Proactive & Purposeful

Since the impact of COVID 19, how well has your organization reacted to the changing needs of your patients and staff? How much time has elapsed or how many patients did you deliver care to before you realized that yesterday’s best practices are not working in today’s environment? 

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To understand patient perceptions and develop aligned improvement strategies, many healthcare organizations rely on historical data from third-party research, consumerism studies, and patient advisory councils.  Collectively, this is sound information that provides you with a strong insight of your patients; however, this information can quickly become obsolete during periods of rapid change.  So how can your organization keep a pulse on your patients’ needs in today’s rapidly changing environment? One evidence based solution is to arm your organization with current patient perceptions derived from a proactive purposeful rounding strategy.

 

Patient rounding is often described as an evidence-based tactic that is used across the healthcare industry to help with a real time understanding of the patient’s perception of care and services.  For this round to be purposeful, the general assumption is that the interaction is delivered in a conversational format rather than a typical “survey style” interaction. 

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Initially, the individual who is rounding begins the dialogue by delivering conversational techniques that support building a relationship with the patient.  Once a level of comfort is established, the rounder will use a “give and take” approach to completing the round.  This process typically begins with stating the organization’s key service expectations and then seeking feedback as to if those expectations are being met. 

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Many organizations also augment their purposeful rounding through the use of scripting.  Scripting provides the rounder with a set of talking points.  These talking points help to reduce the stress associated with patient rounding and ensure that consistent messages are being delivered across your organization. When a purposeful round is delivered correctly, the patient will feel appreciated by having the opportunity to communicate their feelings and more importantly knowing that the organization cares about them.

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As you close your purposeful rounds and before you leave the nursing unit, an industry best practice is to communicate some of findings with the nursing staff and support personnel that are aligned to that geographic unit.  Caregivers, support team members and leaders truly appreciate hearing the positive things the patients are saying about the care and services received.  Receiving this positive feedback will also open the door to future purposeful patient rounds as staff will be anxious to hear what their patients are saying.