Communication Matters: Improving Handoff Communication

Seton Northwest Hospital (Austin, Texas)

CSI Summary

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CSI Presentation

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CSI Toolkit

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Added to Collection

Project Topic

Improving handoff communication (between the ED and ICU)

CSI Participants

Lisa Brown, RN, BSN
Melissa Emmons, RN, BSN
Caroline Johnson, RN, MSN, CCRN
Jennifer Keily, RN

Project Goals/Objectives

  1. To reduce patient safety events
  2. To improve patient and health care team communication satisfaction scores
  3. To improve nurse satisfaction/communication during care transitions
  4. To increase collaboration between units

Project Outcomes

  1. Decreased reported errors in handoff communication
  2. Achieved a 56 percent rate of patient admissions within 60 minutes
  3. Achieved a 30 percent rate of patient admissions within 30 minutes
  4. Identified errors using the report tool that were not documented in ER records.

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The materials associated with this AACN Clinical Scene Investigator (CSI) Academy project are the property of the participating hospital noted above, not AACN. Requests to use content contained in the CSI team’s summary, presentation or toolkit should be directed to the hospital. We suggest reaching out to the hospital’s Communications, Marketing or Nursing Education department for assistance.

Disclaimer
The AACN CSI Academy program supports change projects based on quality improvement methods. Although CSI teams seek to ensure linkage between their project and clinical/fiscal outcomes, data cannot be solely attributed to the project and are estimations of impact.