Spotlight: Lisa Eckenrode, RN, MSN, MBA, NREMT-P, Education Chair

Chapter 51's own Lisa Eckenrode is the Education chair for the 2013 ENA national education committee. She is certainly a great resource- she is the trauma outreach and injury prevention coordinator for Paoli Hospital and Regional Trauma Center. In addition, she is an experienced presenter of education topics to a variety of topics. We're fortunate to have her as part of the leadership team in our chapter.

Advance for Nurses magazine printed an article spotlighting Lisa's involvement in trauma education:

From the September 12, 2011 issue (Source: http://nursing.advanceweb.com/Archives/Article-Archives/Preventing-Traumatic-Injury.aspx)

Most trauma can be prevented and it's Lisa Eckenrode's job to educate the community as to how. As Paoli Hospital's trauma injury prevention and outreach coordinator, she connects with community members and teaches how to prevent traumatic injuries or, at least, minimize their severity.

Eckenrode, an RN who joined Paoli Hospital, Paoli, PA, in 2010 soon after the hospital obtained level II trauma center designation, is passionate when she says preventing trauma is a community health issue affecting a wide and diversified population. While a large portion of her work is focused on reaching the general public, she also looks to identify the trauma education needs for all levels of trauma care providers within the hospital and the trauma referral region, including physicians and mid-level providers, such as EMS.

A Pennsylvania state licensed EMT and paramedic, Eckenrode started her nursing career in 1981 as a staff nurse in the ICU at Sacred Heart Hospital in Chester, PA. With a desire to have a more immediate impact on a patient's recovery, she moved into emergency nursing within the Crozer-Keystone Health System.

REACHING OUT: Lisa Eckenrode, RN, trauma injury prevention and outreach coordinator at Paoli Hospital, Paoli, PA, discusses injury prevention with children attending the 2011 Summer in the Park Concert Series at Wilson Farm Park in Chesterbrook, PA. courtesy Main Line Health

Creating Healthy Decision Makers

In addition to hands-on patient care, she soon realized a second interest - teaching others. She moved into nurse supervisor and nurse educator roles while simultaneously obtaining a master's degree in business and continuing to work as a pre-hospital provider. It was these roles that led her to seek a second master's degree, this time in public health nursing and education.

Considering her passion for emergency medicine and education, she knew the trauma outreach and education position at Paoli would be a perfect fit. The similarity between the two, she says, is the ability to positively affect lives.

"The change fulfilled the second part of my career goal," Eckenrode said. "Nursing was a calling since I was young, but I wanted to do something more with my advanced degrees. I kept seeing the outcome of poor decision-making, such as distracted driving, or a knowledge deficit like a grandparent unaware their grandchild had ingested medication left on a table, that ended lives and impacted families forever. Injury prevention outreach offered me the opportunity to provide individuals with the tools and knowledge they needed to make better decisions."

Preventive Education

At the time of her transition to Paoli Hospital, Chester County had been without a dedicated trauma center for more than 10 years. So Eckenrode got to work quickly. From working with children in schools and camps to senior organizations, she reaches a variety of age groups on many topics. For example, young people are taught the implications of driving too fast, while texting or on the phone, or under the influence. Parents are instructed on bicycle safety and the correct way to size and purchase a helmet for their child.

In addition, Eckenrode works collaboratively with the trauma team to provide continuing education to the pre-hospital and hospital staff so they can help manage each trauma patient in a way that will increase the likelihood of a better outcome. For instance, Paoli offers the EMS community a program called Trauma Grand Rounds, which involves an interdisciplinary "soup to nuts" review of certain cases seen in the trauma center.

Eckenrode also monitors educational and outreach activities to ensure the quality, quantity, timeliness and effectiveness of services, and that they are meeting the needs of Paoli Hospital and the community. The Fall Prevention for Seniors program is one example of a service developed as a direct result of information obtained from the hospital's trauma registry. The registry showed a large number of falls in individuals greater than 50 years of age. As a result, Paoli applied for and received a grant from the Pennsylvania Division of the American Trauma Society to provide education and take-away packets for participants.

Continuous Mission

Even with a long list of career accomplishments, Eckenrode knows there is still much to do. While maintaining all her nursing competencies, she sometimes misses providing patient care, but knows she is filling a much-needed role.

"There is a great need for injury prevention education right now," she said. "Although my focus and responsibilities have shifted, I am still impacting someone's life in a good, but different, way."