Situational Awareness Huddles in a Cardiac Intensive Care Unit During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author(s): Kristen Christensen, BSN, MS, CCRN, Nora Colman, MD, Kay Van Voorhis, BSN, CCRN, Katherine Daniels, MSN, RN, CCRN, Haley Culpepper, BSN, RN, Kiran Hebbar, MD, Michael Wolf, MD

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Activity Summary

Required reading for all learners: Implicit Bias impacts patient outcomes

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has created challenges for provider teams working in intensive care units, including rapidly changing patient care regulations, staffing considerations, and preservation of personal protective equipment. The need for enhanced respiratory precautions for infected patients and patients under investigation has necessitated a new process for interventions and resuscitation. A novel huddle process created situational awareness among staff caring for patients requiring enhanced respiratory isolation because of coronavirus disease 2019. Multidisciplinary huddles allowed staff from various disciplines to apply a process map for interventions and resuscitations among critically ill children with heart disease.

Objectives

  • Identify a knowledge gap in situational awareness as regulations changed during the COVID 19 pandemic
  • Describe a huddle process implemented to create situational awareness for cardiac intensive care unit staff
  • Analyze staff satisfaction with the huddle process through a survey

Continuing Education Disclosure Statement

Successful Completion

Learners must attend/view/read the entire activity and complete the associated evaluation to be awarded the contact hours or CERP. No partial credit will be awarded.

Disclosure

This activity has been reviewed by the Nurse Planner. It has been determined that the material presented here shows no bias. No conflicts of interest have been identified for any individual with the ability to influence the content of this activity. Accreditation refers to recognition of continuing education only and does not imply AACN or ANCC approval or endorsement of any commercial products discussed or displayed in conjunction with this educational activity.

Accreditation

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC's) Commission on Accreditation, ANCC Provider Number 0012. AACN has been approved as a provider of continuing education in nursing by the California State Board of Nursing (CBRN), California Provider number CEP 1036. This activity is approved for 1.00 contact hours.

AACN programming meets the standards for most states that require mandatory continuing education contact hours for license and/or certification renewal. AACN recommends consulting with your state board of nursing or credentialing organization before submitting CE to fulfill continuing education requirements.

Refund Policy

Continuing Education Activities are nonrefundable.