Nursing Instructor’s Wristband Research Recognized

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Posted on July 31, 2019

Joy Washington

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University of South Alabama College of Nursing instructor Tyler Sturdivant was recently recognized by the Nephrology Nursing Journal for his research into the use of color-coded wristbands for patients.

Sturdivant, a USA nurse who also has a bachelor’s and master’s in nursing from South, is working on his doctor of nursing practice degree. “I was given a task to determine a project that would help improve the health care setting and provide a safe experience for patients in our hospitals,” Sturdivant said. “As the co-chair of University Hospital’s Nursing Practice Congress, I was responsible for forming an interdisciplinary team to look at the literature to see what the hospitals needed. We decided to use a pink alert wristband for dialysis and mastectomy patients in addition to other medical alert wristbands.”

The color-coded wristband initiatives have been adopted by the majority of state hospitals and the American Hospital Association, Sturdivant explained. “They are highly visible and improve patient safety and communication. They inform the bedside or frontline nurses and other health care providers about the hospitalized patient’s circumstances, especially when blood pressure needs to be taken, or IV sticks need to be avoided. If a mistake is made, it could cause the patient’s lifeline to malfunction.”

Sturdivant has been a nurse for six years. He worked at USA Health University Hospital for three years and has been on faculty in nursing for three years teaching and coordinating training for nursing students.

“He was hired in the position where he would work as a staff nurse and teach,” said Lisa Mestas, chief nursing officer and associate system administrator for USA Health. “The beauty of this is he teaches students who practice in the University Hospital and Children’s and Women’s Hospital. He still supports our evidence-based practice committee where he shares best practices that are proven by research. He also is active in the local executive nursing organization. This is awesome. He is giving back.”

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