Engagement in the patient experience

Lt. Christine Burns, USN, NC, ’04 BSN, MSN, RN, CNOR can add film producer to the CV she is cultivating while on active duty with the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. A staff nurse in the operating room  and the charge nurse for the vascular service at Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD), she is also on a leadership committee of junior nurse corps officers in the command “who are the advocates for the nurses on their respective units and throughout the command. Our senior nurse executive will bring her vision to the committee via our advisor and we make it happen,” Burns explains.

Inspired by a video from the Beryl Institute, the senior nurse executive asked for a video about the patient experience at NMCSD. Burns had to submit her CV and interview for the role of project lead. She was selected.  “To create her vision, I coordinated the who, what, where, when, and went around with our AV specialist who did the filming and editing,” notes Burns.  The film would raise awareness at the medical center and showcase all those who have an impact on patient care. NMCSD staff, according to the medical center’s website, is comprised of more than 6,500 military, civilian, contractor and volunteer personnel.

“We really wanted to highlight our staff and their contributions to the patient experience,” says Burns.  You can watch NMCSD I am the patient experience at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvMMs-VnQ0E . Burns, in the operating room suite, can be seen in the video at time stamp 1:38, wearing a pink and green scrub hat under a blue bouffant. She continues her role in the OR as she and the larger team work to continually enhance the culture surrounding patient care.