Nurse Instructor Still Loves Teaching After 22 Years

When asked "What brings you to our facilty?" patients give a number of responses. And nursing instructor Judy Franco of the Harris County Hospital District wants every triage nurse in the hospital district's 11 community health centers throughout Greater Houston to be prepared for each response.

As one of nine nursing instructors within the hospital district, Franco travels throughout a 35-site health care system that includes 11 health centers, 13 homeless satellite locations, a dental center, an HIV/AIDS facility, six school-based clinics, Ben Taub General Hospital, Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital and Quentin Mease Community Hospital.

"Helping nurses improve their skills and advance their knowledge to a new level of professionalism is rewarding," Franco said. "But the ultimate reward is seeing the training translate to improved patient care."

For 22 years, she's led and taught nurses the newest procedures and latest medical advances. All must fulfill continuing education requirements to maintain proper licensure and credentials. In addition, the Hospital District must adhere to guidelines and regulations set forth by state and federal agencies.

To keep abreast of the latest trends in nursing, Franco performs research and attends conferences around the country. Through a combination of cognitive and hands-on demonstrations, she passes these skills on to the nursing staff, sometimes in their own work environment.

"Everybody is so different," she said. "Sometimes all it takes is a discussion - and other times a little more."

Franco first recognized the need to stay on top of her profession during her early work as a neonatal intensive care nurse in the hospital district's now defunct Jefferson Davis Hospital. At one time, the primarily maternity hospital averaged 18,000 births a year. While there, Franco made patient care a top priority, a concept she's passed on to hundreds of nurses who have worked for the hospital district over the years.

"The changing nature of health care today requires our nurses to be willing to learn and relearn skills," she said.

Franco's current project involves training triage nurses at the neighborhood health centers. By triaging, nurses learn to make a five-minute patient assessment. In that time span, nurses are required to get background information, interpret symptoms and decide on the level of care needed. Whether patients are there to have prescriptions filled, complain about chest pains or describe flu symptoms, triage nurses provide the first line of assessment for more than 429,000 patient visits a year.

A triage nurse's goal, Franco said, is to make an accurate assessment and provide patients with the best possible care. In some cases, a triage nurse may determine that a patient requires emergency hospital care and immediate ambulance transport.

"Triage nurses are vitally important to the care patients receive in the hospital district," she said. "Training them to be proficient is what we do on a regular basis."

Franco also trains emergency nurses on the latest advances and skills at the renowned Level I Trauma Center at Ben Taub Hospital and the Level III Trauma Center at LBJ Hospital. Together, both centers handle about 186,000 emergency patients a year. Training and education in trauma nursing is required by the American College of Surgeons to maintain current trauma level designations.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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