Hourly Rounding: A Strategy to Improve Patient Satisfaction - Research Paper Example

?HEADING: Hourly Rounding: A Strategy to Improve Patient Satisfaction Scores School: Hourly Rounding: A Strategy to Improve Patient Satisfaction Scores 1. Describe your research purpose and background The purpose of this research is to test the effectiveness of hourly rounding to promote improving patient satisfaction scores among hospitalized patients. One of the most important factors during the stay of any patient in the hospital is patient satisfaction. The hospitals use innovative approaches in improving the patient satisfaction and the role of nurses strongly help in improving the patient satisfaction levels (Ford, 2010). The relationship between the nurses and the patient including the time spent with the nurses, respect, compassion shown, understanding, and communication is vital in building patient satisfaction. As a tool, satisfaction level surveys can be utilized to determine the level of satisfaction and find in greater detail the determinants of satisfaction. Satisfaction can be said to be a feeling or perception of the patient and in the past it is known that the nursing care plays a vital role in improving patient satisfaction. Studer, 2007 suggested the use of hourly rounding wherein nurses Hourly rounding is a nursing care strategy of focusing greatly on patient-centered care and a mean of organizing work, with greater effort to concentrate on patient safety (Studer, 2005). Currently, the literature available on the effect of hourly rounding on patient satisfaction is not known completely, and hence this topic would gain a greater insight into the same (Tea, 2008). 2. Describe your proposed problem or question The research question in this regard is whether hourly nurses rounding can help to address the problems of the patient, reduce the call lights from the patient, save nurses time, improve the patient safety levels, and in this manner overall help to improve the patient satisfaction levels. The complete effect and benefits of nurses hourly rounding on patient satisfaction is not completely known. Will hourly rounding be able to reduce the patient calls and in this way reduce the unscheduled visits of the nurses to answer the patient problems? It would also be advisable to determine if greater organization of the nurse’s work can improve the nurse’s tasks and in this way concentrate on addressing patient safety issues (Meade, 2006). Will nurse’s hourly rounds be able to lower the rates of patient falls in the hospital? 3. Develop a map of your framework including concepts and constructs based on the theorist or framework selected in Week 6 The theorist being selected is the Jean Watson theory, which though complex in nature is based on a very simple concept of caring and love for one another. Watson considers care and love as the most tremendous and one of the most mysterious forces in the universe. Watson strongly associates the science of love and caring for others and spiritual relationship for caring for oneself and also others. Though Watson therapy is strongly applicable for nursing, today its use has been extended to other fields including healthcare practitioners, healers, etc. Watson considers that although people know that love and care is very important, people do not behave that way or incorporate the same in their lives. When individuals become caring at their level, the same gets reflected at the social level. In the healthcare setting, professionals should take social and moral responsibility of incorporate care and love sciences to their clinical practice in such a manner that an environment for healing and rehabilitation is created. Out of Watson’s theory is the hourly rounding concept based, true to the application of social and moral responsibility by the healthcare professional (Watson,2005). 4. Describe your framework and how it relates to your research purpose and proposed problem or question The research question focused on determining the effect and benefits of hourly nurses rounding and its impact over improving patient satisfaction. Various aspects would be studied including the effect of hourly rounding to reduce patient calls unscheduled, enabling better nursing practices and time management, improving patient safety, better patient management, and reducing patient falls in wards (Ford, 2010). This would be a quasi-experimental non-randomized parallel control study performed on non-equivalent groups. The Study would be performed in two wards of the hospital, one ward would include the practice of hourly rounds and the other would have the current practice of the hospital of need based patient calls using the traditional call light system (Gardner, 2009). The nurses belonging to the case group would be trained and instructed of the hourly rounds and the manner in which the same would have to be performed. The patient on admission would also be informed about the practice of hourly rounds by the nurses (Meade, 2006). Nurses would be performing the scheduled tasks on their hourly visits, address the medication or drug needs of the patient, and also address the four P’s concerning pain, personal needs, positioning and placement. Just following completion of all the tasks required during their visit, the nurse would once again ask the patient if anything else was required, following which in case nothing was needed she tell the patient of her vast after one hour and would leave the patient’s room. In this way patient could group their problems up and seek addressal of their issues once the nurse returns after an hour. Just before discharge the patient would be given a questionnaire to examine their satisfaction levels with the system practiced in their ward. The nurses would also complete a survey regarding their tasks performed and their perception of the system followed. Once the results would be collected, it would be examined and further compared with the national average data (Ford, 2010). 