CVA (cerebrovascular accident) pathway cuts across seven hospital units.

After discovering that stroke patients were receiving care on 18 different units within the hospital, St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee developed its first cross-unit clinical pathway, targeted at cerebrovascular accident (CVA) patients. Implemented in October 1996, the five-day CVA pathway has cut length of stay by 1.6 days while maintaining a patient satisfaction rating of 94%. Nurse clinicians developed five key outcomes for the CVA pathway, including visits from speech therapy, a physiatry referral, a severity assessment, patient education, and patient consultation on the details of the discharge plan.