CSI Project

Let's wORC It Out!

Methodist Hospital (San Antonio, Texas)

CSI Summary

Available only to registered AACN.org users.

Summary

CSI Presentation

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Presentation

CSI Toolkit

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Toolkit

Added to Collection

Project Topic:

Reducing turnover in Electrophysiology (EP)/Catheterization (Cath) labs, improving lab turnaround times by using the ORControl board and increasing communication between holding and procedural areas

Hospital Units:

EP/Cath labs
Cath Lab Holding

CSI Participants:

  • Debra Cahenzli, BSN, RN, CVRN
  • Sarah James, BSN, RN, CVRN
  • Herbert Orgas, BSN, RN, CVRN

Project Goals/Objectives:

  1. Work with ORControl representatives to include tags and buttons to log the times patients/ staff are ready for each case and to indicate when a lab may be blocked for an emergency
  2. Increase communication between holding and procedural areas by providing current/ new staff members with education on project goals and updates made to ORControl board
  3. Decrease lab turnover time 20% in 12 months
  4. Decrease staff overtime 5% in 12 months
  5. Increase staff compliance with ORControl board to 90% in 12 months

Project Outcomes:

  1. Decreased lab turnover time 26% in 12 months
  2. Made progress on increasing communication between areas and staff compliance with ORControl board.

Project Overview:

According to national data, the median average turnover time for an EP/Cath lab is 28.5 minutes. In June of 2020, the average turnover time for EP/Cath labs in our hospital was 42 minutes. To help decrease turnover times, our CSI team implemented a quality improvement project designed to:

  • Educate our staff on the need for change
  • Update our ORControl board by adding buttons that assist our staff and departments with case communication

We kicked off our project in July 2022 with an education campaign for the staff in our departments, teaching them about the changes we made to the ORControl board and what markers to check on each case so that we could log turnover times more accurately and decrease case delays. By January 2023, we had reduced our turnover time 26%. During that period, staff overtime increased 23% due to increased case volume and acuity. We were unable to measure staff use of the control board.

Project feedback received from staff has been positive overall and has opened new possibilities for data collection using our ORControl boards. With staff being better trained on ORControl board use, the board has become a much better tool for inter-departmental communication as well as communication between the procedural and holding areas. For example, employees look at the ORControl board for notes about when physicians are available and if they are running behind. The board also allows us to make notes on specific equipment needed or a patient waiting on a new bed placement.

Permission to Reuse Materials
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.