Tang #4: nighttime vitals

Tang #4: nighttime vitals

by Victoria Tang -
Number of replies: 5

2. Describe the organizational and/or delivery system environment in which your intervention will take place.

VA inpatient system. Model: multi-divisional forms; Size: on each unit that this intervention will take place, there are around 15-20 nurses with one charge nurse, 3-5 nursing aides during a shift. There is 1 attending hospitalist on at a time. Hierarchy: centralization; however, the complexity is in that the nursing staff and hospitalist staff are sub-units of a higher level sub-group and there is not necessarily communication between nursing and physician sub-units.

3. Based on Shortell’s 4 domains of organizational change, identify organizational barriers that could potentially impede successful implementation of your proposed intervention.

Clinical Quality Performance

If we experience an increase in ICU transfers Patient Satisfaction If we experience an increase in patient/family member dissatisfaction; if staff members do not buy in and, in turn, create patient dissatisfaction.

Organizational Learning: Resistance to change for habitual reasons, fear for job and/or patient safety, lack of buy-in

Financial Performance

Some staff may see this as potentially leading to losing their job given less work is required of them

4. Using the same 4 domain model, describe how your intervention plan can take advantage of organizational strengths OR propose practical methods for addressing these barriers within your program.

Clinical Quality Performance:

Track ICU transfers after implementation

Patient Satisfaction:

Can track patient satisfaction scores before and after the intervention

Organizational Learning Knowledge:

transfer process and open communication across roles can be facilitated by having communication improve between hospitalists and nursing staff and within the two groups.

Financial Performance Productivity: should improve since resources will be better allocated to the sicker patients

In reply to Victoria Tang

Re: Tang #4: nighttime vitals

by Grace -

Hi Victoria,

I was wondering if there might be a way to measure the financial costs of not tracking nighttime vitals or a way to figure out the financial benefits of tracking nighttime vitals over time. I'm finding that if you want to implement a new idea or way of doing things within an established organization, being able to provide data on how much $ is lost or can potentially be saved through a new practice usually influences the environment of the organization. Otherwise, I really like the concept of this project.

Grace

In reply to Victoria Tang

Re: Tang #4: nighttime vitals

by Lisa Thompson -

I think that open communication and participatory decision-making process across providers, patients and families will be key for organizational learning. Who will be the "champion" for the process? In the Ackerman article, they needed buy-in for use of the ED kiosks-- if nurses perceive that this will be more (or less) work for them, it may be difficult to get off the ground. But if I were the low-acuity patient, I would appreciate the extra sleep, so I think this is a great idea.

In reply to Victoria Tang

Re: Tang #4: nighttime vitals

by Heidi Moseson -

Hi Victoria - I love this proposal.

I agree with Grace - finding some sort of objective measures of benefits - beyond patient satisfaction - might really help to start obtaining buy-in from the necessary "champions" - such as nurses, etc. If you can make a case for how it will benefit everyone involved - most especially the nurses (or those who will be implementing the intervention) then it seems like you would greatly increase your chances of adoption, and thereby your ability to measure whether the intervention has the desired/expected effect. 

In reply to Victoria Tang

Re: Tang #4: nighttime vitals

by Brian -

like it.

i think the cost of measuring vital signs/documentation could be useful and think that could be done. other things that could measure quality

- study measures of sleep quality

- measure the amount of requests for sleep aids/meds pre-post intervention

- measure complaints about being awoken at night.

- number of RRTs or codes (doesn't nec have to be ICU transfer) that are called after implementatino of this.

In reply to Victoria Tang

Re: Tang #4: nighttime vitals

by Jessica -

Hi Vicki, 

I agree with everyone below that measuring potential financial savings for this intervention would be valuable. I don't necessarily see a financial barrier to this, as nurses do much more than just measure vitals throughout the night. How were you thinking of assessing patient satisfaction? Are you interested in just assessing the quality of sleep pre and post intervention or how the intervention impacts the patient's hospitalization overall?