Exemplary Clinical Practice
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Implementation of Honor Walk
Linda Bakkala RN, BSN, CCRN
Assistant Unit Manager
Our ICU has about 4-5 patients per year who sadly suffer a tragic event that leads to brain death and opens them up to the possibility of organ donation. The ICU and Respiratory Care staff often expressed a desire to do an honor walk to show support to the families they have worked and developed relationships with during the days leading up the brain death diagnosis. Our ICU UPC was presented with the opportunity to develop a formalized implemenation of the Honor Walk.
Our process included consulting with Life Center NW to see how this was done in other hospitals and how it could look here, partnering with the OR team who would be receiving the patient at the end of the walk, and requesting permission from administration. We developed a FAQ sheet for education throughout the hospital and worked with the Operator Services Manager for how the walk would be announced. A guide was developed for our charge nurses who would be the coordinators along with Life Center on the day of the Walk.
Surprisingly, we had not one but two Honor Walks shortly after the go live. It was amazing and very touching to see how many staff participated on those first walks - the hallways from the elevator were completely lined with staff.
Our next steps are to work on the timing of the announcements and getting the announcements to those not within hearing, perhaps through computer messaging.