Lillian M. Cruz BSN RN

REGISTERED NURSE

MILI**09@HOTMAIL/COM PHONE: 787-***-****

SUMMARY

Highly skilled and enthusiastic professional with more 42 years of experience, managing operations in patient-centric hospital settings. Successfully oversee human resources, budgeting, supply management and patient services. Develop and lead productive and efficient clinical nursing staff. Contribute to high-volume medical practices by providing exceptional customer service. Committed to delivering best patient care through effective education and counseling. Proven leadership focused on increasing and enhancing patient quality of care and patient/family satisfaction. Streamline safety protocols for comprehensive patient care. Assures quality of care by adhering to accreditation organization standards of care such as JCHAO and CARF. Ensured and enforced compliance with HIPAA, OSHA and CLIA regulations for maximum quality and control. Assured compliance for JACHO and CARF accreditation. Assisted in new hiring process for possible nursing candidates for my service as well as other services throughout the hospital, utilizing “Performance Based Interview”, filling out required paperwork and preparing new hire manuals. Coordinated for one-on-one training for wound management prior to establishing the clinic for the new recruit. Trained team of staff nurses in new procedures to ensure consistent quality of care and legally focused documentation of interventions. The last two years prior to retiring, I performed my duties as Care Manager at VA Community Care Service.

WORK EXPERIENCE

01/2000 to 11/2021

Registered Nurse Supervisor PM&RS

VA Hospital/VACHS San Juan, Puerto Rico

Supervised and coordinated educational and direct patient care services to establish the Prevention of Amputations program throughout the VA hospital.

Provided yearly data to provide VISN 8, and Administrative Staff, such as Chief of Staff and Chief of PM&RS, to demonstrate the patient coverage and efficiency towards established goals and client impact.

Collaborated with physicians to quickly assess patients and deliver appropriate treatment while managing rapidly changing conditions of hospitalized patient and outpatient clinics.

Established an organized and managed care of patients undergoing various therapies and procedures for pain management within the new Pain Management Interdisciplinary clinic.

Evaluated healthcare needs, goals for treatment, and available resources of each patient as connected to optimal providers and care.

Educated patients, families and caregivers on diagnosis and prognosis, treatment options, disease process, and management and lifestyle options, as well, as community entry.

Managed infection control critical incidents and made procedural changes and improvements.

Overlook of infection control monitors for the service and presented to hospital Infection Control committee.

Conferred with physicians to discuss diagnoses and devise well-coordinated treatment approaches of recent amputated patients.

Identified patients requiring debridement procedures and alerted attending physician.

Attended wound care education programs to gain knowledge on most recent techniques and procedures available.

Completed certification of "Certified Foot Care Specialists" for all staff of service.

Demonstrated dressing techniques to educate and orient in-services nurses.

Administered medications and treatment to patients and monitored responses while working with healthcare teams to adjust care plans.

Advocated for patients by communicating care preferences to practitioners, verifying interventions met treatment goals.

Supervised the RN staff advised patients and caregivers of proper wound management, safe medication use, and disease management.

Participated in nursing simulation activities, evidence-based practice project implementation and competency development to further nursing education.

Developed and presented for approval new protocols of standards of care for wound care throughout the hospital and outpatient settings

Audited charts and reviewed clinical documentation to verify accuracy as per patient condition and established standard of care.

Provided didactic and clinical instructions to orient new nurses and potential student nurses to achieve training outcomes.

Contributed substantially to successful department JCAHO accreditation and CARF accreditation, by consistently operating to highest standards of care Established coordinated protocols for collected blood, tissue, and other laboratory specimens and prepared for lab testing.

Orchestrated quality-driven, cost-effective care in high-volume setting.

Collaborated with healthcare team to implement interventions for wound healing and skin breakdown prevention Instructed patients and caregivers on how to clean and dress wounds and how to prevent infections.

Overlooked the education for staff to guarantee appropriate care for diabetic, renal disease, and vascular and diabetic ulcers which were the targeted population of the PAVE program.

Documented and examined patient recovery and reported progress to doctors for effective management.

Assured that renal patients receiving dialysis were evaluated and provided with follow up of ulcer care.

Designed pouch systems to assist in wound draining and recovery.

Prevented skin deterioration against formidable odds using groundbreaking technology.

Overlooked the care of over 5000 patients per year with wounds caused by medical treatments, diseases and injuries.

Advised patients on proper nutrition and offered holistic solutions to severe conditions, assuring referrals to other health professionals according to identified needs.

Provided consultation, education and counseling to patients, staff and community members, sharing knowledge and experience with peers in non-VA community hospitals.

6/1989 -12/2000

Nurse Supervisor for SCI

Worked with Spinal Cord Injury Service for 11 years from 1989 to 2000 as an independent Nurse Manager under the supervision of the Chief of Service. Supervising the specialized care of veterans with catastrophic experiences and assisting them and their families through the rehabilitation process.

Nursing administrative duties included the hospital coverage of three shifts, of these specialized patient during the weather emergencies, such as storms and/or hurricanes during three shifts, assuring throughout the coordination of staff that each of them would have the safety concerns for their families.

Shared information with other Nurse Managers to assure that we were efficient in the nursing care provided.

Assisted face to face educational activities at different states of the SCI Association to maintain abreast to the latest technology trends in the care of the SCI patient.

6/1985 to 5/1989

Worked as a Medical- Surgical nurse covering patients from Orthopedics, Urology, SCI, PM&R, Surgery and General Medicine.

EDUCATION

BACHELOR’S DEGREE, MAJOR Date – Date

UPR- RECINTO DE CIENCIAS MEDICAS SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO 1974

NYS NURSING LICENSE:344371-01

LANGUAGES:

Proficient in Spanish and English, speaking, reading and writing.

TECHNICAL SKILLS:

Patient Care Oversight

Compassionate and caring for patients.

Interpersonal Communication Skills

Healthcare Referrals Healthcare Management

Compliance Issues

Patient Health Information

Surveillance of Nursing Documentation in Medical Charts

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