Tower 10CD Patient Rounds Program a Success
Patient Ronald McArthur, who was at BWH during the Patient Rounds Pilot Program, praised Peggy Gulley and her staff for their care.
Ronald McArthur, a patient on 10C, praises the nurses, patient care assistants and activities assistants who eased his three-week stay at BWH.
“Someone always checks on me,” he said, noting that a caregiver tends to him at least once an hour to check on his pain, positioning and restroom needs. His wife Linda calls the staff, “guardian angels.”
The McCarthurs raved about the care they received. Their stay coincided with the Patient Rounds Pilot program on 10CD. The goal of the program is to reduce patient falls and patients’ reliance on call lights by checking in on each patient hourly, as well as increase patient and team satisfaction. As a result of the six week program, no slips or falls occurred, and patients gave positive feedback about the attentive staff.
Escel Stanghellini, RN, program manager in Quality, Education and Clinical Practices, spearheaded the program with Mary Katherine O’Brien, BSN, RN, 10C nurse manager, and the staff on 10CD. The Quality Team, comprised of Stanghellini, Mary Antonelli, RN, MPH, Colleen Zidik, RN, BSN, MBA, Teresa Buchanan, RN, MBA, and Julianne Mazzawi, RN, MSN, collaborated on this pilot with Peggy Gulley, RN, a NIC on 10C, Heidi Smith, RN, CNRN, clinical nurse educator, and Steve Baroletti, PharmD, MBA.
“Our team’s priority has always been patient safety,” said O’Brien. “The hourly rounding increased safety awareness, and the reduction in call lights allowed for uninterrupted care at the bedside.”
Stanghellini said, “Research shows that hourly patient checks reduce falls and skin breakdown, so we brought this research to the bedside.” Staff implemented additional safety measures and applied them uniformly, including checking beds to ensure alarms are activated and reviewing medications for high-risk fall patients with pharmacists.
The 48-day pilot program began July 9. The team of eight assistants, who are college or high school students working under Patient Care Service Activities Assistant Program this summer, worked with PCAs and nurses to ensure 24-hour coverage.
Gulley said that the program has resulted in more satisfied patients. “Our staff are more aware of different safety measures we can implement,” she said. “Our patients felt they never had to wait for their needs to be met.”
As a former nursing home employee now watching 10C staff care for her husband, Linda McArthur understands the difficulty for patients who cannot get out of bed or reach things on their own. “The staff here lower the level of frustration in patients astronomically,” she said. “There’s a very acute sense of not being alone. They’ve been a big emotional support and made this difficult time so much easier.”