Increasing Nurse-Physician Family-Centered Rounds Communication: A Quality Improvement Pilot Project

High quality nurse-physician communication during family-centered rounds (FCR) can increase patient safety. Using quality improvement methodology, we measured nurses’ perceived awareness of components of the shared mental model, nurses’ attendance during FCR, compliance with completing FCR summaries, and average time spent per FCR encounter. A structured resident huddle took place prior to FCR. Residents used a tool to send individualized alerts to bedside nurses to prepare them for FCR, and sent a summary text to nurses who were unable to attend FCR. Over 16 weeks, nurses’ perceived awareness increased from 70% to 87%. Nurse attendance increased from 53% to 75%. We successfully piloted multiple interventions to improve nurse perceived awareness after FCR. Read the full article after watching this video.