healthcare staffing organizations. Ms. Carrington’s experience includes clinical operations, resource allocation, workforce management, strategic sales, consultation with hospitals and health systems in the development of customized strategic staffing partnerships, and Joint Commission Health Care Staffing Services Certification. She attributes her success to her hard work, dedication, passion for her profession and her ability to establish great relationships with her clients.

Ms. Carrington received her Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1998 and is a member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives. She served as advisor to The Advisory Board Company for publication of “Elevating Frontline Performance-Best Practices for Improving Nursing Staff Performance.” She served on Joint Commission’s Healthcare Staffing Certification Advisory Council. Ms. Carrington served on the Board of Managers for InteliStaf of Oklahoma LLC, a joint venture with the INTEGRIS Health System. She intends to continue expanding the consulting division by adding additional services in other areas of healthcare as well as establishing the company as a trusted name in healthcare.

About NurseTesting Creative Solutions
NurseTesting Creative Solutions, formerly NT Consulting Services – a division of NurseTesting.com which is an Amistaff Healthcare Techology product – was founded in 2008 in response to the healthcare staffing industry’s need for consultants experienced in Joint Commission’s Health Care Staffing Services Certification. NTCS’ consulting services assist healthcare staffing firms prepare for Joint Commission certification and provide cost effective clinical operation and risk management services. NTCS also provides staffing operations start-up support for new healthcare staffing organizations. NTCS consultants are nationally experienced Nurse Executives with 20+ years of healthcare staffing experience and extensive experience and success with Joint Commission Health Care Staffing Services Certification.

For more information about NurseTesting Creative Solutions, visit http://www.nursetesting.com/consulting.

About Cambridge Who’s Who
Cambridge Who’s Who is an exclusive membership organization that recognizes and empowers executives, professionals and entrepreneurs throughout the world. From healthcare to law, engineering to finance, manufacturing to education, every major industry is represented by its 500,000 active members.

Cambridge Who’s Who membership provides individuals with a valuable third party endorsement of their accomplishments and gives them the tools needed to brand themselves and their businesses effectively. In addition to publishing biographies in print and electronic form, Cambridge Who’s Who offers an online networking platform where members can establish new business relationships and achieve career advancement within their company, industry or profession.

For more information, please visit http://www.cambridgewhoswho.com.

As frequenters of the blog may remember, our company decided to adopt a local orphanage for the 2009 holiday season. 

We opened up the donations to our entire office complex being that the orphanage is called "home" to 46 teenagers.

Packing & Preparation

The weather truly put us in the holiday spirit as we headed out for delivery!

With coffee in hand and jackets closed tight, a few of us ladies headed out in the treacherous weather.

And for those of you from up north – yes – a bit of sleet is considered "treacherous weather" here in the piedmont of NC!

Unpacking & Delivering

The drive which was only supposed to take 25 minutes ended up closer to 45 when we took the slippery roads into consideration.

From board games to computer monitors and body lotions to bedroom set, we had a great turn out of goodies to help make each child’s holiday brighter.

Looking forward to continuing a charge towards bettering our neighborhood non-profits in 2010!

Amistaff’s Chief Nursing Officer, James Ostmann, Sr. RN, MBA, assisted in rescuing an 81-year-old woman on his flight back from the American Society Healthcare Human Resources Association conference in Chicago. Fox News 8 picked up the story which aired last evening during the 6 o’clock news!

This is a true incident that occurred on an airplane in which Amistaff’s Chief Nursing Officer was a passenger. Praise to the airline and crew for their poise and composure during the crisis.

HIGH POINT: US Air Flight 1723 from Chicago to Charlotte made an emergency descend landing on Tuesday, November 3, 2009.  The cabin transformed into an emergency room before passengers’ eyes as Amistaff’s Chief Nursing Officer, James Ostmann, Sr. RN, MBA, rescued a diaphoretic woman suffering a potential heart attack and stroke.

While in route, the 81-year-old, French-speaking woman grabbed her chest and motioned pressure. With neurological deficits on the left-side of her body and color draining her face, Ostmann knew the patient’s condition was rapidly deteriorating.  Pilots phoned MedLink for medical consultation and received authorization for Ostmann to open the medical resuscitation kit.

