Reading Hospital-Tower Health, West Reading, Pennsylvania.
Beth A. Bechdel, MSN, RN, CNN, is the unit director for different specialty departments within Reading Hospital, including the vascular access team, hemodialysis, and apheresis departments. She has more than 35 years of acute care and leadership experience. Ms Bechdel is actively involved with quality improvement initiatives throughout the organization.
Karen Bardman, RN, CRNI®, has worked in the acute care hospital setting for more than 36 years, specializing in vascular access for the past 17 years. Ms Bardman was instrumental in utilizing the Infusion Therapy Standards of Practice and The Michigan Appropriateness Guide for Intravenous Catheters guidelines to develop an algorithm for use in the hospital's electronic medical record system.
Cheryl Machemer, DNP, RN, NPD-BC, CCRN, is the nursing professional development practitioner in the critical care division that includes the medical intensive care unit, cardiovascular intensive care unit, vascular access team, and hemodialysis and apheresis departments. Her experience includes 17 years of frontline acute care, 4 years of prelicensure academia, and 5 years of nursing professional development.
Corresponding Author: Beth A. Bechdel, MSN, RN, CNN, Unit Director Nursing, Reading Hospital, 420 South 5th Ave, West Reading, PA 19611 ([email protected]).
The authors of this article have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
