Exemplary Professional Practice

Patient Fall Prevention Team
Patient Fall Prevention Team:
  • Leilanie Apana, RN
  • Jordan Belisle, RN
  • Ebony Boles, RN
  • Rose Conde, RN
  • Jessica De Candia, RN
  • Patricia DeMellopine, RN
  • Ruby Garma, RN
  • Armi Geno, RN
  • Christiane MacLeod, RN
  • Connie Musallam, RN
  • Roxy Phung, RN
  • Marry Romero, RN
  • Evelyn Taverna, RN

Hospital Acquired Infection (HAI) Improvement Team
Hospital Acquired Infection (HAI) Improvement Team:
  • Ann Aquino, RN
  • Kyle Daniels, RN
  • Millie Fisher, RN
  • Sharon Howe, RN
  • Ying Liu, RN
  • Shara Poppe, RN
  • Kayla Ruch, RN
  • Alyssa Santos, RN
  • Maria Theresa Tinitigan, RN
  • Hannah Tra, RN
  • Marie Weigel-Sarmiento, RN
  • Heidi Yamat, RN

Magnet Exemplars

A Magnet exemplar is a special commendation for work that far exceeds the standard. Exemplars are identified by the Magnet Program Office, based on data and other information reviewed in the Magnet document and during the site visit. El Camino Health received three exemplars for nursing quality!

Magnet requires hospitals to submit eight consecutive quarters of nationally benchmarked nurse sensitive quality indicator data in four categories, by unit. El Camino Health submitted catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), falls with injury, and hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI) stage 2+. The standard is that at least 50 percent of units must outperform the selected benchmark in at least five of the eight quarters. El Camino Health exceeded these standards and received exemplars for the following measures:

  1. The unit-level data for falls with injury outperformed the vendor's national benchmark statistic for the majority of eight quarters on 100 percent of the units.
  2. The unit-level data for CLABSI outperformed the vendor's national mean benchmark statistic for the majority of eight quarters on 100 percent of the units.
  3. The ambulatory setting nurse-sensitive clinical indicator (Door-to-Balloon Time) data outperformed the benchmark statistic for all eight quarters.

Los Gatos NSIs

Nurse-Sensitive Indicators (NSIs) are quality measures reflective of nursing care. Hospitals submit quarterly unit level data for four measures in the Magnet document and provide updates to these data during the site visit, to ensure that the organization has continued to meet the standard of more than 50 percent of units outperforming the benchmark more than 50 percent of the time.

El Camino Health submitted NSI data for CAUTI, CLABSI, Falls with Injury and HAPI stage 2+. The inpatient nursing departments at El Camino Health Los Gatos (Acute Rehab, ICU, Med/Surg and Ortho) each exceeded the Magnet standard by outperforming national benchmarks for all four measures.

This is outstanding work all El Camino Health nurses can be proud of!

Acute Rehabilitation Center at Los Gatos Staff
Los Gatos Hospital Acute Rehabilitation Center Staff:
  • Peggy Banks, RN
  • Kevin Chuang, RN
  • Mariama Soriba, RN
  • Van Tran, RN
  • Jovie Yabes, RN
Los Gatos Hospital ICU Staff
Los Gatos Hospital ICU Staff:
  • Randeep Dhaliwal, RN
  • Pamela Fiehmann, RN
  • Irene Gotgelf, RN
  • Kris Coleman-Haas, RN
  • Maureen Maghari, RN
  • Sandy Nakata, RN
  • Tom Tenorio, RN
Los Gatos Hospital Med/Surg Unit Staff
Los Gatos Hospital Med/Surg Unit Staff:
  • Hyun Kim, RN
  • Mason McNulty, RN
  • Fatima Mendoza, RN
  • Priscilla Moreno, RN
  • Ruth Olivares, RN
Los Gatos Hospital Orthopedic Unit Staff
Los Gatos Hospital Orthopedic Unit Staff:
  • Carolina Blanco, RN
  • Victoria de Cuellar, RN
  • May Dizon, RN
  • Inessa Davitian, RN
  • Min Yoo, RN
  • Ann Scott, RN
NICHE Workgroup
NICHE Workgroup:
  • Ann Aquino, RN
  • Areena Chaudhry, RN
  • Millie Fisher, RN
  • Shara Poppe, RN
  • Alyssa Santos, RN
  • Jane Truscott, RN
  • Belcy Villarin, RN

NICHE Program Receives Award for Quality

The goal of Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) is to impart principles and tools to stimulate changes in clinical practice to achieve patient centered nursing care for older adults in healthcare facilities.

El Camino Health has participated in the NICHE program since 2011, and has exemplar designation.

El Camino Health was awarded the 2020 NICHE and ABIM Foundation Choosing Wisely® Trailblazer Award in recognition of its delirium program, which trains nurses to recognize and effectively treat delirium in the geriatric patient population to improve clinical outcomes. This award recognizes the clinical team for improving care for older adults in one of the clinical areas identified by the American Academy of Nursing's Choosing Wisely® recommendations.

The 2020 Choosing Wisely® Trailblazer Award was created by NICHE and the ABIM Foundation to celebrate leadership in improving quality care. With the mission to educate front-line nurses and to position nurses as leaders, NICHE works to advance systemic change to promote age-friendly healthcare.

COVID-19: An Unprecedented Challenge, an Extraordinary Response