Few college students can boast they helped reform hospital patient care in Indiana before graduating.

But four Purdue University Calumet undergraduate nursing students did research and made presentations for a product the Indiana Hospital Association is using in an initiative to standardize the identification of patient conditions in hospitals statewide.

The students analyzed how an existing color-coded system of wristbands -- identifying patient conditions or alerting personnel to a latex allergy or a "Do Not Resuscitate" order -- could be implemented in Northwest Indiana to reduce patient-care errors.

Errors in the use of wristbands in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania helped prompt the push for nationwide uniformity.

Students on "Team Wristband" were Sarah Goranovich, of Merrillville; Madilyn Moran, of Munster; Ashley Canon, of Schererville; and Jessica Langlois, of St. John. All four students are graduating Sunday and all are expecting to work at area hospitals or healthcare facilities.

For the class, healthcare institutions submitted research proposals to the university that nursing students could work on. St. Anthony Medical Center in Crown Point sent the wristband project to the school.

"It (the project) meant a lot to me, because knowing that I could increase patient safety and be a part of something like that, as a nursing student, it was good; it was a good experience," Langlois said.

The students created informational fliers for patients, presentations to hospital employees, a patient-refusal form and an educational brochure.

Clinical assistant professor of nursing Janet Landrum said the students worked on the project at the right time because of current nationwide efforts. According to the students' research, more than half of all states have implemented at least two to five standard colors in healthcare facilities.

Betsy Lee, director of the Indiana Patient Safety Center with the Indiana Hospital Association, said the standardization effort is voluntary, and she finds that most hospitals in the state are interested the program. The goal is for Indiana healthcare facilities using wristbands to have the same colors by December and the Illinois Hospital Association is undergoing a similar effort.

"It's an applicable project that will affect patient care across Northwest Indiana," said Sue Heinzman, clinical nurse specialist and student liaision at St. Anthony Medical Center. Heinzman said her hospital and St. Anthony Memorial Health Center in Michigan City plan to use the same wristband colors within the next month.

Canon said it was interesting to find that many hospitals around Northwest Indiana used different color-indicators for conditions.

All four admitted it took a lot of work and out-of-class research hours to get the project done. Langlois said other students were surprised they were still working on the project after others finished theirs.

Landrum said the students had the opportunity to present their findings in front of area hospital executives multiple times, and the students got to see how administrators make their decisions.

"It opened the door to other opportunities in nursing beside working at the bedside, (although) you get to those positions by being a nurse," Moran, one of the students, said.