1580 Introduction of Dedicated Boarder’s Bleep and Registrar for Improved Clinical Communication, Management, And Care of Boarder Surgical Patients

Abstract Aim Surgical patients are often placed within non-surgical wards due to shortage of beds, however the care of these patients remains under the parent surgical team. Unfortunately, patients outwith surgical areas can frequently feel neglected, with staff often unsure who to contact for reviews. This project aims to improve communication between boarding wards and the surgical team, as well as improving patient care and management. Method This prospective study was based on the Model for Improvement Framework approach to quality improvement. Data was gathered using questionnaires from various staff members on non-surgical wards. Outcomes were measured on a qualitative basis. Results Qualitative data was collected from 45 nursing staff (NS). Prior to introduction of a designated boarder’s bleep, 25% of NS felt they knew who to contact for queries and reviews, whereas 46% contacted the parent ward and 29% contacted the on-call surgical registrar. Only 46% of boarded patients received daily reviews. Following introduction of a dedicated surgical registrar for boarders, 62% of NS felt they knew who to contact with 48% aware of surgical boarder’s bleep. Daily reviews of patients increased to 65% over the course of the cycles of this project. Conclusions Bed shortages can play a vast role in patient care and treatment. This study has effectively demonstrated an improvement in provision of patient care, demonstrating an increase in NS knowing who to contact, as well as a 19% increase in daily patient reviews. Introduction of a dedicated boarder’s bleep-holder has shown improvement in clinical communication and management.

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Protecting boundaries of consent in clinical research

Nursing Ethics ◽

10.1177/0969733013487190 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 16-27 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Shirley T Bristol ◽

Rodney W Hicks

Keyword(s):

Quality Improvement ◽

Informed Consent ◽

Clinical Research ◽

Patient Care ◽

Current Practice ◽

Informed Consent Process ◽

Legal Requirements ◽

Research Outcomes ◽

Rigorous Research ◽

Improving Patient Care

Successful clinical research outcomes are essential for improving patient care. Achieving this goal, however, implies an effective informed consent process for potential research participants. This article traces the development of ethical and legal requirements of informed consent and examines the effectiveness of past and current practice. The authors propose the use of innovative monitoring methodologies to improve outcomes while safeguarding consent relationships and activities. Additional rigorous research will help direct policy efforts at standardizing quality improvement processes.

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Improving Patient Care Through Student Leadership in Team Quality Improvement Projects

Journal of Nursing Care Quality ◽

10.1097/ncq.0000000000000080 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 181-186 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Dana Tschannen ◽

Michelle Aebersold ◽

Mary Jo Kocan ◽

Francene Lundy ◽

Kathleen Potempa

Keyword(s):

Quality Improvement ◽

Patient Care ◽

Student Leadership ◽

Improving Patient Care

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Improving Patient Care Outcomes by Teaching Quality Improvement to Medical Students in Community-based Practices

Academic Medicine ◽

10.1097/00001888-200210000-00014 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 77 (10) ◽

pp. 1011-1018 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

Bruce E. Gould ◽

Michael R. Grey ◽

Charles G. Huntington ◽

Cynthia Gruman ◽

Jonathan H. Rosen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Improvement ◽

Medical Students ◽

Patient Care ◽

Teaching Quality ◽

Community Based ◽

Care Outcomes ◽

Improving Patient Care

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Improving Patient Care through Collaborative Consultation Integration: a Quality Improvement Initiative

The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research ◽

10.1007/s11414-019-09666-4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 139-145

Author(s):

James R. Agapoff ◽

Deborah Goebert ◽

Junji Takeshita ◽

Stacy Kracher ◽

Andrew Currivan

Keyword(s):

Quality Improvement ◽

Patient Care ◽

Quality Improvement Initiative ◽

Collaborative Consultation ◽

Improving Patient Care

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Pediatric Hospitalists Improving Patient Care Through Quality Improvement

Pediatric Clinics of North America ◽

10.1016/j.pcl.2019.03.009 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 66 (4) ◽

pp. 697-712

Author(s):

Anupama Subramony ◽

Irene Kocolas ◽

Raj Srivastava

Keyword(s):

Quality Improvement ◽

Patient Care ◽

Improving Patient Care

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The Emergency Surgical Team – The Way Forward in Emergency Care?

Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England ◽

10.1308/rcsann.2009.91.1.18 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 91 (1) ◽

pp. 18-22 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Laura Tincknell ◽

Sarah Burton ◽

Claire Cooke ◽

Stephen Black ◽

Stefano Andreani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Patient Care ◽

Surgical Care ◽

Improve Patient Care ◽

Working Hours ◽

District General Hospital ◽

Continuity Of Patient Care ◽

Surgical Patients ◽

Surgical Team ◽

Number Of Patients ◽

Training Opportunities

INTRODUCTION With reduced working hours and shift patterns, surgical training and continuity of patient care is being put at risk. We have devised a system for managing the emergency surgical patients in an effort to counteract these perceived problems. This study describes the emergency surgical team and audits its activity. PATIENTS AND METHODS The emergency surgery team concept is described in detail. Over a 2-week period, general surgical referral data, patient management and operative activity were audited. RESULTS A total of 229 patients were referred to the emergency surgical team with 159 treated conservatively, 45 underwent operative intervention and 25 were discharged without admission. Of the emergency surgical team referrals, 58% had gallstone pathology, appendicitis or constipation/non-specific abdominal pain. Average daily number of patients under the care of the emergency surgical team was 26 (range, 10–40). CONCLUTIONS The consultant-led emergency surgical team look after many of the acutely sick surgical patients. Our system not only provides good teaching opportunities but ensures optimal continuity of patient care in a busy district general hospital. Such an approach to emergency surgical care has been successfully developed to optimise training opportunities and improve patient care in a setting of reduced working hours and shift systems in our hospital.

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PLAN standards and writing to patients: quality improvement by audit

BJPsych Open ◽

10.1192/bjo.2021.589 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (S1) ◽

pp. S221-S221

Author(s):

Edie Shaw ◽

Catherine Adams ◽

Thomas Maclaren ◽

Fergus Brown

Keyword(s):

Quality Improvement ◽

Best Practice ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Specific Aspect ◽

Past Medical History ◽

Improvement Project ◽

Staff Members ◽

Low Intensity ◽

Patient Assessments ◽

Audit Activity

AimsThis quality improvement project aimed to assess the adherence of a hospital psychiatric liaison team's documentation of assessments to the Psychiatric Liaison Accreditation Network (PLAN) standards framework; to identify areas of improvement; to identify barriers to and improve adherence.MethodData were extracted from 27 randomly selected patient assessments from 01/07/2020 to 31/08/2020 and then 27 assessments from 01/10/2020 to 30/11/2020 for re-audit.Quantitative data was collected by calculating the percentage of assessments which documented each specific aspect of PLAN standards.Qualitative data including attitudes specifically towards writing to patients was gathered from 1:1 discussions with members of staff.Interventions between rounds of audit:Presentation of results of 1st data collection to team in November 2020 followed by discussionEmailed instructions to create a template based on PLAN standards for assessments to staffLobbied for Cerner access at liaison team office to facilitate use of aboveResultQuantitative – overall improvements were seen in adherence to all aspects of documentation of assessments including collateral history (from 23% to 67%) past medical history (30% to 70%) and acknowledging the patient/carer perspective (46% to 74%). Some improvement was seen in offering written correspondence to patients (0% to 20%).Qualitative – the majority of comments regarding writing to patients were positive, with no staff members opposing the standard (“it is best practice”, “should become a habit”). However, some barriers were identified including increased workload (“requires more editing”, “could take a lot more time”).ConclusionTeam adherence to PLAN standards for documentation of assessments was improved through low intensity interventions. Overall adherence was high, however certain areas leave space for improvement. The audit facilitated conversations around writing to patients on discharge, both in the form of formal gathering of qualitative data and informal discussions between staff. Attitudes towards writing these letters were positive and some improvement was seen between audits. Ongoing audit activity aims to further improve adherence and monitor improvements.

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