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Purposeful rounding anticipates patients’ needs
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As Mayo Clinic employees, we strive for excellence every day.
In late June, staff were asked how we could improve the care on our floor, 5 North. The results were gratifying and gave us some idea on how we could do even better. As a result, we implemented a project called Purposeful Rounding.
We wanted to take little steps to make big changes on our floor. Our focus was to anticipate the care patients would need instead of waiting until they asked us for something and then reacting. Ideally, the nurses and other care providers could prevent the patient from having a need by meeting it before it arises.
We created a pilot project that involved nurses and patient care technicians checking on patients every two hours and assessing the 5Ps: pain (what is the patient's pain level?), potty (do they need the restroom?), position (how comfortable is the patient?), proximity (is everything they need within reach?) and personal needs (is there anything else they need?).
Just by asking those five questions, our patient calls dropped 26 percent overall. We had 64 percent fewer calls about pain and 32 percent fewer calls pertaining to bathroom needs. The numbers are amazing, and it’s only been one month.
Our patient surveys have continued to be very positive, and we are now closer than ever to providing consistently excellent care as a team. It is a remarkable feeling when I look around: my co-workers' days are easier and patients are happier because we are a part of something that has brought the caregivers' workflows together to be a stronger force in an individual's healing process.
If you are interested in working at Mayo Clinic, please visit www.mayoclinic.org.
Written by Caroline Morrison, a monitor tech on the General Surgery/Bariatric Surgery unit in the hospital at Mayo Clinic's Florida campus.
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