The Inpatient Pharmacy Unit Based Team on the Memorial campus recently completed a project to address communication within the department. The staff had been struggling to consistently convey necessary information within the pharmacy across roles and shifts. When the UBT committee members identified this issue as a project to tackle, they got to work.
First, the UBT committee members developed a survey for the Pharmacists and Tech staff to complete so that they could capture a baseline measure of communication. After brainstorming potential solutions, they came up with the following: they instituted daily huddles, standardized shift-change report-out, and mounted whiteboards for communicating key information. After implementing these changes, the UBT then resurveyed the staff to see if the changes had made a difference. The results showed a significant improvement, as you can see from these responses to individual questions:
“My shift works well together and communicates with each other effectively” — those who agreed improved from 64% to 74%
“My Co-workers share with me the information I need to do a good job and I have an easy time sharing with them the information they need to do a good job” — those who agreed improved from 52%-68%
“My shift cooperates with other shifts effectively, and shift to shift communications are constructive” — those who agreed improved from 27% to 61%
The staff now describe smoother transitions among roles and shifts as a result of their new ways of communicating. The project improved collaboration within the department, as well as increasing patient quality and safety.
Way to go, Inpatient Pharmacy!