Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Nursing (MAN)

Department

Nursing

Abstract

The complex nature of healthcare creates significant risks of harm to patients. Safety huddles are a mechanism some hospitals utilize to raise awareness of safety concerns and minimize risks. Typically occurring at the start of each shift, safety huddles generally take the form of a brief, structured discussion with visual management for information sharing. In addition, safety huddles create a safe space for nursing staff to escalate concerns, supporting a culture of safety. This quality improvement project describes the expansion of a safety huddle process that has become a mere ritual at the start of each shift on a 25-bed medicine unit at a large urban hospital in the Midwest to improve nursing staff engagement. Through a formal quality improvement and problem-solving approach, there is a clear plan of action to elevate issues and a process to engage and empower nursing staff in identifying, achieving, and hardwiring improvements. Margaret Newman's Theory of Health as Expanding Consciousness concepts of pattern recognition, increased awareness, and higher consciousness serves as this project's theoretical foundation. The success of this project will be measured using pre and post- employee engagement scores for questions related to safety, patient experience, and empowerment. In addition, the number of completed projects that meet target conditions and scorecard metrics for falls with harm and patient satisfaction will serve as secondary measures of success of the expanded safety huddle process. Engaging and empowering nursing staff in quality improvement and problem-solving supports a culture of safety, leading to improved patient safety and positive health outcomes.

Identifier

SC 11.MAN.2022.Rowles.K

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