South Nassau Communities Hospital Earns Awards for Quality Stroke Care

Oceanside, NY, September 24, 2011 --(PR.com)-- The American Heart Association / American Stroke Association has awarded South Nassau Communities Hospital with a Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes South Nassau’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

To earn the Silver Quality Achievement Award, South Nassau achieved at least 12 consecutive months of 85% or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines Stroke Performance Achievement indicators and at least 12 consecutive months of 75% or higher compliance with 5 of 9 Get With The Guidelines Stroke Quality Measures to improve quality of patient care and outcomes.

The performance achievement indicators and quality measures include appropriate use of medications like antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, deep-vein thrombosis prophylaxis, cholesterol-reducing drugs and smoking cessation. The twelve-month evaluation period is the second in an ongoing self-evaluation by the hospital to continually reach the 85 percent compliance level that is needed to sustain the Silver Quality Achievement Award.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the third-leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every three minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. Recognizable symptoms of stroke include:

· Sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body;

· Sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding speech;

· Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes;

· Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination;

· Sudden severe headache with no known cause.

Get With The Guidelines Stroke uses the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a patient has had a stroke, when they are most likely to listen to and follow their healthcare professionals’ guidance. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their risk of a second heart attack or stroke. The program provides customized patient education materials, both in English and Spanish, which are made available to patients upon discharge, based on patients’ individual risk profiles.

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