The ICUs at WellStar Cobb Hospital have open visitation hours, which has worked well for years; however, we continued to have issues regarding communication. Bonita Jackson was named Team Leader of the Customer Service Team, and her first order of business was to engage key staff members from all shifts to focus on a solution to this issue.
We began to make improvements in our admission orientation, and a cheat sheet listing key aspects of patient and family orientation to the unit was created. This quick fix helped the RNs keep focus, which led to an immediate improvement in our customer satisfaction. The team also emphasized the importance of providing timelier follow-up information regarding lab and test results as well as physician visits. Therefore, the staff began calling the waiting room when the physician arrived to allow the family to be present, and documented contact names and phone numbers on the patient chart for easy access by physicians and staff.
The intervention that made the most impact and has continued to improve patient and family satisfaction has been the patient information line. This dictation system allows the RN staff to give scheduled updates throughout their shift. It has allowed the families of our patients to feel confident that although they may not be at the bedside at all times, for example, if they are from out of state or have disabilities, they will be informed of their loved ones' status and treatment.
A focus on the family has provided consistent, effective communication with families and has allowed the RN staff to spend more time at the bedside. Customer service scores have increased to the 99th percentile.
