Interview with Acieta Small, MSA, Director of patient care services at St. Luke’s Warren Hospital in Phillipsburg, New Jersey (Continuing Education for Patient Care Technicians: A Unit-Based, RN-Led Initiative, August, 2012)

Clinical managing editor Karen Roush interviews Acieta Small, who discusses her implementation of a staff education program for improved patient care while she managed a med-surge unit at New York University’s large teaching facility, Langone Medical Center, in New York City. A quality of care assessment of the unit, staffed with long-term nursing attendants and RNs, found that patient care services were negatively impacted by practice issues such as attendant accuracy with vital signs, recording intake and output, and communication among the technicians and nurses. Although the RNs were involved in continuing education opportunities, technicians were not. Nurses volunteered to lead an initiative to upgrade technicians’ skills by addressing their educational needs. Both collaborated to define staff roles, which enhanced their team spirit for better patient care.