ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 24, 1997 TAG: 9704240050
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY THE ROANOKE TIMES
Beth Cullum, vice president for nursing at Carilion Health System and lead designer for controversial changes in its hospital nursing structure, has resigned.
Cullum will work through June, said Carilion spokeswoman Shirley Holland, who added she did not know of Cullum's plans after that. She also said that Cullum's resignation is so recent that no decision has been made about a replacement.
Cullum came to Carilion Community Hospital in September 1993. Her duties were expanded in the Carilion restructuring, which has been under way for several years. The not-for-profit hospital system is trying to cut costs and reorganize services to be more competitive as fewer patients are hospitalized and more services are provided on an outpatient basis.
Cullum played a key role in development of a team nursing program that gave registered nurses more responsibility for assigning or delegating patient care duties. The program, called inpatient care re-engineering, also placed more responsibility in the hands of unlicensed nursing assistants.
Cullum said in a November interview that nurses spent more than 40 percent of their time on tasks that could be delegated to less-skilled workers.
However, the plan became an issue when some nurses began union-organizing discussions with the Kentucky Nurses Association. The nurses said they feared their licenses would be in danger if an unlicensed worker made an error in a task previously done by a nurse.
The re-engineering program at Carilion is similar to those at other hospitals; but after union talks began, the hospital slowed the timetable for its implementation.
Cullum, who could not be reached for comment, is a graduate of Duke University and has a master's degree from the University of Massachusetts. She came to Roanoke from a Greenville, S.C., hospital system. She is a board member of United Way of Roanoke Valley and the Virginia Organization of Nurse Executives.
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