Alongside a French-speaking, Medical-Surgical nurse from a Florida hospital, Ostmann reported the patient’s conditions to officials on the ground.  With an IV bag hung from the carry-on compartment and oxygen tank resting in a seat, Ostmann and the flight crew created a mobile ER. Ostmann initiated the IV and eased the woman’s chest pain with Nitroglycerin, keeping her vitals stabilized through landing.

Of the experience Ostmann commented:

“The crew handled the medical emergency with such composure. From 35,000 feet, US Air was able to ground our plane within 20 minutes. When dealing with stroke victims, time is of utmost importance with the tissue plasminogen activator’s limited 3-hour window. The fully equipped medical cart was color coded expediting treatment for the passenger. I hope to receive authorization to follow up with the attending hospital to check on her condition.”

The chilling truth is that Ostmann made a last minute change in his itinerary to board US Air Flight 1723. Coming from the American Society Healthcare Human Resources Association conference in Chicago, Ostmann decided to take the 2:00pm flight in lieu of the 12:00pm flight allowing extra time for travel. Had Ostmann not been a passenger on the same flight, this emergency descend could have had a much different landing.
 

NurseTesting would like to congratulate their new client, Wahiawa General Hospital, for winning the 50 points raffle. Wahiawa General took advantage of NurseTesting’s Fall Special!

We appreciate all of our new clients’ interest in the raffle and look forward to working with you all as we provide the validated prescreening assessment tools for your organizations!

Sit back and relax.  It’s story time!

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, in the land of SIN (Staffing Incompetent Nurses), there were two guys, Ron and Jason, who joined forces to create something powerful.  Sacrificing nights and weekends, the two dreamed and developed an answer for the land of SIN.  Out of their tireless work and commitment to bettering the healthcare industry, NurseTesting was born.

After two and half years of budding success, Ron and Jason parted as owners.  Jason moved on to pursue homemade salsa and BLS – a logical match – while Ron concentrated on growing NurseTesting. Since that time, NurseTesting has continued to evolve to meet the needs of SIN while keeping its core components the same.

Well, today the two have joined forces once again to continue changing the land of SIN to land of SAINTS (Skilled and Incredible Nurse Tested Staff ).

Jason Hall has officially returned to the NurseTesting team as Chief Technology Officer.  He will be responsible for all items related to development, systems, 3rd party integrations etc…

We are all excited to have Jason on our team – feels like he never left!  Looking forward to a bright future!

Amistaff sends warm wishes to all the bosses in the healthcare industry.

Thank you for continuing to persevere through challenging times with the patient’s needs in mind.

Whether your leadership stems from staffing firms or facilities , your hard work touches the hearts of patients and their families
each and every day.

The Ami-staffer’s send a special thanks to Ron and Eric today! We appreciate working for such phenomenal gentlemen!  Enjoy the cookie cake and evening out with your families –
you all deserve it!

It seems that our Ami-staffers have moved on from the Jets and Buccaneers!  We have a bit of a rivalry this week between the Bears and the Steelers.

Chris (left) sporting her Chicago jersey – the Bears match up with the Lions Sunday afternoon.

Kisha (right) and Melissa (far right) show their game stance for the Pittsburgh Steelers – Steelers vs. Chargers late night on Sunday!

Everyone enjoy your weekend and let us know when our 
Ami-staffers represent your favorite team as we continue the ‘09-’10 season!

Today marks the beginning of Amistaff’s SportsCentered Fridays.

Eric(left) and Mark(right) kicked of this fall’s football season sporting the Jets and the Buccaneers.

More pics to come as the season wears on and our co-workers shine a little light into their teams of choice!

July 25, 2009 marks the 9th annual National, World, and Global Patient Safety Day.

Join the Amistaff employees in remembering patients and families who have lost their life (or quality of life) due to medical errors and harm – and in tribute to those who work to improve the safety and quality of healthcare for future patients.

“Together, lighting the path to safe healthcare – today and everyday:
safe, high quality healthcare is neither accidental nor static.”

Moments of silence designated for Noon and 6:00pm for each respective timezone.

Patients are encouraged to particiapte in their healthcare in an effort to increase their own safety.

The Universal Patient Compact, created by the National Patient Safety Foundation, highlights the principles for partnership between healthcare providers and patients. Consumers of healthcare should become more involved by asking questions, staying informed, and advocating for themselves and loved ones.

To learn more about this year’s 2009 Inaugural Florence Nightingale and Dr. E. Codeman Patient Safety Day Award Recipient, Dr. Lucian Leape, view the press release dated July 16, 2009.