About the Baylor Dallas Stroke Program

Stroke is an emergency that requires rapid assessment and evaluation to maximize the benefits of treatment and reduce brain damage.

Emergency Department
The emergency department at Baylor Dallas offers all of the components integral to treating acute stroke patients. Pre-hospital notification systems allow Emergency Medical Services to notify the Emergency Department of a potential stroke patient so that the team is ready when the patient arrives.

"Brain Attack" protocols (treatment plans the medical community has determined to be appropriate treatment) help provide eligible patients with ischemic stroke thrombolytic, "clot-busting" therapy without delay to restore blood flow to the brain. Neurology consultations, laboratory and radiology services operate 24 hours a day for stroke patients. Transcranial Doppler ultrasound is available to rapidly identify where the blood vessel is blocked and monitor response to treatment in real time. After initial treatment and stabilization, stroke patients are admitted to the appropriate location in the hospital, based upon their condition.

Dedicated Stroke Units
Baylor Dallas offers an acute stroke unit on the 8th floor of Roberts Hospital and a dedicated stroke area on the 9th floor of Roberts. According to the Brain Attack Coalition guidelines, caring for stroke patients in designated areas standardizes and improves the level of care provided. The stroke team has adapted revised stroke treatment plans for these units and throughout Baylor Dallas campus hospitals.

The acute stroke unit is a four-bed, intermediate care unit devoted entirely to the care of acute stroke patients. Nurses with special training in stroke care provide continuous neurological and cardiac monitoring. The unit is designed to care for those patients who have had a new stroke who require special monitoring because of their condition or the treatment administered. Examples of types of patients include those treated with tPA (blood clot-dissolving medication), those requiring continuous blood pressure medication and those who are unstable. The stroke area on 9 Roberts serves as a centralized patient care area for stroke patients whose conditions are stable. These dedicated units enhance patient care through the use of specialized nursing,revised care pathways, multidisciplinary rounds and continual quality improvement measures.

Medical and Clinical Staff
The multidisciplinary team consists of neurologists, neurointerventionalists, emergency room physicians and nurses, neuroradiologists, physiatrists, neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons, internists, cardiologists, stroke nurses and therapists who work together to deliver advanced stroke care to patients.

Neurologists and neurosurgeons are available around the clock for emergent management of stroke. Stroke Program activities are coordinated by the stroke clinical coordinator, a nurse practitioner who participates in all aspects of program development and implementation. The neurologists, emergency department physicians, and stroke nurses are trained in administration of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, a clinical evaluation tool used to assess neurological deficit.

Evidence-based medicine treatment plans and care guidelines are continually updated and evaluated to help provide quality care. The stroke team rapidly assesses patients to identify those who may benefit from certain blood clot-dissolving medication. The nursing and care guidelines for ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage are coordinated with physician orders that are planned and specified for patients with these types of stroke.