New MHA Grad Reflects on Internship’s Exciting Learning Opportunities

I recently interned in the Quality and Research Department at St. David's Medical Center in Austin, Texas. The experience enabled me to gain real-world experience while working on several important projects.

The first project was to update the Center’s infection prevention (IP) intranet site. This is useful for the development of a communication hub for the Infection Prevention Department. While updating it, I organized links and documents, as well as IP resources for department leaders to access. This intranet site has critical information that helps nurses and healthcare leaders in their decision-making.

The second project entailed updating the isolation-compliance database on the Joint Commission Resources website. I worked on navigating and creating reports. I also created a document explaining how to navigate Tracers with AMP, an innovative software tool, and create step-by-step reports for leaders. This helps them collect, analyze, and visualize patient safety and quality data.

The third project tasked me with summarizing the Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria decolonization protocol into one page for frontline charge nurses. This summary helps them determine when patients should be in isolation, helping to promote everyone’s health and safety.

Shreya Reddy Rekulapally ’23 MHA is a recent graduate of the University’s Master of Healthcare Administration program.