Pictured is the bedside rounding team with Riverwood hospital patient, Art Copley (center). From left are Mary Belz, charge nurse; Kathy Duclos, the patient’s daughter; Dr. Tom Lawson, Sarah Berg, LPN; Keith Martens, respiratory therapist; Matt Doucette, pharmacist; Andrea Stevens, occupational therapist; Rae Reinhardt, financial counselor; and Val Thompson, social worker.
Hospital bedside rounding has come to Aitkin.
Every hospital patient at Riverwood Healthcare Center is cared for by a team of professionals led by a physician. Other team members include registered nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, rehab specialists for physical, occupational or speech therapies, dietitians, financial counselors, social worker and family members.
Each day, this team meets in the hospital patient’s room to conduct rounds with the patient and any family members present. Patient and family members are encouraged to participate. The rounds are a brief team review of the patient’s health care plan for the day.
“Bedside rounding puts the patient at the center of his or her care,” explains Dr. Joselito Burgos, internal medicine physician who oversees hospital patient care at Riverwood. “This process facilitates communication among everyone on the patient’s care team for seamless, coordinated, efficient and quality patient care. This in turn promotes both patient and employee satisfaction. The end result is better outcomes for our patients.”
Kristine Layne, Riverwood’s chief nursing officer, adds: “We began the new process in mid-October and already we are seeing improved hospital patient satisfaction scores for the last quarter of 2015. Previously, patients did not participate in daily discharge planning meetings and the rounds were conducted in a staff conference room with information shared with the patient and team members throughout the day.”
Now patients and families know a timeframe for physician visits, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. The physician then returns to conduct a full examination after rounds have been completed. Thus the patients and family members have two daily opportunities to communicate with the attending physician or other provider. Subsequently, both the patient and family gain greater knowledge and understanding of the patient’s condition and treatment.
Layne adds: “Our goal is to continue to improve our rounding process based on feedback from patients, family members and our staff. We want to focus on increasing family awareness and participation.”