5. Identify study variables for your research and link them to your concepts and constructs The study variables would be two types, patient satisfaction related variables and nurse satisfaction related variables. The patient satisfaction related variables include pain relief, medication administration, providing personal assistance, patient hygiene measures, patient comfort position, repositioning, placement of assistive devices aside the patient, absence of adverse events, patient safety care, fall prevention measures, etc. The nurse satisfaction related variables included reducing of nurse time spend on unscheduled tasks, reduction of nurse frustration & stress, reduction of nurse errors effective shift time utilization, etc (Ford, 2010). This patient satisfaction survey tool would be used in combination with the nurse satisfaction survey (Gardner, 2009). 6. Define your terms conceptually as they relate to your framework Hourly rounding was a term that was developed by Studer Group and refers to a concept of organizing work in a hospital setup to be performed by the nurses with relation to patient care. The basic aim of hourly rounding would be to reduce the unscheduled tasks of the nurses and ensuring that the schedule tasks are implemented in such a manner that it would have a positive effect over patient satisfaction and nurse satisfaction (Studer, 2007). 7. Define your terms operationally with details of how variables will be implemented (independent) or measured (dependent) Operationally, hourly rounding would be concerned with various variables related to the nurse and the patient satisfaction. These variables would be assessed through questions that would be administered in the nurses and the patient survey tool that would be administered separately to the nurses and the patient and compared with another ward (control) where the traditional call light system would be followed. The variable related to the general measures includes medication administration. The variables related to pain include pain relief and medication consumption (dependent). The variables related to personal needs include assistance and that for positioning include position change, hygiene alterations, linen, patient turning. Other dependent variables include patient fall prevention, pressure ulcer reduction; call lights use reduction and patient safety concerns. The variables related to placement include assess to various assistive devices. The variables related to nursing satisfaction include stress levels, extent of unscheduled tasks, optimization of shift time use, freeing of the nursing time, etc (Ford, 2010). 8. Identify assumptions related to your research problem or question Some of the assumptions made in the research question and problem include:- 1. The call light use by the patient suggests greater unscheduled tasks for the nurses and greater problems experienced by the patient due to rather insufficient nursing care 2. The better management of nursing time in a scheduled manner through nursing rounds can aim to provide greater free time to nurses. However, the same would not mean an increase in number of patients managed by each nurse, as this would have a negative effect over the nurse satisfaction levels. 3. Hourly nurse rounding would not include physician visits and routine visits by other healthcare providers. 4. This research problem should not be studied in a critical care unit or an emergency setup as frequent nursing care would be required at shorter intervals. 9. Develop two proposition statements that flow from the concepts and relationships in your framework map 1. Operational changes involving hourly nursing rounds would be able to achieve better patient care agreement and ensure greater patient satisfaction along of patient safety and reduced patient falls 2. Hourly nursing rounds would be able to achieve better nursing satisfaction through a reduction in unscheduled tasks, better scheduling of nurses work, reducing in nursing stress and frustration, freeing the nurses time and be able to address issues like nursing shortages and reducing the nursing turnover. Reference Ford, B. M. (2010). ‘Hourly Rounding: A Strategy to Improve Patient Satisfaction Scores.’ MEDSURG Nursing, 19(3): 188-192. Gardner, G., Woollett, K., Daly, N. Et al (2009). ‘Measuring the effect of patient comfort rounds on practice environment and patient satisfaction: a pilot study.’ Int J Nurs Pract, 15(4):287-93. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19703045 Jones & Bartlett, Learning (2010). ‘Hourly Rounding: A Strategy to Improve Patient Satisfaction Scores.’ Retrieved on October 14, 2011, from Web site: http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763780586/80586_CH01_Keele.pdf Meade, C. M., Bursell, A., & Ketelsen, L. (2006). ‘Effects of nursing rounds: on patients' call light use, satisfaction, and safety.’ Am J Nurse, 106(9):58-70; quiz 70-1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16954767 Tea, C., Ellison, M., & Feghall, F. (2008). ‘Proactive patient rounding to increase customer service and satisfaction on an orthopaedic unit.’ Orthop Nurse, 27(4):233-40; quiz 241-2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18677250 Read More