Patients staying overnight under observation status are now housed in an area of 2 East at UM Shore Medical Center at Easton, according to Nancy Bedell, regional director, Care Coordination.
“This is a 14-bed area where we now congregate observation patients so as to better coordinate their care and monitor their status. The goal is to ensure they are either admitted or discharged within 23 hours,” says Bedell. “Five of the beds accommodate telemetry, and there is a trackboard that documents the time of the observation order for each patient, which makes it easier for caregiving staff to keep track of the time.”
Observation patients are now followed by specific hospitalists designated by Shore Bayy Hospitalists Medical Director Dennis DeShields, MD. Nurses serving patients in the observation beds have been trained to do blood draws which decrease the time to get test results. The care team “huddles” every three hours to review the plan of care and identify barriers to meeting the 23-hour mark. Mary Collins, clinical nurse specialist on 2 East, has been very instrumental in conducting staff education and updating procedures.
The new Observation Area was developed by a multidisciplinary group led by Ruth Ann Jones, senior vice president, Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer, and facilitated by DaVita consultants. The group visited two other UMMS hospitals that have observation areas and 2 East Nurse Manager Jennifer Miles attended a conference on observation care. Said Miles, “I am very impressed by how well this group has worked together to better serve our patients.”
“Until now, patients on observation status were scattered in units throughout the hospital so this is a very exciting and promising advancement in patient care,” says Bedell. “We are all very confident that it will help us avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and ensure that patients who are discharged have the tools and understanding they need to follow up on their health issues.”