Question the status quo and initiate changes with creative ideas – this is our formula for further improving the quality of care for our patients with small innovations and big ones, too. Meet four of our employees – in areas ranging from nursing to research – who are putting their heart into making improvements with fresh ideas.
Small cushion, big impact
Beata Boronczyk
Position: Advanced Practice Nurse M.A., MScN/Nursing
Hospital/company: Asklepios Harzkliniken
Vision: To create an optimal environment for dementia patients with creativity and empathy
My daily work with our patients who suffer from dementia has shown me that they often find it hard to settle down and relax. Strangers, an unfamiliar environment, rigid daily routines and boredom – all of these factors mean that patients often become restless, call out and sometimes try to run away. For a long time, I was looking for a way to give my patients moments of peace and relaxation, but also stimulation.
This is how the idea for the multi-sensory cushion “Frieda” came about. “Frieda” stimulates the senses of smell, hearing and touch with suitable fillings, as dementia patients often feel more at home with their body and surroundings when they have something they can touch and feel with their hands. The sounds it makes – white noise – help people sleep better and relax. At the same time, the cushion can be disinfected and therefore reused – making it suitable for hospitals.
The “Frieda” cushion has a positive effect on our patients that we have often observed. We hope that “Frieda” will be used in many hospitals.
Hobby: Nursing blogger
Caroline Runge
Position: Head nurse on the neurosurgical ward
Hospital/company: Asklepios Klinik Altona
Vision: To make nursing a valued, more attractive profession in Germany by providing personal insights and educating the general public
In Germany, nursing professions do not get the appreciation that they deserve. There is a lot more behind our work than some people realise. It is a valuable and varied job with people at its heart. I am happy to do my bit to convey this to the outside world. The Asklepios blog “Wir sind Pflege” (“We Are Nursing”) provides a wonderful platform for strengthening the sense of solidarity between colleagues, helping patients understand the background to our work and giving outsiders a look behind the scenes.
Robot “colleagues”
Dorothea Angerhaus
Position: Head of POCT (Point-of-Care Testing) and Laboratory Automation Service Centre
Hospital/company: MEDILYS Laborgesellschaft mbH in Hamburg
Vision: To make the best possible use of technological possibilities – for the benefit of our patients and to reduce the burden on healthcare staff
Everybody who works with the laboratory robots for the Asklepios hospital in Bad Oldesloe is soon convinced that the robots analyse samples of different kinds – from blood clotting to haematology to clinical chemistry – fast and reliably.
This makes it possible to bridge the times when the laboratory is not available at the “smaller” Asklepios hospitals due to staff shortages and produce adequate laboratory results. As a result, POCT tests that need to be performed by nurses because the laboratory is not staffed are mostly no longer required. Our “colleagues” thus reduce the burden on both the laboratory team and the nursing team.
This allows our employees to devote more of their energy to tasks that specifically require human activity and proximity to the patients.
Using Botox to fight mental illnesses
PD Dr Marc Axel Wollmer
Position: Senior consultant for geriatric psychiatry
Hospital/company: Asklepios Klinik Nord – Ochsenzoll
Vision: To find a completely new therapy for patients with mental illnesses who cannot be cured with conventional approaches
Roughly a third of patients who suffer from depression cannot be helped sufficiently using established treatment methods such as psychotherapy or antidepressants. I am not content with this.
The use of botulinum toxin, such as Botox, is a new therapeutic approach that comes as a surprise to many. In initial studies, we have been able to demonstrate a fast-acting, pronounced and long-lasting antidepressant effect. The basic idea is that we inject Botox to selectively relax facial muscles used to express negative emotions.
Patients who cannot express negative emotions as strongly in their facial expression also feel these emotions less intensely. Together with colleagues in the USA, we are pressing ahead with the clinical development to lay the foundations for subsequent approval of the treatment and thus be able to help more people.