Jacinta Renaldi, MSN, APRN, leads an in-service educational program for nursing staff in the Yale Medicine rheumatology clinics. The program aims to streamline clinical workflows and empower nurses through education, and is a unique partnership between Yale Medicine and Yale New Haven Hospital.
When she joined Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) in 2015, Renaldi was the first advanced practice provider working within Yale Medicine rheumatology. “I was given a unique opportunity to define my role at Yale, and participate in novel ways to enhance the practice workflow,” she said. That same year, she began delivering one-hour learning sessions—also known as nursing in-services—which update nurses’ skills and occupational knowledge.
Through this collaboration, YNHH nurses work at Yale Medicine Rheumatology clinical practice sites and meet every quarter for in-services. “Each site has different patient populations, staffing, and workflows. These in-services promote consistency of patient care between all Yale Medicine rheumatology sites,” said Renaldi.
In-services contribute to a more streamlined nursing operation. “The nursing staff is really the frontline. They are the first people to interact with patients, take phone calls, listen to their concerns, and get refill requests. If we give nurses the necessary information and resources, they are more likely to feel empowered in their tasks, and to contribute to our patients getting the best possible care,” she said.
“Nursing staff should know why we're doing things and how we're doing it, so there is less opportunity for errors and inefficiencies,” said Renaldi. “For example, we monitor blood work and markers of inflammation. If a patient calls about a flare-up, nurses can put in those orders right away if they understand why it is important to do so. Ultimately the goal of these rheumatology nursing in-services is to optimize patient safety, experience, and care.”
Renaldi delivers the educational content and materials during the sessions, which have previously covered topics such as triaging when a patient calls, vaccine counseling for patients, lab interpretation, and error prevention in specimen handling. The format of these sessions can vary between case presentation, specific disease or medication information, or skills acquisition.
To complement her nursing education efforts, Renaldi oversees the Lupus Wellness Program, where she meets individually with patients to help them understand their specific disease process and goals for treatment.
The rheumatology nursing in-services program has been strongly supported by Vaidehi R. Chowdhary, MD, clinical chief of rheumatology and associate professor of medicine (rheumatology). “Jacinta’s hard work in nursing education has been instrumental in improving our nursing communication, workflows, and knowledge. Having all the nurses together during in-services allows them to learn more about rheumatic diseases, understand the unique needs of our patients, and share tips with each other. Also, this program also provides an opportunity for our other Advanced Practice Practitioners to get involved in nursing education—it is by teaching others that one learns better,” said Chowdhary.
The Section of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology is dedicated to providing care for patients with rheumatic, allergic and immunologic disorders; educating future generations of thought leaders in the field; and conducting research into fundamental questions of autoimmunity and immunology. To learn more about their work, visit Rheumatology, Allergy & Immunology.