Frustrations of Stroke Coordinators

Lions, Tiger and Bears... OH MY!

Do you ever feel like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz? Only your chant is "Guidelines, Influence, Data... OH MY!"

These three words describe the life of a Stroke Coordinator.

Guidelines

Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em. We put “best practices” in place, yet they can still be extremely vague. How frustrating! The term “protocol” conjures feelings of rigid rules. Yet, guidelines seems to put us in a gray area. How do we enforce guidelines when each specialist has his or her own opinion on how to accomplish the task at hand?

THE SECRET: Share your knowledge and questions with others who are in your same shoes across the nation.

Yup, network with others. During my stint as a Stroke Coordinator, I found the AANN Stroke Special Focus Group (also known as the “Stroke Listserv”) to be extremely helpful. It was a place I could ask for opinions, gain valuable advice, share ideas and get suggestions for making my program better. Check it out HERE!

Influence

So now that you’ve deciphered those guidelines, you’ll have to figure out a way to make change. Making change in the absence of authority can be difficult and that’s the space between a rock and a hard place where Stroke Coordinators often find themselves.

You may not have authority, but you can have influence.

THE SECRET: Become the expert in your areas of influence.

Data

Data UGGGGGH. Nothing can elicit a groan faster than the thought of having to sit at a computer for hours rummaging through charts for data. Healthcare is complex. And as a Stroke Coordinator, we’re stretched thin and under resourced. We took on this role to build a stronger stroke program, yet in reality, we push numbers around a spreadsheet and waste time searching for the elusive numbers we need to report.

Well, here at Pulsara, we fixed that problem.

The Pulsara platform may seem like just an app to use during your Stroke emergencies, but thanks to our ridiculously smart developers, data is a different kind of word here at Pulsara! Every data point is captured in real-time and can be downloaded into an excel file in less than a minute; ready to be sorted to your hearts content. LITERALLY HOURS -- if not days -- can be shortened to moments. 

If this sounds like something you need, please feel free to contact us! We’d love to show you how Pulsara can help YOU!