Date of Graduation

Summer 5-22-2015

Document Access

Project/Capstone - Global access

College/School

School of Nursing and Health Professions

Abstract

Impacting Patient Care Experiences with Hourly Rounding

My global aim consists of cultivating communication and staff responsiveness within a busy, nursing unit in an urban setting within a San Francisco hospital; thereby improving the patient’s perception of staff responsiveness by reducing call lights and patient falls by 25% within three months. The patient population consists of cardiovascular and thoracic post-operative surgical patients of all ages primarily adults. The implementation of the evidence based practice of hourly rounding has been proven to increase overall patient satisfaction by improving staff responsiveness and increasing patient safety within many hospitals. The measurement of effectiveness and success will be evidenced by seeing an increase in patient care scores and a reduction of falls within the unit; when these metrics are met, there is data that proves that this evidence based practice will drive the results we are looking for.

In this microsystem, there are many indicators that a more efficient workflow is necessary to be established. There is the constant sound of call lights ringing about an estimated 12-15 in an eight hour shift for non-urgent needs. Upon interviewing many staff, I found there was an inconsistent way and lack of education on how hourly rounds should be performed. Basic patient needs were not addressed within each visit from a staff member. By using a process map, timeline, PDSA, Lewin’s Change Theory, SWOT analysis and graphs, I can show you my process of improving staff responsiveness within the nursing unit. In conclusion, as a Clinical Nurse Leader and patient advocate, I have utilized the information gained from the microsystem data and implementation of hourly rounding, thereby proving how to improve quality, safety and patient care experiences within the busy, medical surgical nursing unit with the evidence based practice of hourly rounding.

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