KGH Bed Meeting / Staffing and Patient Flow Observations Dec 20-29
The weekday KGH bed meeting (0930 – 1000 hrs) is well attended by all patient care coordinators (PCCs) , Transition nurses, several unit managers as well as several KGH Directors. Much improved from just a year ago, the utilization coordinator initially leads the meeting and revises a pre-populated spreadsheet which calculates the % occupancy rate and illustrates patient flow within the hospital. The key decisions (arbitrations) seem to be left to the Director(s) to make. By contrast, the weekend bed meeting was attended with only a few PCCs and is chaired by the UCMN (Utilization and Clinical Management Nurse) who is the highest ranking clinical leader on staff on weekends. On the weekend day I attended there were 25 sick calls on days (Sat Dec 29th). Clearly, matching clinical workload to available clinical staffing is an ongoing system challenge.
Observations
1) Clarity of expectations: PCCs provide a report which might be better targeted to the task at hand (patient movement and discharge decisions). There is no accepted standard KGH template for this report out, except by verbal coaching. 2) Acuity Score: Patients are not ranked by acuity, so it is hard to know how to match workload with available staffing skills. This creates negotiations at every meeting about which patient is most appropriate for which unit. 3) Hospitalists: Physicians (eg: Hospitalists) do not attend the bed meetings. The 5-6 hospitalists on weekday shift receive their physician to physician report at ~ 0830-0930 in another part of the hospital, and care for ~ 70% of inpatients. The link between this meeting and the hospitalists is a KGH Director . 4) Afternoon feedback : There is no afternoon update meeting except in emergencies (See Vancouver example pg. 5) 5) Deal closure: Patient movement decisions seem to be deferred to the director to “close the deal” .
Suggestions to improve communication at the KGH bed meeting
1) Create a single page report template for all PCCs to bring to the daily bed meeting (Appendix 2) a. All admitted patients in ED should each have an inpatient transfer summary completed (and updated if transfer is delayed) using the IDRAW format. This form includes contact information and an invitation to call the ED nurse when ready to accept. b. This should be completed by the bedside ED nurse on nights to give to the Charge RN /PCC on days. Included is an acuity score (1-3) , Potential inpatient (ward) destination
2) Ask a Hospitalist to attend and provide feedback on the meeting’s efficiency & utility. This is crucial because the Hospitalist is likely to have knowledge of which GPs are covering or on call. Systems problems at KGH are symptomatic of upstream (GP/ Community) and downstream (Hospital/Discharge) system restraints such as: i) admitted patients in ED, ii) GPs sending patients to ED for follow up, iii) Use of the ED as a clinic. Physician participation is crucial.
3) Hold a short (15 min) afternoon debrief of affected inpatient units and the ED PCC On one day I observed this, 45 patients (50% greater than normal) were moved out of ED. This is good n