CSI Summary
Available only to registered AACN.org users.
CSI HWE
Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
Nov 20, 2024
CSI Summary
Available only to registered AACN.org users.
CSI Presentation
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CSI Toolkit
Available only to users with a paid AACN membership.
Project Topic:
Increase skilled communication through effective feedback
Hospital, City and State:
Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Portland, Oregon
Unit:
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
CSI Participants:
Project Goals/Objectives:
Project Outcomes:
Project Overview:
The PICU had a decline in the overall health of its work environment trending from 2016, 2020, and 2024. We also had the highest rates of turnover in the hospital system, an increasing skills gap and widespread preceptor fatigue. To retain staff and grow our nurses, we strived to create a culture of safety through improved communication.
We aimed to increase frequency of effective feedback by providing training to nurse champions and distributed a feedback tool to utilize during safety checks at handoff and/or during all aspects of patient care. We offered prizes to incentivize and normalize giving and receiving feedback throughout the project and compared staff’s perception of feedback at the beginning and end of the project.
We were successful in improving our HWEAT scores and turnover rates. However, there have been other factors contributing to the health of our work environment including a new nursing contract, leadership changes and organizational restructuring. In the end, we learned that our problem was too large, and our specific intervention was not easily measured and did not have the full impact intended. Our project was successful in terms of contributing to decreasing turnover; however, we see this as a long-term commitment to impacting communication on specific patient outcomes.
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.